Flickinger Glassworks Newsletter
Our brief monthly newsletter from Red Hook, Brooklyn …
including other people, places & things we think you should know about.
March 27, 2020
 
Dear friends,
 
The Red Hook streets are quiet. Most businesses closed. The restaurants are trying to make it on take-out. I'm sitting here alone in the shop looking at a 4-foot-high water mark on our brick wall: evidence of Hurricane Sandy; another trying time. Hanging nearby is a 1969 photo of my mentor Les Smith (photo shown), a logger and professional boxer who taught me to fish. He said to me many times, “Charlie, it's a great life if you don't weaken.” 

So how do I stay strong with coronavirus invading every aspect of my life? I keep it real simple and just do the next right thing. Take food to the neighbors who are seriously ill. Transfer the shop's extra N95 face masks to our local Methodist Hospital. Call friends and family to get the love and support I need. If you find yourself needing a little bolstering, please be in touch. We'll run it around until we both feel better. 
 
Meanwhile, we are continuing to take orders and we hope our newsletter is a welcome distraction.

— Charles Flickinger, owner Flickinger Glassworks
American Metal Spinning Products
Video: Keith Morse sharing a bit about his family's business.
American Metal Spinning Products is a 3rd generation, family-owned business located in Babylon, NY. Founded in 1986 and currently run by Clark Morse and his two children Keith and Katie Morse, this company is extremely important to Flickinger Glassworks. They make our bent glass molds.

Videos: Watch Oscar Amaya making steel molds.
Work We're Proud Of
Get an inside peek at the fun we get into at the shop. Celo is shown in the video above transferring a glass bowl through several steps of the bending process. The glass is first placed in an oven to preheat at 900 degrees. It is then transferred to a 1,200 degree oven to bend. In this particular video, Celo is using one of the molds that American Metal Spinning created for us.
Photo: Celo holding glass bowls
Photo Credit: Randy Duchaine
Be well, and wash your hands often.