Olson, O. Joe (1910 (date of birth) - 1984 (date of death))
Dates
- Existence: 1910 (date of birth) - 1984 (date of death) - 1984
Biography
O. Joe (Olaf J.) Olson was born in Jamestown, New York in 1910. He worked a journalist and a pastor, serving secular press outlets and the Church of the Nazarene throughout his long and varied career.
Olson was an avid carnival glass collector, and he was active in several glass collectors' organizations, particularly after his retirement from the _Kansas City Star_ in 1968. He was the founder (in 1964) and first secretary of the Society of Carnival Glass, and a founder of the Greentown Glass Collectors (in 1972), and active in the American Carnival Glass Association and the American Custard Glass Collectors. He edited several newsletters, including the Carnival Glass Collectors News / Carnival Glass Collectors News & Views (1964–1970), Carnival Glass Tumbler News (1974-?), Carnival Glass Tumbler and Mug News (1979), Custard Glass Partyline (?-1975), and Greentown Glass Dolphin News (1974–1976). He helped organize the first convention of carnival glass collectors in the US in 1972.
Olson authored at least four books on custard and carnival glass: The Custard Glass Price Guide (Kansas City, MO: O. Joe Olson 1967); Carnival Glass in the Climactic 1970's, 2nd rev. ed. (Kansas City, MO : O. Joe Olson 1975); God and Home, Carnival Glass Superstar (Kansas City, MO: O. Joe Olson 1976); and The Book on 37 Rare Pitcher Patterns (Kansas City, MO: Carnival Glass News and Views 1978).
Olson died in Kansas City, Mo. in 1984 at the age of 73.
