An Interview with Ferdinand Meyer V - The New Face of the Hobby - Jeff Wichmann

An Interview with Ferdinand Meyer V - The New Face of the Hobby

by Jeff Wichmann as published by American Bottle Auctions

November 2012

As the hobby changes over the course of months, years and decades, it’s inevitable that new faces arrive on the scene. One such new face is that of Ferdinand Meyer V, and as most people will agree, has come onto the scene like a hurricane. Not only maintaining a world class collection of bottles, Ferdinand has taken the reins in many areas of the hobby. I wanted to know more about this interesting man and thought it was time to New FOHBC President, Ferdinand Meyer V - 2012 Reno National banquet do an interview. The following is some background information and his responses to some pointed questions. I think you’ll agree, if anyone is going to make their mark on the antique bottle hobby in today’s world, it’s Ferd as his friends call him. Ferdinand Meyer V, President, Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and has a BFA in Fine Art and Graphic Design from the Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design. He is also the founding principal of FMG Design, a nationally recognized design consultation firm. Ferdinand is a passionate collector of American historical glass specializing in bitters bottles; color runs and related classic figural bottles. Ferdinand is married to Elizabeth Jane Meyer and lives in Houston, Texas with their daughter and three wonderful grandchildren. The Meyers are also very involved in Quarter Horses, antiques and early United States postage stamps.

JW: Although you are becoming the new face of antique bottle collecting in this country and for all I know the world, you’ve really been most prominent leading the charge in the last four years or so, what happened?

Jeff, I guess it really No stuffed animals for Ferdinand. has been kind of crazy now that I sit down and think a moment about where I am, where I’ve been and where I hope to go with antique bottles and glass. This all started in early 2002, so the first years I was the newcomer, the new kid on the block. One guy up north used to always squeeze in the word “neophyte” when we were talking. I thought that was pretty amusing. Just because I was just starting out did not mean I was new to collecting something great. I thank my grandparents for getting me into stamp collecting as a young child for this. I also immediately joined the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC). This was Jeff Noordsy & Ferdinand Meyer, 2011 Baltimore Bottle Show a no-brainer as I had always been a member of something or another. Membership gives you a sense of belonging and a feeling of having your sail full of wind. I was so excited when my card arrived. I was a “card carrying member of the FOHBC.”

Being new really worked to my advantage as it allowed me to fly under the radar the first few years and build the foundation of my bitters collection. I was also buying great bottles at a rapid speed almost immediately, so the word gets around. My first big moves were with Pacific Glass Auctions and this character I only spoke to on the telephone named Jeff Wichmann. I was so intimidated back then by you, Norm Heckler and Jim Hagenbuch. It was

kind of embarrassing, as I always felt like I might say something stupid to expose my newness to bottle collecting when I was on the phone participating in an auction. Seeing you guys in person at shows back than was off the charts intimidating. I think the ice broke, at least for me, back in November 2002 when I purchased the Doy McCall, Judge MacKenzie green Indian Queen from your shop.

Ferdinand Meyer V, Norman Heckler and James Becker at Heckler Hayfield event, October 2011. This gave me the confidence that I could move up a level and play with the players. Having the name Ferdinand Meyer V also helped, as many in the east coast knew my father Ferdinand Meyer IV who was very connected with the great Baltimore Antique Bottle Club. I also remember you or persons from your shop treating me special after we had done our first dealings. This also gave me confidence. Though I am not a gambler, I guess I thought I was getting the red carpet and high roller treatment.

I suspect becoming president of the FOHBC was the catalyst for you suggesting this interview. Since I have been president of my own company for three decades or so, I have had all the responsibilities, trappings and the rest of the stuff that goes with this position for almost my entire working life. It has been one wild ride that continues today. My point is, this is no power trip for me now with bottles. Been there, done that. When I go home on the weekends, my dogs, grandkids and my wife are the bosses, although not always in that order. I can accept that. I am putty in their hands and paws. Monday, I know, is just around the corner. I also realize that being president of the FOHBC is a big responsibility. I am humbled and honored to now have this role. Having an ‘all star’ supporting cast is also exciting. We really have a great group of board members that all seem to be stepping up and not just relying on their name, which in most cases are legendary. Gene Bradberry is also sitting to my right and Hall of Famer Bob Ferraro to my left, so I feel secure. Gene has been the president of the FOHBC and the Memphis club like ten times so talk about experience! If that guy does not get the coveted Hall of Fame award during my term, I will eat my hat. I have always let my passion for life, art and living take the lead with unbridled control only to have to chase it down and steer it from time to time. Heart and brain working together. I move between the right and creative side of my brain to the left and controlling side with relative and surprising ease. I think this jockeying back and forth has always been my strength, come to think of it.

I was tempted here to start telling my ‘bottle story’ again but I do not want to waste space. I have written a 2-part feature article on this topic for the FOHBC in Bottles and Extras back in 2009. Let’s just link and mention the stories and move on if you don’t mind. Read: Glass Passion and Color Part I: Life Transformation and Glass Passion and Color Part II: Exploration and Color.

