#26 Topeka, Tiffany windows, motorcycles 9-9-08

Inside the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church are all matching Tiffany stained glass windows. This is the most beautiful display of stained glass I have ever seen. All the windows were done at the same time, which is unusual for any church because of the expense. Usually churches will have one at a time done. The benefactor of these windows only wanted the best and wanted to have them done all put in at the same time. All of the procedures and formulas used to produce these windows and other Tiffany glass were destroyed upon the death of Mr. Tiffany's assistant. This was stipulated in his will when he passed away. There are folds in the glass, stippling, coloring and faceting that have never been duplicated.
The light from outside is the only light that illuminates these windows. Mr. Tiffany came to the church and designed the windows to take advantage of the light on each side of the church. There are layers of glass where you can actually see through to the next layer, such as where Christ's foot in in the water. You can see his toes through the glass that is the color of the water.

Each window has a bible verse and under each verse, in each pane is the Tiffany Studio signature. Even though in the 1960's there was a tornado that did some damage to the Capitol Building right across the street, these windows were spared.
There are two windows that are "jeweled" with insets of hand faceted glass. Each is unique in design, but complimentary in order to keep the symmetry on either side of the sanctuary.

From churches with millions of dollars worth of windows to more modern collections. We visited the Harley Davidson Museum. This is a small collection of bikes that all have histories. The above one caught my eye because of the side car.This is a very early edition of a Harley. The seat doesn't look too comfortable to me.
Frank liked this one. He reminisced about owning an old Harley.AH, one that would go slow and park easily. As long as it didn't tip over, maybe Dixie could manage something like this.
Now we seen it all. A Harley Davidson juke box. Just what every Harley owner needs!