Inside of Wet Whistle Wines on Van Brunt Street there are some cool-looking drinking glasses on display. These are courtesy of Meghan Mardiney’s passion for antique barware. Her husband is Cory Hil, who co-owns the wine shop.
Megan has made a business from her passion. We first encountered her last December at the gift fairs that were held at BWAC.
Mardiney is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She came to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design in the Village. She decided to stay and has lived in Brooklyn for 30 years.
“I have been an art and creative director since I graduated,” she told us. “I spent 10 years working in the fashion industry doing design for a trade show producer, and then I went into publishing. I was the art director for Vanity Fair magazine for a few years. After that, I was at a startup for a little while and then I started my own business which does everything from museum exhibit design to branding…Lots of print but also some interior stuff.”
During the pandemic, Mardiney’s work slowed down and she was able to search for vintage barware and glassware.
“Even though it wasn’t my job, it is my passion and I love it,” Mardiney said. “I spent a lot of time going to estate sales and thrift shops. I was looking for little gems and I also did a lot of research on types of glasses. During the pandemic, I really found a lot.”
Additionally, Mardiney’s daughter, who lives in California, helped out by doing a lot of research and finding out how much certain patterns would usually sell for as well as the history of different glassmakers.
“Last year I did the Red Hook Holiday Market, which was the first time I’d done a market and it was super fun,” she said. “I sold enough to cover the market expenses which was good. The cool thing about having a lot of people seeing the glassware is that they all have a story about someone who had the same or similar ones whether it’s their mom or their grandmother. It brings back memories for people, which I love. That was the most common theme during the holiday market.”
Shipping fragile items
A challenge is shipping fragile glassware. A lot of it is also heavy.
“There was a learning curve finding the perfect way to pack the glassware,” Mardiney said. “You definitely don’t want to send it to somebody and have it arrive to someone broken and you know it has survived in this beautiful state for so long so you don’t want it to break. I like having the pop up here and then when I have everything on my website, if somebody local wants something, I can bring it here for them to pick up.”
As for finding the glassware she frequents thrift stores along the East Coast as well as attending estate sales. Speaking about the estate sales, Meghan says: “A lot of people aren’t looking for glassware, so I’ll get there early and look in the kitchens. In a way, it’s weird being in someone’s home but it’s also cool because the people liked what they had and I can give that glassware new passion and new life where other people can enjoy it. I went to one in Mill Basin in a house on the water, and it was like a movie set. Everything was clean but all of the furniture was from the ‘60s. I also really enjoy seeing different people’s spaces.”
Mardiney also spoke about some of her favorite glassware.
“I love finding some of the ones with brighter colors and cool geometric patterns,” Mardiney said. “One of my favorite manufacturers is Culver. A lot of their stuff has 22k gold on the rims and they just have really beautiful patterns.”
For Mardiney, finding the glassware is like a treasure hunt. However, she also has to pace herself and make sure she sells some of it before buying too much. Right now, she has a lot of glasses and is not letting herself buy \more until she sells some.
“I love doing this, and I love finding hidden gems.”
Meghan’s website is www.barflyvintage.com. All the merchandise on the website is available through appointment. She also has been setting up at pop up markets, and you can always talk to her husband at Wet Whistle Wines, 357 Van Brunt Street.
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