Vaseline Glass

I also collect Vaseline glass. Vaseline glass contains uranium oxide, and glows brightly under UV light (blacklight). We put together a handsome cabinet to display everything.

(click any picture to enlarge)

One of the more unusual display pieces is a transmitting tube, clearly visible in a couple of the pictures. When the UV bulbs are on, the glass surrounds for the lead feedthroughs glow quite visibly.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to take pictures of the glow with a digital camera; the blacklight makes a big purple smudge. For some representative glowing photos, take a look at Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc.

The Cabinet

The cabinet is one of those "buy it and put it together jobs", augmented in a couple of ways. My hubby (Rich) made various hardware and electrical modifications to conver it to a glass display cabinet.

First, he cut a piece of solid 1-inch-thick plywood the size of the cabinet back and screwed it on quite solidly. He was then able to run deck screws (with fender washers, visible in some of the pictures) through the back and into some studs in the wall. This mounts the cabinet about 18" off the floor.

Running up each side of the cabinet is a 4' fluorescent fixture. Rich cross-wired the two fixtures so that each one powers a bulb in the other. He mounted a switch plate on the right-hand side of the cabinet and put two toggle switches in it. We can power up either the visible light or UV bulbs, or both.

Note: Although the input voltage is 110 VAC, the voltage going to the bulbs can be considerably higher. So, Rich used some high- voltage wire for the cross-connections.

The racks are standard Hardware store fare, supplemented by clear plastic sheets, to support the pieces more evenly.