Anchor Hocking Glass Museum - About the Curator

Anchor Hocking Glass Museum

About the Curator

Philip L. Hopper, Curator

Enjoying our children's inheritance

Philip L. Hopper, born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1949, graduated from Iowa State University where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Biology. He taught physics, chemistry, biology, physical science, and earth science for three years in Iowa at the junior high and senior school levels before becoming a full-time beekeeper. After running 1200 hives of honeybees in southwestern Iowa for several years, he entered the Air Force and received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1980. He was initially assigned to a Field Maintenance Squadron in the 416th Bombardment Wing located in Rome, New York. After three years as an aircraft maintenance officer, he volunteered for missile combat crew duty and was assigned to the 510th Strategic Missile Squadron, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. During this assignment, he earned his Master's Degree in Industrial Hygiene from Central Missouri State University. He transferred to the Medical Corps in 1989 and became a consultant in hazardous noise and vibration at Armstrong Laboratory, Brooks Air Force Base, San Antonio Texas. Subsequently, he left San Antonio and moved to Oklahoma, where he was assigned as the Chief of Industrial Hygiene in the 72d Medical Group at Tinker Air Force Base. In 1999 he accepted as assignment at the 76th Medical Group at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

When Kelly Air Force Base closed on 1 April 2001, he transferred to Lackland Air Force Base. On 1 October 2001 he retired from the Air Force after 21 years, 11 months and 26 days of faithful service to his country. Since his retirement, he has been working as a consultant in industrial hygiene.

Lieutenant Colonel Hopper has been a "collector" since early childhood. This passion has grown and expanded through the years. He initially collected railroad tie date nails, a collection that now exceeds 25,000 nails dating from 1900 to 1980. He has also managed to amass over 4,000 bank notes from over 200 currency-issuing authorities worldwide. He expanded his expertise by collecting marbles, lithographs and engravings, oil paintings, handmade bottles, antique Harley-Davidson motorcycles and spark plugs. His personal collection of Anchor Hocking items presently exceeds 12,000 pieces of glass, over 400 boxed sets, 75 glass mold sets, 250 wooden patterns, 500 blueprints, 25,000 pages of glass advertisements, and 200 catalogs. The entire collection is now on display in the Anchor Hocking Glassware Museum in San Antonio, Texas. The museum will not have regular hours so the collection will be available only when the author is home.