This four-arm Arts & Crafts style electric chandelier with pulled feather gold Aurene shades (unsigned) came from the former Gulliver’s Restaurant in Chicago. Even without a signature, the piece made a tidy sum of $2,990 at auction. (Photos courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio)

Louis Comfort Tiffany was not the only glassmaker producing gorgeous American art glass during the turn of the 20th century. American glass manufacturers such as Steuben Glass Works, Quezal Art Glass and Lustre Art Glass Co. were equally as influential in the production of high quality decorative glass. The art glass by these makers is often just as beautiful and certainly more moderately priced compared to Tiffany art glass, making it a great place to start collecting.

Some of the most widely available and collectable pieces of American art glass are the beautiful shade forms. A pair of Steuben or Quezal art glass shades will generally run between $500-$1,000, depending on condition and decoration.

The Art Nouveau art movement (ca. 1890-1920) conveniently coincided with the nation’s rush to electrify homes and businesses. Versatile and highly decorative shades were created to adorn the ceiling fixtures and wall sconces being installed homes throughout the country. Collectors today seek art glass shades to be used as originally intended and as choice cabinet pieces for display.

The Art Nouveau focus on decoration and organic, natural design can easily be seen in the color and patterning of the glass shade forms. The pulled feather, the leaf & vine, and the drag loop or King Tut swirl were some of the most common and recognizable decorative patterns seen in American art glass shade. These patterns were usually produced while the glass was still molten and often pulled on a solid opaque ground with an iridescent interior.

Next to Tiffany, Frederick Carder’s Steuben Glass Works was one of the most innovative glass houses of the early 20th century. Carder created many types of lustrous lead glass but is best known for his Aurene glass. Steuben Aurene glass was available in a variety of colors with an iridescent finish. Gold and blue Aurene were the most popular and most common. Other colors include red, brown, yellow and green. Carder felt that blue Aurene was strong enough to stand unadorned, which explains why there are very few decorated blue Aurene forms.

This lot of five Lustre Art heart and vine shades sold for $900 at auction.	Pair of Quezal ribbed gold Aurene pulled-feather shades sold for $390.
The signature assigns these shades to Lustre Arts.	These shades have the Quezal signature.

The Quezal Art Glass and Decorating Company produced shades in every color and nearly every decoration, form, and size. There are more Quezal art glass shades available on the market than any other manufacturer, due to large production numbers. Like Steuben, Quezal shades incorporated decorative patterns on an opaque ground with an iridescent interior as well as decoration embedded in clear glass.

Glasshouses like Lustre Art, Durand and Fostoria also produced glass shades during the period. While their pieces were very similar in coloring and pattering, the quality did not compare to those produced by Steuben, Quezal and certainly Tiffany.

Three Steuben ovoid pulled lace pattern shades sold for $1,495 at auction.

The Steuben fleur de lis mark at rim is still visible.

Pieces with similar or identical features can sometimes be identified by the presence of a signature. Steuben glass vases and perfumes were often signed STEUBEN in small block letters, however the shades were signed with the trademark silver fleur de lis on the rim. Most Quezal pieces were signed with an engraved or acid-etched QUEZAL signature at the rim. Lustre Art shades were signed with an engraved Lustre Art script signature.

When choosing an art glass shade, personal taste should always come first. Look for consistency in color in the exterior decoration. If the interior is an Aurene or iridized glass, the finish should not be flaking or have excessive wear. Also, be sure to check for chips or cracks. A high-quality art glass shade exhibits a high level of craftsmanship and brilliant coloring.

Dr. Wes Cowan is founder and owner of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio. An internationally recognized expert in historic Americana, Wes stars in the PBS television series “History Detectives” and is a featured appraiser on “Antiques Roadshow.” He can be reached via email at info [at] historicamericana [dot] com.

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A pair of “Iris” pattern Depression glass tumblers, made by the Jeannette Glass Company, often sell at auction for less than $10 each.

The next item in this series of Unloved Antiques is 20th century is crystal Depression glass, which gets its name from the fact the bulk of it was mass produced during the years of the Great Depression (1929-40). Depression glass is a form of pressed glass—both in clear or colored varieties—that was originally distributed free, as a premium or low cost give away. Some theater chains offered different pieces on a weekly basis to draw crowds during these lean years. Some companies, such as Quaker Oats and other packed food companies, offered glassware as a marketing method by placing it in the boxes (also saving the amount of product needed to fill the box).

