About Us

We are Michael & Lori Palmer and reside in Greenville, NC with our five
year old twin boys, a dog and two cats. We are avid glass collectors and
enjoy the pursuit of that next elusive piece of Charleton.

Lori was born in Baltimore, MD but has been a native of Albemarle, NC
most of her life. Lori graduated with a BS in accounting, Summa Cum
Laude, from Pfeiffer University in Meisenheimer, NC. She was a corporate
CPA for a number of years but now works in the home taking care of our
boys, Jacob & Joshua.

She has a variety of interests and especially enjoys visiting historical
areas, glass collecting and research. She co-authored our book "The
Charleton Line" and was invaluable with her help needed on the myriad
of details prior to its publication.

I was born in Bristol, VA and was raised on a farm in Sussex County in
southeastern VA. I graduated from Stony Creek High School and worked
in a variety of jobs over the years. I also served a six-year enlistment in
the Virginia Army National Guard and received an Honorable Discharge in
1978.

I am currently employed by DSM Pharmaceuticals in Greenville where I
have worked as a chemical processor for the last 15 years. I have a
variety of hobbies including playing guitar, chess, military history, and
shark teeth hunting in local creeks.

I also have a son and daughter from a previous marriage. Jesse, age 27,
has a BFA in Communication Arts and is employed by East Carolina
University here in Greenville.

Melanie, age 24, who recently earned her degree in nursing and lives
with her husband and three sons in Dunkirk, NY.

Lori and I met on the Internet in 1996 and were married a year later.
When Lori and I established a home in Greenville, she brought with her a
small Fenton basket, and that was our only piece of collectible glass at
that time.

It was at that point that we began visiting local historical sites and antique
stores. We began finding more and more Fenton as well as other items
that caught our eye. Our collection has grown by leaps and bounds and
we have recently limited most of our purchases to Charleton decorated
items. We still add a piece now and then to our collection of hand vases,
opalescent perfume bottles and Victorian English opalescent glass.

In 2002, after four years of research and collecting, we wrote our book,
The Charleton Line, which was published by Schiffer Publications. This
book details the history of Abels, Wasserberg and Company as well as
hundreds of examples of glass and porcelain items that were hand
decorated by this company in the 1940's and 1950's.

We are currently documenting new pieces for an intended updated
edition of their book and welcome any information that other collectors
may be able to provide. We would also be glad to help collectors with
any suspected Charleton identification or other hand decorated glass and
porcelain items from the 1940s/1950s.