Fenton Basket Handlers

 

The skilled basket handler has a scant twenty five seconds within which he must accomplish his task: attach a glowing ribbon of molten glass to one side of the basket; deftly twist the rapidly cooling glass; stick it to the other side; impress the base of each side of the handle with his handler's mark; and finally, fashion the handle into a graceful arch.

In the 1950s, company President Frank M. Fenton and his brother Bill Fenton, who was Vice President, decided that each Fenton Basket handler ought to have a distinctive mark so that collectors could identify the artisan who had created their basket.

These marks, impressed at the base of each side of the handle, also helped eliminate any roughness in that area.

Each handler's mark is essentially circular in shape, but the desings within that circle are quite varied. Andy Newland's mark resembles a hunting bow, and Butch Wright's mark looks like a traget with bullseye. See what you can find within the marks displayed...it's like an ink blot test!

So...who handled your basket?