Most glassware of this type was made in the central and midwest United States, an area with existing industrial manufacturing capacity with ready access to power and raw materials. Depression glass was also made in Canada for similar reasons. There were hundreds of patterns produced in clear and colors such as green, blue, pink and amber, rarer colors include cobalt blue, ruby, black, canary yellow and jadeite. Being what it was—a low cost or give away item—the quality of Depression glass isn’t top notch, but it’s always had a group of collectors since the 1960s. While some of the more unusual colors can be fairly valuable, the clear glass types like the examples above are very inexpensive, even some 80 years after its introduction.

The examples above, two tumblers from a water/lemonade set are in the “Iris” pattern, so called for its relief pattern of leaves and flowers that covered the main body of the pieces, along with a herringbone background. The pattern in clear glass was first issued circa 1928 by the Jeannette Glass Company, which was located in Jeannette, Pa.

Judging by the sheer numbers of these examples one sees at antique markets and shops, these items must have been produced in staggering numbers. The Iris pattern covered about 40 different pieces of tableware, including bowls, teacups, water/cordial sets, candelabras, light shades and plates. This pattern was revived after the Second World War and again in the 1970s, but in clearly different color variations.

The Jeannette Glass Company closed for good in 1983, after being in operation since 1898. In today’s market, the Jeannette Iris pattern tumblers above often sell at auction for less than $10 each.

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Previous “Unloved Antiques” articles:

• Unloved Antiques: ‘Limited Edition’ Collectors Plates
• Unloved Antiques: Singer Sewing Machines
• Unloved Antiques: Decorator Prints
• Unloved Antiques: Commemorative Whiskey Decanters
• Unloved Antiques: ‘Bronze’ Flatware
• Unloved Antiques: 1847 Rogers Brothers Flatware
• Unloved Antiques: Hummel Knockoffs
• Unloved Antiques: National Geographic Magazines
• Unloved Antiques: Dragonware
• Unloved Antiques: 19th Century Religious Prints
• Unloved Antiques: Depression Glass

Mike Wilcox, of Wilcox & Hall Appraisers, is a Worthologist who specializes in Art Nouveau and the Arts and Craft movement.

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Jesse V. purchased this “Lalique perfume bottle” from a dealer at a discount for $350 because it was an “unmarked Lalique.” After doing a great deal of research using the Worthpoint’s Worthopedia, he hadn’t found a match for it to anything made by the Lalique glass company. After engaging WorthPoint’s Ask a Worthologist, Jesse learned the piece is not by Lalique, not French but still it is not a fake.

Jesse V. purchased this “Lalique perfume bottle” from a dealer at a discount for $350 because it was an “unmarked Lalique.” After doing a great deal of research using the Worthpoint’s Worthopedia, he hadn’t found a match for it to anything made by the Lalique glass company. Thinking he’d been sold a fake, but wants some verification before he returns it to the shop for a refund, he contacted WorthPoint’s Ask a Worthologist service to find out what the true story could be. His request was forwarded to me, here’s his question:

“I bought this piece from a dealer who attributed it to Lalique, circa 1930. I’d seen some Lalique bottles before; this piece looked similar and appeared to be good quality. He also gave me a deal because it was “unmarked,” so I bought it for $350. After getting it home I thought I’d see what I could find out about the piece, I looked up some sites online the dealt in Lalique and looked hundreds of pieces listed in Worthpoint’s Worthopedia, trying to find a match, but no luck. I plan on taking it back to the dealer and get a refund, or at least an explanation or some proof of why he thought this was Lalique, but need some information to back up my demand for a refund.”

Here’s my response.

“Lalique” has almost become a generic term for Art Deco-style frosted/molded glass, and much of it attributed to the house of Lalique is not even French glass. Personally, I’ve never seen a piece of Lalique that was not marked; the markings used being relief or intaglio molded, etched or engraved, as can be seen here. Like many companies whose work has caught the public’s attention and wallet, other companies were soon to follow their lead and produce similar items to grab some share of the market. In the case of Lalique, glass works in Czechoslovakia were quick to produce their own lines of “Lalique Style” glass, as well as French firms such as Sabino, Etling and Verlys .

The piece you bought is not by Lalique, it is not French, but it is not a fake.

Based on the images, this is an example of Czechoslovakian glass done much in the style of Lalique, it’s design depicting the myth of “Leda and the Swan,” in which the Greek god Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan. It’s not by Lalique but made by the firm of Heinrich Hoffmann (1875-1939).

