I ran across a notebook of printouts from the "Harbour Lights Collectors Information Center" which was the non-official precursor to www.HarbourLights.com.

The very first chat on the Internet was held on July 19, 1997. Can't tell you much about what we talked about - the chat room software didn't capture log files as it does now.

This Internet chat room was inspired by the AOL chat room which was a created-on-the-fly within AOL. Those chats started around February 1997 as I recall. (Any of you old-timers remember more exactly? - Anybody have copies of those "Lighthouse Collectibles" board posts? I remember we tried to capture old posts before they automatically dropped off the horizon.

I'll bring those notebooks along to the 2001 Reunion and perhaps those who'd like to look back can review them on some of the long bus tour legs.

At this week's chat, we didn't get the preview photos we expected but they should be up soon. You can read the log here:
www.HarbourLights.com/chatlogs/dec_6_00.htm


[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 12-07-2000).]

Hey John, ... I think I got involved with the AOL Chats around September of 1997. If my memory serves me correctly, we often talked about current values of HLs (then) and how well certain pieces held their values and even increased in value.

Another topic was the upcoming reunion planned for 1998. I think we knew HL was coming to the East Coast but we didn't know exactly where. I think it was around November when we got the general idea that HL would be coming to the Rhode Island area. I think that may have been confirmed around January of 1998.

The big sellers back then on the secondary market were the Southern Belles, CH-2, Burrows, Portland Head, Point Fermin, and Big Bay Point. Does anyone else recall any of the above happening around that general time span?

Bob

I think I tried to get in around that time but the room was always full. The one time I did make it there was one collector there,
and we chatted for 5 or 10.

don

John, I remember chatting back then. The thing that frustrated alot of us was getting AOL'd, for no reason we were disconnected from the internet. I just wish I could participate as much as I did back then in the chat room.