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My husband, H. W. Hollard, and I had been noticing the lovely tables in the various home decorating magazines, and decided there was no time like the present to start out on our own to make one or two.

We had seen one picture of a table top, unusual in shape, and another made so that the legs came up through the top. We felt that if we combined both ideas, we would have a very attractive table. It might be described as a "modified kidney shape," or one might say its form is similar to a map picture of the African continent. This is the first one that we made, and has proved our most popular shape. At the longest point it is 33 inches, and 28 inches in width at the widest part.

We had decided we would use black Vitrolite, ¹¹/32 inches thick, for the top. Vitrolite, as many of you know, is opaque structural glass, and comes in many beautiful colors such as: black, white, bright red, wine, Rembrandt blue, forest green, tranquil green, ivory, French grey, orange, and beige, which is the nearest thing to pink made.

In order to get the Vitrolite cut to proper shape, it was necessary to make a paper pattern from brown wrapping paper, which was sent in to the glass manufacturers, so that they could cut it to shape, and also bore the holes in the top through which the legs would project if we were making that kind of a table. We got a quotation from the company which included in the total cost the charges for boring the holes and cutting the glass to the desired shape. If the shape decided upon is somewhat bizarre, as our first one was, there is always the question in one's mind as to whether it is going to please you when it comes from the glass factory.

While on the subject of shapes, besides the one just described, we have used circular tops, fiddle-shaped tops and others which we have seen illustrated in catalogs and newspapers. Sometimes our customers have an idea for a shape that they wish duplicated. We always make a paper pattern to show them for their approval before ordering the glass.

AS THE idea grew in our minds, we wondered why a design on the top of the table, cut into the Vitrolite in some way, might not improve the finished product. Having majored in art, I felt that a stencil design would be necessary, but first I had to find out what material could be used to cover the Vitrolite which would be sturdy enough to stand rough usage after the design was cut and the actual etching work began.

We felt that we might obtain some help from the artists at the monument works in our home town, Jonesboro, Arkansas, so we went into a huddle with them to see what they used to mask their tombstones with before cutting the designs. In this way we learned about a heavy paper, gummed-back masking tape, 12 inches in width, which could be bought at near-by Memphis, Tennessee, with which we would have to cover the entire surface. One 50-yard roll costs around $12 in the 12-inch width. The tape is made by the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., which also makes Scotch tape.

The tape is put on the Vitrolite in strips until the top is entirely covered. Each seam must overlap at least ¼ inch and the tape should be turned under at the edges of the top the same distance.

We were now ready to place the traced design which has been drawn on tracing paper, on the masking tape, which is securely held to the Vitrolite by the adhesive on the tape. The design on the tracing paper must be put at the desired place, centered, off-centered, or on the edge, as the case may be, and the tracing paper fastened down with Scotch tape so that it is not dislocated during the process of transferring.

There are two methods of transferring. You may either turn the design over, face down, and rub with the bowl of a teaspoon or the metal end of a pocket knife handle, along the lines at the design, or you may use carbon paper under it, if you wish the design to face in the same way as the original. We prefer the rubbing method; however, if non-smudge carbon paper were used, it would work equally well.

WE CHOSE a man's head as our first design. We call it a bald-headed bookkeeper, the emblem of the writer, whose vocation is that of accountant. In making the design which one intends to transfer to the masking tape, a No. 2 lead pencil is used. The outline must be heavy enough to transfer well. It can be traced on both sides to facilitate having the study facing either left or right.

Our friends at the monument works had told us that we would need a tool called an etcher's point for cutting the stencil, once the design was transferred. The tool consists of a thin blade of steel, about ¹/16 inch wide and 4 to 5 inches long, imbedded in a pencil-like stick of wood. As one wears the blade off, the wooden handle is trimmed back just as one sharpens a lead pencil.

When one is ready to start cutting the design, it is necessary to decide what parts one wishes etched or blasted out; start cutting, and lift each loose piece of masking tape away from the glass. All the while, it is well to keep nearby, a small pocket hone so that the edge of the knife can be kept razor sharp.

When the design is finished as to cutting, you are ready to do the actual etching or blasting, whichever method you choose.

If one decides to do one's own etching, an etching paste is squeezed on to the exposed sections of Vitrolite and allowed to remain there two minutes, then washed off under warm, water from the faucet, or in a pan full of warm water. One must be very sure that all cut edges of the tape are securely pressed against the glass surface before the paste is applied. Directions for using etching paste are furnished with the purchase. If etching paste is used, the part etched out feels smoother to the touch than a sandblasted job, but does not look any better. The first impulse of people looking at the work is to touch that part which is rough, and if body oils get into this rough texture, something like naphtha is needed to get the oily print out.

While we were consulting the men at the monument works about tape and tools, we also discussed having them do our blasting. After explaining the size of the table top, they said their charge would be $1. It takes but a puff-puff of the sand blaster and the job is finished.

If, perchance, there is no place of this nature in your town, most glass companies have small hand machines used for sand blasting, or such tools can be purchased readily like spray guns for painting.

