The passing of Rev. Philip Robinson, and the sale of the Fruit Jar Museum in The Show Room Floor Forum

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The passing of Rev. Philip Robinson, and the sale of the Fruit Jar Museum

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leaderjar	The passing of Rev. Philip Robinson, and the sale of the Fruit Jar Museum	Lead	[-]
Member Posts: 662 (05/04/08 09:49 PM) Joe Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It's public info now. Phil's jars will be sold by Greg through Ebay as well as NAG. I am sorely going to miss visiting the museum. I stopped by and talked with Phil and his family today. He is fighting the good fight, but his health is failing. Phil has been a true ambassador to the fruit jar hobby. He has been a big inspiration to me and my collecting efforts. click here - NAG info on the sale [edited to change the subject line ... hope you don't mind Joe] Last Edited By: Michael 1908 05/05/08 04:06 PM. Edited 1 time.
BallJarz	Re: Philip Robinson Fruit Jar Museum Sale	#1	[-]
Member Posts: 688 (05/05/08 08:44 AM) Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Joe: I have known Phil for many years now and the first time I met him was in January 1988 at the Indy show. I didn't get to go to Muncie at that time to see his museum because of the horrible ice storm. I feel myself extremely fortunate, lucky and grateful though that I did get to see the museum this past January and meet Phil again and take plenty of photos. Unfortunately, theres going to be a day when all of the old timers are gone including myself. Not that I can compare myself to Phil or any of the other Giants of the hobby whatsoever because I cannot. Hopefully though, people such as yourself, Michael & others will champion the cause and perpetuate this hobby we all love and keep it strong. ΘWithout Color the world would be shades of grey ;╫}Θ
Jeff K	Philip Robinson Fruit Jar Museum Sale	#2	[-]
Member Posts: 59 (05/05/08 10:18 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	i am sad also that phil's great museum's jar collection will be dispersed. there has been alot of talk about it for the last few years. i had suggested to phil that he should have an on-site auction... maybe a weekend of jars and fellowship. i have always felt that those kinds of events are absolutely wonderful for the hobby. but in the end, it was phil, and his family's decision, to sell the collection in this way. i will certainly miss the great visits to the museum and talking with phil. i always like to bring him a couple of jars for "show and tell" when i was in muncie. it was always fun to show him something he had never seen before! a difficult task for sure... given his many years in the hobby. the pictures of the museum just can never convey the atmosphere in a room with so much great old glass!! truly an awesome experience! each time i would visit i would always see something i had never seen before. and of course, phil could tell you everything about any piece in there. so now we can all have a chance to add a little "phil" to our collections. but in the end, we are just temporary custodians of these pieces of glass.... for someday it will be our turn to disperse them to the next generation of jar collectors.
OldHasBeen	Phil Robinson	#3	[-]
Member Posts: 498 (05/05/08 02:04 PM) Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I was never fortunate enough to meet Mr. Robinson in person, but have heard of him since I first began collecting jars. Indeed one of the legends. What I find sad is that such a massive collection even "has" to be dispersed. The cumulative history there is staggering! I know little of the details but I understand that Muncie (the city) had an opportunity to purchase the collection/museum intact and did not do it. What a loss (in my opinion) as Muncie was built around jars. They're rejecting their own history in a way. But what is Muncie's loss will be collectors' gains. And as Jeff said above, gives us all an opportunity to "own a little Phil". Provenance can mean a lot to some people. Too bad we haven't yet reached the technology level (affordable anyway) that each jar couldn't have its own chip with Phil giving a complete history of the piece. 2008 is going to be a year folks will long remember for the class of jars that change hands. Several outstanding collections are going to be dispersed to new owners. And in many cases, dig deep folks...REAL deep as many of these jars have not changed hands in 20 years or longer and once they're gone, it may well be another 20 years before we see the great jars available again...IF we do at all. But for Rev. Phil Robinson, great thanks for all you have done "for the good of the hobby" and benefit of others. Bob P.S. For those reading this that have not yet done so, click on the link Joe provided above to go see pictures that will blow your mind! Not just the Ball jars or the oil cans, but the entire DEPTH of the museum is staggering. Last Edited By: OldHasBeen 05/05/08 02:09 PM. Edited 1 times.
