Beachcombing for Japanese glass floats, Hardcover – 1967

I guess this is one of the few books existing on Japanese glass fisherman floats. Written in 1967 by Amos L. (Lonzo) Wood, Jr. (b. Apr 1,1913-d. Mar 27,1989), a hobbyist beachcomber who corresponded with hundreds of other collectors to compile the wisdom in the book. A career aero-engineer for Boeing Seattle and alumni of Perdue and was married to Elaine Inez Fulton-Wood. He authored 2 other books, Beachcombing The Pacific, and Hiking Trails In The Pacific Northwest. This book is Illustrated with black and white photos throughout the book , the book is full of knowledge, particularly a visit to a Japan factory where these floats where blown and the step-by-step process. You see photos of the entire amazing production. An illustrated reference section to trademarks and imprints make this book invaluable. The book is on the smaller side, at 5 1/2 x 9 inches and 221 pages. The chapters of the book are 1. Pleasure Of Beachcombing (10 pages) 2. Kinds of Floats (24 pages) 3. Techniques Of Beachcombing (28 pages) 4. The Long Sea Journey (with small current and landing maps) (12 pages) 5. The Oregon Maelstrom (A whirlpool of extraordinary size) (8 pages) 6. How Glass Floats Are Manufactured (worth the price of the book alone and perhaps the only document of it's kind) (24 pages) 7. Japanese Fisheries And Fishermen (12 pages) 8. Tofino Interlude (Finding a cache of 14 floats in one day at the sea village of Tofino on the coast of Vancouver) (6 pages) 9. Where To Find Glass Floats (30 pages) 10. Floats As Decorations (18 pages) 11. Collectors and Collections (12 pages) sadly the black and white photos do no justice. 12. A Summing-Up (10 pages) 13. Trademarks and Imprints (13 pages) 87 symbols are each briefly described and identified. Had this book been in color and the maps more detailed - it would have been a 5 star.

I've had some of these glass floats for a very long time and didn't know until recently there was a book about them. It is very informative; I'm learning a lot about the little treasures from this book. I recommend it.

I lived on the island of Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands for several years and to save my sanity collected these balls as they washed up. Twenty years later I found this book and it has been very helpful in detailing everything about these mysterious balls of the sea. I suggest that anyone who is interested in these balls and their history get a copy of this book as it will answer most questions they might have regarding them.

A family member was into collecting these glass floats, which we inherited some, and this book helps us to better understand the value of these floats which are no longer made.

Just received my book from Abebooks.com. It was received by my local posted office within 3 days.So it was timely and well packaged.This believe this book is now of out of print. But despite that the bookis in good shape with the jacket cover intact. All the pages are there and it has a wonderful"old book" smell to it. The content is certainly one of a kind and is well written, easy to read,and full of nostalgic black and white photos. If you are a beachcomber or a glass float fanatic this is a must foryour book collection.

This book is a good introduction to the beginning of the era of Japanese fishing float collecting in the northwestern United States.

Great