Hoffmann really did not need to make any apologies to Rene Lalique in regards to style or quality, as Hoffmann was a contemporary of Lalique’s, getting his start like Lalique at the turn of the 20th century, producing Art Nouveau-style glass. Hoffmann’s glass was marked, though you might miss it; he most often used an open winged butterfly marking or a wheel engraved mark like this. While your piece is not Lalique, I would not be in a big hurry to take it back to the dealer for a refund, as you got the better part of the deal: Hoffmann perfume bottles like this often sell for $500 or more.

Mike Wilcox, of Wilcox & Hall Appraisers, is a Worthologist who specializes in Art Nouveau and the Arts and Craft movement.

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A Hazel-Atlas-produce, Gay Fad-decorated drinking glass for Arizona.

The states in the union take great pride in their uniqueness and individuality. There are state birds, state colors, state flowers, state trees, state songs, state fish and even state mythical creatures. But who ever knew there were state beverages? For those of us who collect, that’s pretty great, because there is also a frosted drinking glass for every state, made by Hazel-Atlas and hand-decorated by the Gay Fad Studios.

The Hazel-Atlas Glass Company was founded in 1902 and became a large supplier of machine-molded glass. They were famous for their Depression glass, milk glass and home canning jars from the 1920s to the 1940s. The glassware was usually molded with its signature mark on the bottom (a capital A nestled underneath a larger capital H) until 1964 when the company was sold.

Meanwhile, Fran Taylor worked from her home in Ohio from 1938 to 1945, hand-painting wastebaskets, metal trays and glass. She was so successful that she hired a staff and opened the Gay Fad Studios in 1945. Her business became the premier decorator for dozens of glass companies until 1963. During those 18 years, Gay Fad produced tens of thousands of decorated ice tea glasses, liquor decanters, juice sets, mugs and shot glasses in a variety of whimsical designs. The company’s employees hand-painted each design onto the glass with specialty paints and then baked it in to assure a durable finish. Occasionally these pieces were signed, usually with two interlocking letters—a G and a backward F.

In the mid-1950s, Gay Fad and Hazel-Atlas joined forces to produce a series of collectible state glasses that were sold at souvenir shops in airports, tourist locales and highway rest stops. Although examples in blue, dark green and red can be found, the majority of the glasses were painted in pink, orange or yellow. Each glass featured a goofy picture of the state along with the state motto and several iconic drawings. Indians, wagon trains, oil wells, monuments, buildings, snow skiers, lakes, farmers, corn stalks, bucking broncos, plantation homes, famous parks, cacti, pilgrims, fishermen and so on were all chosen for unique state representation.

Arkansas

California

Florida

These glasses are fun to collect and a few states can be very difficult to find. Some people collect them all and some just collect the states that they’ve visited. Others collect their own state in all of the different Gay Fad colors. They sell for $2 to $25 each.

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

But back to those state beverages . . . Naturally it is fun to serve them in their own state glasses. However, only 29 states have declared a state beverage and 18 of those chose milk! The rest of the states need to catch up.

Maryland

Missouri

Nevada

Here’s a toast to the states that have been brave enough to name a unique drink:

• Alabama (whiskey)
• California (wine)
• Florida (orange juice)
• Indiana (water)
• Maine (Moxie)
• Massachusetts (cranberry juice)
• Nebraska (Kool-Aid)
• New Hampshire (apple cider)
• Ohio (tomato juice)
• Rhode Island (coffee milk)
• South Carolina (tea)

Maine gets the nod for the most imaginative drink. Moxie is a soda pop that was one of the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It was created in 1876 (supposedly for medicinal reasons) and began to be sold as a carbonated beverage in 1884. Flavored with wintergreen and gentian root extracts, it has a unique flavor that is not as sweet as other sodas and is described by some as bitter (or even cough-syrupy). Today, this regional drink is mostly found in Pennsylvania, Maine and other northeastern states. Moxie is the main ingredient in the New Englander cocktail, so that recipe is included this month. The cocktail definitely demands an acquired taste, but it has many avid defenders who love it:

Moxie

New Englander Cocktail

1 part Gin
2-3 parts Moxie
1 large slice lime
1 dash Worcestershire sauce

Serve over ice

Rhode Island can also claim a truly unique beverage. Coffee milk is similar to chocolate milk, but it is made with a sweet, coffee-flavored syrup instead of chocolate syrup. The drink is sold by the glass or by the half-pint (in a waxed cardboard carton). It was introduced in drugstores in the early 1930s and can only be found in Rhode Island. However, it is easy to get coffee syrup online from several different companies (such as Autocrat). It can also be made from scratch:

Coffee Syrup

Make a pot of coffee using a percolator (not a drip coffee maker). Discard the grounds, add fresh grounds, and make another pot using the first pot’s coffee as the liquid (instead of water). Repeat. The result will be the equivalent of three pots of coffee in one pot so it will be very strong.

