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The old stoves are harder to find these days, and pricy.
"Years ago, nobody wanted these stoves," Glenn said. "Sometimes you could buy one for $5; sometimes they just tossed them out. Most of them just hit the junk pile."
Today, he said, stoves turn up at estate sales, auctions, and even flea markets.
Restoration of a parlor stove is simple in theory, but labor intensive.
"I take the whole thing apart, sandblast or bead blast every piece of cast iron," Glenn said. "Then I'll do whatever welding is necessary, or get pieces recast. Then, I reassemble the stove, and use cements and sealers so it'll be airtight."
The earlier the stove, the more ornate was its design. The finish played into that as well. Polishing the stove with stove black, for instance, makes ornamental detail stand out and creates a rich, lustrous gleam. But woe to the one who brushes up against the stove, for stove black leaves a wicked stain on clothing.
The gleam from the stove black is heightened by shining accent pieces. Foot warmers, "skirts," finials and other parts were often nickel-plated. Many of the stoves Glenn acquires are so consumed by rust that it's nearly impossible to determine which pieces were originally clad in nickel. He follows his instincts, and works closely with a craftsman who has learned by trial and error how to get the best plating job.
Glenn tries to keep his restorations as authentic as possible, but he does "customize" stoves on occasion. Although some stoves feature mica insets in door panels - acting as windows - the doors on many were solid. On one of his stoves, Glenn modified the panels on one door, covering the openings with sheets of mica, so that the fire within is visible. On another stove - one with a particularly ornate barrel - he gave the barrel a quarter-turn so that the detail would be at the front of the stove, rather than on the side, as designed.
"Eighty percent of the stoves you buy won't have a dome (a decorative top piece)," he said. When he visits antique stores or antique malls, he always asks if they have any old stove finials (he even carries a folded pattern for one dome in his pocket, just in case). Every now and then, he finds one, and adds it to his inventory. Once in a blue moon, there's a happy match.