Paperweights are beautiful handmade objects that are often used for decoration in a home or office, or for their original purpose of carrying letters or papers to make sure they don’t fly away, but there are many other interesting facts about paperweights. of glass that you may not know, so here are some interesting facts.

Paperweights can sometimes be a fire hazard, hard to believe I know, but a combination of different circumstances can lead to disaster. In June 2010 a £750,000 family home was destroyed due to a simple paperweight, no one was injured. Firefighters battled for five hours to douse the flames, and on inspection said the fire had started due to a simple paperweight. The paperweight had been displayed on a window sill and during a heat wave it magnified the sun’s rays onto a stack of books, causing the fire, a series of very unfortunate events.

In addition to this, you may be interested to know that in September 2008 a paperweight caused the evacuation of the huge JFK airport. Airport officials thought they saw a suspicious device which led to the evacuation of the entire terminal and no flights were allowed in or out of the terminal. Once the officer checked the ‘suspicious’ package, he discovered that they were actually paperweights.

Paperweights were also used in the 1800s by royalty as decorative objects, and indeed a paperweight purchased for the untimely death of Paul 1st, Tsar of Russia, who reigned from 1754 to 1801. The Tsar or King, as might more commonly name. today was killed when a manhunt broke out in his bedroom after a conspiracy was established against him. The men chased him around the room until he tripped and fell, causing a gold and bronze paperweight to fall on him.

As we all know, paperweights come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and even world-famous jewelers Tiffany’s create specialized paperweights, like the limited edition Star Wars Death Star engraved paperweight, released to coincide with the blockbuster movie. In this regard, paperweights are often collector’s items and come in a variety of themes, from movies to world cup-style paperweights; surely there is something for everyone.

So, as you can see from this interesting news, paperweights are not only beautiful and decorative objects, but they also have a lot of history and can be a great starting point for a conversation. Plus, they make the perfect gift, like a corporate paperweight for a colleague.