Measure the finished coffee. Add half as much sugar to this mixture. Mix until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Coffee Milk
2 tablespoons coffee syrup
8 ounces cold milk

Stir

Liz Holderman is a Worthologist who specializes in collectible books. “Dining with Antiques” is an ongoing feature in which she highlights usable collectible dinnerware, along with vintage recipes.

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The eerie 1971 Corning Pyrex Moon Deco pattern. Red and black on white. Good luck in finding one of these.

A growing interest in Mid-Century Modern collectibles is sweeping through many parts of the U.S., as furniture and decorative arts from the 1950s and 1960s are displayed in more and more living rooms and dens. The kitchen is a popular place to showcase retro items such as aqua appliances, atomic wall clocks, chrome storage canisters and the iconic Pyrex casserole dish.

Following World War II, women’s magazines promoted easy-to-prepare meals. The flexible casserole (which had previously been used to economically stretch meat) began to take on a new role—that of convenience. The “one-dish dinner—from stovetop to tabletop” needed very little preparation, required no watching and greatly decreased clean-up time. Casseroles could be made ahead and frozen for later use. Leftovers could go straight into the refrigerator. The casserole quickly became a comforting presence in American life.

Although Corning Glass Works introduced its thermal shock-resistant Pyrex dishes in 1915, the hardy tempered bakeware did not begin to appear in colors until 1947. The next year, Corning established a design division—staying in tune with the idea that cookware could double as a serving piece to take to the table. But the first patterns did not appear on casserole dishes until 1956, when the Daisy and Snowflake patterns debuted on Corning’s “decorator” casseroles—in pink, charcoal and turquoise. Divided casseroles became available in 1958, so that a side dish could cook along with the main attraction (really reducing clean-up). And finally branching out, Corning introduced a new casserole pattern, Gold Acorn, in 1960. The ever-increasing designs that followed are a delight for today’s collectors, because they changed with the times—even appearing in pop art, psychedelic, Amish and Native American themes. Every spring and every fall, a one-time promotional design was also released, making a hunt for vintage rarities all the more fun.

One of the first patterns on Corning Pyrex cookware: the 1956 Snowflake pattern.

The 1958 Decorator pattern with custard background and black modern kitchen motif. Gold-tone cradle.

The common patterns can be very inexpensive to collect and can be found at most flea markets and garage sales. But Autumn Harvest’s shock of wheat just can’t compare to some of the harder-to-find patterns, such as Zodiac, with its gold-leaf astrological figures or eerie Moon Deco, with its sleek red and black orbs. It’s also difficult to find the go-along items that came with some of the dishes. Warming trays, basket and metal carriers, detachable wood handles, cradles and stands were often not marked and usually got separated. There are more than 70 casserole patterns to choose from, so a collector can spend many enjoyable hours searching for new discoveries.

One-pot meals have been in existence for thousands of years, of course, but the term “casserole” is French in origin and first appeared in the English language in the early 1700s. Recipes for a baked combination of meat, cream sauce and noodles date to the 1800s. But the casserole peaked in popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, due largely to the light-weight Pyrex cookware available. It began to lose favor in the 1970s when gourmet cooking trends made it seem unsophisticated.

The 1960 Gold Acorn pattern.

The 1961 Holiday pattern. White pinecones on red background.

The tuna casserole was among the first to champion the genre in a big way. Tuna was commercially available in cans in 1903 but was not widely used until the 1930s. The Campbell Soup Company introduced a cream of mushroom soup in 1934 and also advertised it as a quick and inexpensive substitute for homemade cream sauce. Campbell’s subsequent promotional material and cookbooks included many recipes for casseroles, with a tuna version appearing in 1941. Campbell Soup Company cannot be credited with inventing the tuna casserole, but it probably did the most to popularize it.

Pyrex doesn’t stain and is very difficult to scratch or chip. So, the vintage bakeware appears clean and fresh and can still be used for everyday cooking. Since it’s fun to serve vintage recipes with vintage pieces, enjoy your old cookware with the first known recipe for tuna casserole made from mushroom soup.

The hard-to-find 1961 Zodiac pattern. Dark green with gold leaf.

.

