In a message dated 12/31/1999 11:18:55 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Sounds like a little like pan-fried marbles... >>

Mary (& Co.),

Some guy I bought (or tried to buy) binoculars from on ebay described the
jpeg/ephoto/whatever the hell it's called picture he posted of a binocular
lens as looking like "friend marbles."  I had never heard of such a thing,
and couldn't imagine what he was talking about.  Now I know.  Who thought up
such a thing, and how come I never heard about it before?  Not that I woulda
tried it myself, of course, but still....

I have a couple of pieces of what could conceivably be called glacier glass,
left over from a bank partition or some such; it's probably 3/8" thick, with
the perimeter clear for about 2"; the fractured-looking stuff is in the
middle, but it's exposed, not safely sandwiched inside as John reports they
did in Maine.

I checked my American Life Foundation Combined Book of Sash, Doors and Blinds
(1898) and found to my amazement that they referred to Queen Anne sash as
"Queen Anne Sash" way back then. However, their QAS illustrations were really
ornate ones; the plainer ones (more like Sharpshooter and our mid- and
way-out Western colleagues described) were called "marginal light" transoms
or sash.


Always looking to enlighten, enrage, or amuse, I remain in this New
Century/Milennium,

Ralph