Before starting to etch or blast, we cannot emphasize too strongly, be sure to see that the edges of the masking tape are down good and tight, because if just a small amount of sand or paste gets underneath, the design will be faulty or ragged. After the blasting or etching away of the glossy surface, the result will look very much like smoked pearl if black Vitrolite is used. Care should be taken, before the masking tape is removed after the blasting process, to see that all loose sand particles are wiped off, if that method is used.

If the lighter shades of glass are used, the design does not stand out so well, and we find that rubbing or brushing in tempera paints of a contrasting color where the glossy surface has been blasted out, gives a very beautiful effect. Pink dogwood blossoms on tranquil green are elegant.

WHILE ALL of this top work was going on, the writer's husband, a teacher of science, had not been idle. He was turning out the graceful table legs and finials, which are of black walnut. Pieces of walnut 2 by 2 by 18 inches were turned out on a lathe, tapering from 1¾ inches to 1 inch at the bottom. The finials look like over-sized wooden buttons. Each has a hollowed out place underneath to fit like a cap over the leg where it comes up through the table top. Cold water glue is used to fasten the finials to the legs. The legs are oiled with linseed oil, waxed and rubbed to a beautiful luster before they are fastened to the top.

We also use a piece of plywood, cut the same shape as the table top, immediately underneath the glass to give more support. It is usually cut one inch narrower all around. It also adds strength where the gluing actually occurs. Mastic is used between the plywood and the Vitrolite to hold them together.

The thought had not occurred to us to make these tables for sale, but as our friends came in to visit with us, this is what we usually heard: "Where in the world did you get it? Why it is strictly Hollywood," or, "Isn't it a wonderful conversation piece." This led them to asking us if we would make them one. We had no idea what sort of a price to put on them, even though we did know what they cost, exclusive of our time. So we called in the owner of the largest furniture store here in town and asked her what she thought they should bring. This was her reply: "At Christmas time, I had one somewhat similar, but nowhere nearly as beautiful, and I had to charge $98 for it." Materials, labor, etc., on our first table had been a little over $14. We put a price of $35 on the first table (28 by 33 inches in size) that we sold. Today we get $50 for the same size due to a rise in price of Vitrolite.

One table sells another, and since we both have other occupations, we are very happy if we find time to turn out one a month. In order to promote sales, we have made a Kodachrome picture of each one of our tables and are able to show these to our prospective customers.

We have exhibited in the Art Shop here at Jonesboro, at the Tri-States Fair at Memphis and had a lovely exhibit at Brooks Memorial Art Gallery at Memphis.

We also get in touch with interior decorators, architects and specialty contractors, such as firms dealing only in structural glass. Since the work is so different, the interior decorators who have seen it are happy to be able to recommend it to their patrons who want something none of their friends have. We handle sales through the above outlets on a commission basis, usually 15 percent.

We think that the most beautiful cocktail table we have ever made is one 36 inches in diameter, with six legs, each one coming through a green mirrored top. The design is a Chinese gentleman, depicting longevity, gaily flying through the air on his crane, with his beard floating in the breeze and airy, fairy clouds all about him. The detail of the bird's feathers, particularly on its breast, and the detail of the Chinaman's kimono, are breathtaking. For this size table we charge $150.

BESIDES THE tables, we also make plaques, following a procedure identical to table top work. The plaques were also the answer to a wish on our part. We had seen some pheasant plaques done on sheet aluminum, the design having been cut out with some kind of a saw. It occurred to me that they could be made from thin veneer panels. When I asked my husband in July how long it would take to saw one out on a jigsaw, he told me he might get one finished by December, just putting in extra time that he might have. The reason for this length of time was that the feathers had to be made to stand out by cutting individual feathers on each bird. That was too long to wait, so again I fell back on Vitrolite and mirror in colors. Wine Vitrolite was used for three different poses of the pheasant, and they were really beautiful.

It so happened that an acquaintance was remodeling her home and was using Vitrolite in the construction of the fireplace. The contractor knew about our plaques, and told us he thought we could sell something to her. We went over with our pheasant plaques and she liked them very much, but wanted to know if birds were the only things we did. We told her that if she had an idea in mind, and would let us make up a sketch for her on tracing paper, we would love to do that. The only stipulation she made was that the plaque was to be in black and that included in the study was to be a little Chinaman with a big floppy hat. The writer went to work with a zest and worked out a garden scene depicting a gnarled old pine with a little bird sitting on a limb and a Chinese man in a kimono and floppy hat seeming to be talking to the bird. There is also a fragment of a cloud and a section of the Chinese key for balance.

When we took it over to her, she was pleased beyond words. For this size of 16 by 21 inches, we got $20. The contractor was called in to hang it, we having furnished the plastic clips, enamelled black to conform, and later in the day one of his men called to say that he had put it up for her and thought it was perfectly beautiful. He also told us that our patron had said she considered it the most exquisite thing she had in her home. This lifted us to the skies, you can well imagine, because she has some very lovely things. The Vitrolite worked up beautifully, and the kimono on the little Chinese almost seems to ripple in the folds and resembles black velvet. Six hours were required to cut the design.