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Collection with a twist

Tommy Eure has a whimsical collection of martini glasses. One glass has three holes: for toothbrushes.

BEACH PARK - Forty years ago, Tommy Eure had his first martini. Now, he may be on the verge of his first world record.

Not for drinking. For accumulating.

Eure, 84, collects martini glasses.

The retired photographer started buying them about five years ago, after a friend gave him one as a gift. Today, the kitchen of Eure's Beach Park home is filled with them - 370, at last count.

"People collect coins, people collect stamps," he says simply. "I just collect martini glasses."

Some are made with stained glass. Some, of painted glass. One has a stem made of pewter, shaped like an elephant's head and trunk. Another has a handle that resembles a coiled snake.

Eure modified one himself. After he accidentally broke the base, he fashioned a new base in his garage-turned-woodshop, using mahogany, a lathe and a craftsman's touch.

Fancy is not what he's after.

He paid $200 for a glass inlaid with gold at an upscale Tampa jeweler's. He was just as giddy finding one for a quarter at a North Carolina flea market.

"The workmanship is what attracts him," says Joy Baxter, a longtime friend.

The collection reflects Eure's personality, too.

One features his caricature, an eyebrow raised, camera in hand. Another has three holes in it - for holding toothbrushes.

"For a dry martini," Eure cracks. "Real dry."

When Eure isn't collecting, he's shooting. "Tampa's oldest living photographer," he calls himself.

In the Army Air Corps during World War II, Eure pored over aerial photos, trying to figure out how well bombs hit their targets. After the war, he settled in Tampa and exercised his skills for happier occasions.

"I did well over 1,000 weddings," he says.

In between, he captured celebrities: Jack Lemmon and Al Jolson hang in his hallway. So do Ray Charles and Mario Lanza. There, too, is a young Elvis Presley, about to swivel his hips at Homer Hesterly Armory.

Eure's most famous photograph: President John F. Kennedy, in the back seat of a convertible, cheerfully cruising past Eure's photo shop on what is now Kennedy Boulevard.

It's one of the last images taken of Kennedy before he was assassinated four days later.

At home, Eure loves to show off his photos.

But don't expect an offer of a martini. He knows how to whip them up; he's just disciplined about when he does.

The rule is one a day, usually about 6 p.m., often at Charley's Steak House. He orders it with a salad smothered in blue cheese dressing.

Twist of lemon. No olive.

He expects it to be filled to the rim.

Too much air and he'll say, "Did you spill some?" his friend Baxter reports.

Eure's world revolves around friends. His wife died six years ago; his only son, 15 years ago.

Breakfast at the Village Inn is his morning ritual. Martini glasses are a whimsical diversion.

When his collection began to multiply, Eure built a kitchen cabinet. Shelves on the sides followed quickly, then shelves on the walls. He doesn't know where to go next.

If the glasses edge toward the carport, they'll share space with a pachinko machine and a doorbell that plays, Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here.

If they range toward the den, they'll be framed by foosball and air hockey tables.

"I am proud to say I still have the mind of a child," Eure says.

Sometime early next year, he plans to submit details about his collection to the Guinness Book of World Records. He wants to be formally recognized as the world's No. 1.

A quick check of the Guinness Book Web site shows no record holder for martini glasses. But if he doesn't get in, Eure won't sweat it.

At home, he'll keep collecting, he says. At Charley's, he'll keep ordering.

- Ron Matus can be reached at 226-3405 or matus@sptimes.com

AGE: 84

NEIGHBORHOOD: Beach Park

JOB: Retired photographer

FIRST GIG: Taking pictures of a 1936 hurricane for a Virginia newspaper

PASSION: Collecting martini glasses

FAVORITE GIN: Beefeater Wet

RUNNER-UP: Bombay Sapphire

BEST MARTINI MAKER: Charley's Steak House

RUNNER-UP: Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn & Restaurant

ALSO COLLECTS: Power tools