Collector Interview: Elaine Furda

Elaine Furda is a beachcomber and artist from Middlesex, New Jersey, who hunts for treasures all around the Atlantic Coast. She mostly collects sea glass to make her jewelry, and finds kiln/slag glass, bonfire glass, buttons, marbles, doorknobs, large crystal chunks, milk glass, and bottle stoppers. She also mudlarks for old plates, silverware, bottles, and depression glass. And, she collects amber, which is 89 to 93 million years old.

Elaine says the best beaches in New Jersey are those inaccessible by foot that she reaches by kayaking along the coast. “No one else is going there!” Elaine says. On her favorite beaches, she finds sea glass and slag glass chunks that came from glass factories that closed after a massive tidal surge. The remains of their glass furnaces were discarded along New Jersey’s Southern Shore to act as seawalls.

Elaine says there used to be many more pieces of slag on these remote beaches, but in recent years a man with a pickup truck took all the large pieces and sold them to garden centers. The kiln pieces Elaine finds are beautiful glass attached to pieces of sidewalk or chunks of concrete.

Her favorite find is her giant cobalt blue kiln/slag piece, which weighs 200 pounds, glistens in the sunlight, and leaves everyone who sees it in complete awe. Elaine recalls the first giant kiln piece she found, which she couldn’t pick up and needed a beach cart to be moved. After struggling up a sandy hill to their SUV, Elaine and her boyfriend had to make several makeshift ramps with pieces of wood found nearby to get the piece into the trunk of the car. A local woman came by and said the piece had been there for two months.

Elaine mostly beachcombs by herself, finding it simultaneously very relaxing and exciting. She adds a caveat to say sometimes her boyfriend comes with her, especially when she needs help carrying the 50– to 200-pound kiln pieces. She says that these days she’s looking for unique pieces that she enjoys entering in sea glass contests. In the summer, Elaine says she will spend four to five hours on the beach, and one day went to four beaches and searched for a full 12 hours.

Elaine regularly fishes with her boyfriend, and one day saw beautiful sea glass earrings in a bait shop. She thought to herself, “I can make that!” And as an avid kayaker, she began venturing out to random beaches to search specifically for sea glass.

Elaine has learned a lot about the beaches of Cape May, New Jersey. The area used to play host to more than 250 glass factories, and there are beautiful small pieces of sea glass on the beaches, along with the famous Cape May diamonds, which locals make into jewelry.

If you’re in the area, Elaine recommends going to the Wildwood Boardwalk, or trying out crabbing, fishing, clamming, and kayaking. In Island Beach State Park, there are kayak trails you can follow to see Osprey families in their nests. For overnight stays, Elaine recommends Angel of the Sea in Cape May.

Now retired, Elaine loves to kayak to new places, and cruises around in her boyfriend’s boat to snorkel, fish, clam, crab, and enjoy the ocean. “I love to discover the history of where certain pieces came from. It amazes me how old some pieces are.”

“I love the warmth, and the sound of the waves,” says Elaine. “I love to talk to other people on the beach. I love to teach children about sea glass and tell them how to make jewelry pieces for their mothers. I love the thrill of finding a great piece. It’s addicting!”

All photos courtesy of Elaine Furda.

This article appeared in Beachcombing Magazine Volume 48 May/June 2025.