mkeithjr		#4	[-]
Member Posts: 108 (05/05/08 02:44 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080505/BUSINESS/80505006 Just thought you would all like to see this article. God Bless and keep his soul for all time. We will miss you Mr. Phil you were an insiration to us all, and a great friend. Mike K Thanks Mike K always up for the hunt in the heart of "Ball" country
BallJarz	God Bless Phil and his Family!	#5	[-]
Member Posts: 690 (05/05/08 03:10 PM) Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	God Bless Phil's widow and his family. I think Muncie made a huge error in judgement not buying the Museum! And Bob is right on about "digging deep" because Phil's collection as well as the Bettinghouse collection will never be again, ever. I personally don't think outside of a relative few people now in the hobby that we will ever see such massive impressive historic collections again. It just isn't possible both monetarily and availability wise. An era is about to pass in front of our very eyes folks and all of the new collectors who have recently come into the hobby are going to benefit personally in a way that neither myself, Bob C. nor a lot of others ever could have in all of our years of collecting. ΘWithout Color the world would be shades of grey ;╫}Θ
Michael 1908	That is very sad news	#6	[-]
Member Posts: 2290 (05/05/08 04:02 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Michael, Thank you for sharing this with us even as sad as it is. I too have fond memories of Phil, his family and his museum. He was always so kind to me, and especially my son when we would visit. He even gave my son a part of a jar forming mould to keep him busy. I think Phil saw his boredom (sp?) as I spent time looking over all the jars, so he pulled him aside to talk to him about jars and how they were made. We went to visit whenever we were in Muncie. We had a lot of fun there, meet new friends there and saw other great local collections because of the folks we met sitting outside the museum at Phil's table. I'll always cherish the jar I received off the museum shelf in a trade with Phil. As many times as I asked to trade or buy jars from him, this was the one and only time he took something off the shelf for me. Guess he loved the look of purple. This also reminds me of a funny stroy about Phil and Bruce last winter ... but I'll save that for some other, more appropriate time. God bless you Phil, and God be with your family at this very difficult time. Michael
Michael 1908	Request	#7	[-]
Member Posts: 2291 (05/05/08 04:14 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Could somebody post this news to the Yahoo Fruit jar groups ... I tried but it didn't take (this is the second post I've had problems with there) Thanks Michael Collector of Ball Jars ... Interested in downsizing and upgrading my collection
Michael 1908	Peace to all who enter here	#8	[-]
Member Posts: 2292 (05/05/08 05:08 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This is a photo I took of my son that day ... him at the back of the museum, picture taken from Phil's entryway See, told you he was bored ;-) Michael Collector of Ball Jars ... Interested in downsizing and upgrading my collection
Jeff K	The passing of Rev. Philip Robinson	#9	[-]
Member Posts: 60 (05/05/08 06:48 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yes it is a very sad day for jar collectors . thought i would post this pic again, taken at the museum in january. just 3 jar collectors hanging out in just one of the great corners of the museum..... good times, great people, and a fabulous place that phil provided for all of us to enjoy. you will be hard pressed to top what he created here. it is a sad day for many reasons..... the loss of a great man on this earth.. to both his family and all of his countless friends. the loss to the jar community of all the knowledge about jars that he had aquired all of the years. and the loss of the museum that he created to share his love of jars with the world....
BallJarz	Phil	#10	[-]
Member Posts: 692 (05/05/08 10:11 PM) Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Here is a photo of me talking jars with Phil back in January... ΘWithout Color the world would be shades of grey ;╫}Θ
leaderjar	Details	#11	[-]
Member Posts: 663 (05/06/08 06:35 AM) Joe Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Funeral details in this article for those who are near enough. It also appears the mortuary has an option to send "online condolences". click here - one more article It is sad to see a friend pass, but Phil leaves a legacy of having touched and inspired many people's lives. Regards, Joe C.
Wagriff	Phil Robinson	#12	[-]
Member Posts: 30 (05/06/08 11:57 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow...Reverend Robinson is Gone...and now his incredible collection to be scattered to the 4 winds. Jim Chamberlain,Dick Roller,Rev Robinson....all the big names of jars..slowly thinning down and vanishing. Where anyone will ever find another like The Reverend,is beyond me. Alot of great jars came my way from him over the decades-if you couldn't find one you needed bad,you could Always talk to him and chances are he had one(or sometimes Several)he would sell you for a great price. It must have broke his heart to be turned down by Muncie to keep the collection intact. If they didn't have the money,they should have found a way to do it anyway. He was always willing to work out some sort of deal,and I can't imagine that this was any different. He was one of the actual Decent jar experts and dealers who cared more for the Hobby and the Collectors rather than getting rich quick on a couple of sales. A Good man and certainly irreplaceable. An awful loss to the Hobby and my sincere sympathies go out to his family and loved ones. A sad and terrible end of an era. William