From the St. Thomas Times-Journal:
There was a time when corn flower glass products were as common in households as pocket change in Canada.
“It was the most common shower, anniversary or wedding gift given from the 1940s to the 1960s,” said Pat Zimmer, curator of the Aylmer and District Museum.
An extensive collection of corn flower glass creations opened recently at the museum.
The history of the collection owned by Michelle Addley, a volunteer at the museum, traces back to the Hoshal family sale held in Springfield several years ago.
Evelyn Hoshal’s daughter, Dianna Brethour, asked the museum to assemble a sale of her corn flower glass collection, before she moved to Terrace Lodge.
“While helping with the organization of items for the sale, Michelle fell in love with two corn flower fan glass candlewick vases,” Zimmer said. “Unfortunately, Dianna decided to keep the vases and Michelle began her search for duplicates.”
That was in 2003 and, since then, Addley has collected more than 300 corn flower pieces in various patterns.
It was a Canadian, W.J. Hughes, who created the patterns for corn flower glass while working as a glass cutter for Rodan Cut Glass in Toronto.