Glass Hand Coolers- Modern & Delightful

Recently, I've been poking around for current or past others uses for our glass art, and have come across this cupcake and plate that are lampworked and slumped/fused by Patty and Dinah Hulet in the glass hand cooler fashion.

In Victorian times, it was the style for women to carry carved egg shaped glass objects to wrap their hands around and hopefully cool off a bit. These were decorated in various ways, but were somewhat similar to a slightly larger paperweight about 1.5 - 3 inches tall. I can imagine that the way women dressed in those days and the lack of air conditioning, made it quite uncomfortable in the summer.

While reading about these hand coolers, I also found that small spheres of glass have been made for at least 2000 years. They found that some were used for juggling in ancient Rome's baths - which apparently had sand floors, so it's not quite so crazy sounding.

So cheers to Patty and Dinah for their new, modern spin on antique hand coolers and here's their cute blog for a little more fun viewing.