OK, back to the question you asked, what happened? In hindsight, I saw an avenue to give something back and to be part of a great movement of rediscovery with antique bottles and glass. I was quite frankly, amazed, concerned and startled by the talk I was hearing about the stagnation of our hobby. I was also noticing a lack of direction, cohesiveness and observing very little ‘new blood’ to carry the torch. I was also concerned with what I saw when I would sit in the audience at FOHBC Board meetings. I wondered, how could you have all these great people, our legends, be somewhat disconnected with the bottle and glass world around them? How in the world could this all be? Well, we are a sleeping giant about to wake. It is already happening. History is hot, we all want to look back to our roots and ancestry, we want to remember, we want to find, we want to learn, we want to cherish, adore and celebrate early American glass. Look at all the television shows alone that deal with antiques! Quite amazing actually. In the most simplistic terms, I am just a tool. I have given myself back to the hobby and the FOHBC because I can hammer and I can also paint. For selfish reasons, I also thought this would be a great adventure. My swan song.

As a side note, my mother, with her masters degree in psychology, thinks this is all about me reconnecting with my father who passed away in 2005. We never really got along after my parents’ divorce and we lost our connection when I was a teenager. Bottles and glass has joined us spiritually in another dimension once again. My stepmother Jeane always says with amazement, “if your father could only see you now”. As I sit on a plane typing this out I want to cry. My mother is probably right.

JW: Did you ever think you’d be where you are now? The face of the hobby if you will? Is this what you wanted?

No, I just started down a path and doors started opening, the sun shined in different ways and I was given an opportunity to grow and learn which are my Wheaties and my fuel. I never really had too many friends in life because I was so dedicated to my business, so meeting new people, listening and being accepted in 7

the bottle and glass community is exciting and rewarding to me. I really have met some great people at every level that I admire. Sometimes I feel so small. Though I am not a digger, I have been digging, scratching and clawing my way along trying to get as much knowledge about antique glass as I can. Some of the folks I know have been doing this for their entire life. Once I start something, I kind of really jump into it. This glass thing really bit me late in life though I am now thinking that it was always there, beneath the surface, waiting.

JW: Regarding your personal collection, your bio says you collect bitters bottles, color runs and related classic figural bottles, what other favorite areas do you have of collecting in this amazing hobby and what are some of your own favorite bottles? Is there one bottle that you either have or don’t that you’d consider the bottle of all bottles?

I suspect I may have one of the most comprehensive bitters collections out there. Picking an area to specialize in and excel, certainly allows me to be competitive, which I am by nature. The romantic and witty side of me wants to say my latest bottle conquest, or some other Zen-like answer is my favorite bottle. I won’t do that. I will use a morbid game Sandor Fuss and I play with surprising effect with our collection and other collections. We say to each other sometimes, “if there is a fire, which bottle would you carry out first?” My answer is “the blue fish.” This bottle is magic. It comes alive in your hand or wherever it is displayed. It blows away Sandor’s blue Old Homestead. Sandor and I are also very competitive together and use any opportunity to make a statement to the other whether it is direct or indirect. Oh, your last question. I am looking for a cobalt blue, Drakes Plantation Bitters. Ya’ never know!

JW: As a kid, were you aware of the hobby, and did your father play a large part in that?

Elizabeth & Ferdinand Meyer holding the legendary blue fish bitters. FOHBC 2009 Pomona National.

I knew nothing about bottles as a kid. I was a stamp collector. I was not aware of this hobby until my father got into it pretty heavily. We were disconnected by then though I did hear about it when we talked or visited. It’s funny; I have always liked antiques and glass. Even at art school in Kansas City, Missouri, I would buy cheap bottles at antique shops just to put in windows 8

or put pennies in. Also, I have always been designing and sculpting in glass since art school in Kansas City so my fascination with glass has been with me and contributed to my career and passion all along.

JW: I believe most people see you as a fierce promoter of antique bottles and the hobby in general but what is it that you see about yourself that others may not?

My fear of failure or rejection keeps moving me along. We will have to ask Sigmund about that. I push hard, but I am always thinking that Indians are circling or I have more work to do. I like to excel and as I said previously, I am very competitive. However, I am getting worried of late that some people are saying that I am distant or pre-occupied when we talk. I especially hear this at shows or when I am at dinner with friends. I guess I have too many things on my mind. I apologize to all I have offended. I really do care. I am working on fixing these crossed wires.

JW: Your family obviously means a lot to you, your wonderful wife, Elizabeth, travels with you it seems to major if not all the bottle shows you attend, can we assume family is not only important to you but the most important part of your life?

My wife, daughter and grandkids mean the most to me. I do all of this for them. But I do hear from my wife and grandkids under various guises, “You care more about your bottles than me!” Elizabeth is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Without her, I shudder to think where or what I could be doing. She is my greatest fan and my biggest critic and boy does she know how to work it. I actually really feel guilty because she usually goes to the big bottle shows and events with me and I rarely go to her multi-day horse events. That is where we draw the line.

JW: Your efforts in promoting the hobby are unequaled in the hobby today. How do you find the time to deal with the Peachridge Glass website, the FOHBC web site, the new FOHBC Presidents position, editorial head of Bottles and Extras, the FOHBC magazine, the Virtual Museum project (I’m sure I’m leaving something out) and all the other things you do just within the framework of the bottle hobby?

Nearing the finish line at the 2011 Chevron Houston Marathon. Yes. Some of my days are busy. I usually wake at 3 or 4 a.m. every day out of habit. I actually enjoy this. I am very careful not to multi-task and allow myself time to work in each area if thinking and/or creative

work is required. I am an expert at taking short power naps and squeezing in working at an airport, between meetings or on a plane. I am also a problem solver. That is the core of my position with my company, FMG. Exercising is also part of my daily regimen as I started in 1975. I solve many problems while I run or are on the stairmaster.

JW: In a recent poll done by Terry Kovel and her staff, based on the results of hundreds of thousands of items searched for on their website during April 2012, bottles were number two with dolls being first. Where do you think the hobby is in relationship to collecting in the US today?

We are in the epicenter of something big. The moon and stars are aligned for the biggest movement our hobby has ever seen. I hear so many of the older collectors saying that the hobby is dying and that we do not have younger folks joining our ranks. This is so far from being correct. I assure you, there is a new breed of younger bottle collectors and historic glass enthusiasts that is Internet savvy in that they post bottle news on all of the great antique bottle and glass forum sites such as AntiqueBottles.net, facebook and the other websites such as my Peachridge Glass website, the Federation website and so many others. Many are also diggers. We need to embrace this community and welcome them into the waiting arms of the Federation, which unfortunately, in the past, seemed a little exclusive and out-of-touch to the next generation and the antique bottle and glass community as a whole.

I also feel that the ‘Americana and Folk Art’ collectors will discover ‘bottle collecting’ in the very near future. This is already beginning to happen and when this does, we will go mainstream. I want this to happen on our terms, Federation terms. We are a union of great people, friends, collectors, glass authorities, auctioneers, dealers, diggers, pickers, finders, historians, authors and bloggers in every possible area of historic bottles and glass. All I can say is, buckle your seat belts. No more moving at a snail’s pace. Let’s all work together and make this happen. Let’s pave the road to the future of our hobby. This is so exciting! It is happening in just about every other area of antique collecting. Now, finally, it is our turn. I just need to figure out a way to join all these groups. We are also seeing the uniting of the foreign collectors with the US collectors. This is pretty exciting too. Glass did not start here!

JW: Early on, it seemed whenever I called you, you seemed to be either at an airport or headed for one, is that still a major part of your schedule, lot of travel meeting with clients? Or are you spending more time dealing with the hobby?

It is late Friday afternoon and I am in transit between Virginia and Houston now. Going to recharge my batteries this weekend. Have to cut grass and fill some gravel that has washed out of our driveway at Peach Ridge. Monday I fly back to the east coast. It is more challenging when I have a bottle show on the weekend. Combining business, bottle shows and visits with collectors makes for some interesting trips! The Heckler - Keene, Baltimore and Auburn shows are typically bookended with business and collection visits. gasted. Having my own web page and knowing what it takes to just maintain that, isn’t a virtual museum almost a virtual dream? How’s it coming along?

I wrote an editorial on this recently about getting this project back on track. After a two-year delay with the last presidency of the FOHBC, it is moving forward again. This isn’t going to happen overnight. This will take years of work, like any museum, so do not look for completion any time soon. I do hope to have the first gallery open next year though. The heavyweights like Vuono, Fuss, Ham, Siri, Grapentine etc. are very supportive and are waiting in the wings to help. This will be great. Remember, all of the great pieces need to be photographed professionally and written up.

JW: Where do you think the hobby is headed over the next five years and what is in store for all the collectors out there?

The key is the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. We are stronger as a whole. We can do more as a group such as promote our Code of Ethics, have great national shows, promote regional and local shows thus increasing attendance, document our history, have a virtual museum, a bricks and mortar museum, develop collector and auction house standards for grading and colors, have interactive forums and websites, a great magazine, newsletter, influence legislature and understanding of our hobby and digging, culture the next generation, and have special events like our banquet, seminars, shootouts etc. that rarely happen elsewhere. The sum of the parts is much greater than any one of us so increasing membership is critical. We are up dramatically in FOHBC membership this past year and I attribute this to the machinery being oiled and moving at a faster and regular pace than it has been in years past. I frequently hear that Bottles and Extras, our bi-monthly, 72-page color magazine is what you get when you join the FOHBC. Well true, you do. The magazine is just the icing on the cake to me. I tell people that you get to be meet and belong to a group of the greatest and most passionate group of people on earth, who love antique bottles and glass.

Thank you Ferdinand

Reprinted from American Bottle Auctions, Sacramento, California. For original article go to americanbottle.com.

Dreaming at Big Sur, California