Company Casserole
From “Easy Ways to Good Meals: 99 Delicious Dishes Made with Campbell’s Soups,” 1941

1 package (6 oz) egg noodles
1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1/4 pound pimiento cheese, sliced
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1 can (7 oz) tuna fish
6 tablespoons flaked cereal crumbs, buttered

Cook the noodles in boiling salted water until tender. Empty the soup into a pan and stir well, then add milk and heat. Add the pimiento cheese and stir until the cheese melts. Combine the noodles, eggs and tuna fish with the sauce. Put into a buttered casserole, sprinkle buttered flaked cereal crumbs over the top and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for 25-30 minutes. Serves 8

Liz Holderman is a Worthologist who specializes in collectible books. “Dining with Antiques” is a monthly feature in which she highlights usable collectible dinnerware, along with vintage recipes.

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Donna J. inherited a cut glass punch bowl from her great-grandmother. As far as anyone in the family could remember, it had never been displayed and spent all its time in a box in the attic. Donna would like to the value, as she is considering selling it.

Donna J. has a cut glass punch bowl that she inherited from her great grandmother, who had received it as a wedding gift before World War One. Looking for a value before deciding whether to sell it, or keep it she engaged WorthPoint’s “Ask a Worthologist” service. The question was forwarded to me. Here is her question:

“I inherited this punch bowl from my great-grandmother 20 years ago and it’s been stored away in the same box it came in all this time. Even though she received it as a wedding gift about 1900, my mother claims Great Grandma couldn’t have liked it very much, because as far as she knew, it had never been displayed and spent all its time in a box in the attic. As it has no sentimental attraction for me or my mother, I’d like to have it valued and possibly sell it. It has no marking I can see and it measures about 15 inches across and 19 inches tall.”

Based on the images you sendt along, this is a turn-of-the-19th-century Brilliant Period cut glass punch bowl. The term “Brilliant Period” refers to American cut glass made circa 1880 to 1914, a period when America was becoming the world leader in producing of cut glass. While cut glass actually goes back at least to ancient Rome, most modern cut glass post dates 1850, gaining popularity after pieces of Belgian and Bohemian cut glass were prominently featured at London’s famous Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851. Like many other decorative items shown during the Exposition, cut glass caught the public’s attention and created a demand for ever more elaborate patterns.

The Brilliant Period pieces are identifiable by their deep, elaborate cutting, curving lines and geometric patterns. Each company competed for its market share by developing and patenting new designs, that prior to the use of faster and more powerful electric tools, would have been too time consuming to produce on a large scale. Even so, the production of cut glass was still very labor intensive and the purchase of such pieces were for the “well to do” or for special occasions, such as weddings and anniversaries.

Values for cut glass depends a great deal on the maker, with examples that carry the mark of one of well known glass companies such as Libbey, Dorflinger and Sons, T.H. Hawkes or Hoare Glass Company being the most sought after. Unmarked cut glass tends to sell for a good deal less than marked examples, but the quality of the cutting and intricacy of the design also has a great bearing on the value. While this one is unmarked, it is a lovely piece cut in the hobstar and comet pattern; as good as any by the well-know makers. In the current market, comparable unmarked punch bowls of this quality often sell for more than $1,800.

Mike Wilcox, of Wilcox & Hall Appraisers, is a Worthologist who specializes in Art Nouveau and the Arts and Craft movement.

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Spirit bottles of this type, decorated with enamels, are often referred to a “Stiegel Types,” after the largest North American maker of them, Henry Stiegel,

Spirit bottles of this type, decorated with enamels, are often referred to a “Stiegel Types,” after the largest North American maker of them, Henry Stiegel, even though similar pieces were made by other makers in Europe and North America. The bottles are attractive. The story of Stiegel, not so much.

Henry William Stiegel was originally from Cologne, Germany—one of the famous glass centers of 18th century—before he settled in Philadelphia. The glass business was just one of three of his enterprises; the others were cast-iron stove production and real estate investments. He set up his first glasshouse furnace in1763, a second glasshouse was built in Manheim, and was running by 1765, and the third and largest glasshouse began operations in Manheim in 1769.

Bottle glass (a cheap, coarse glass) was the product of the first glasshouse, but Stiegel’s goal was to produce Flint glass that he had seen when visiting the famous Bristol glass district of England. The colorful, enameled glassware we now call “Stiegel” was made after the third glass house was up and running in 1769.

To produce these pieces in large volume required manpower, for which Stiegel hired more than 130 highly skilled glass makers from Germany, England and Venice. Unlike many businesses of the period, Stiegel kept records of his employees, the type of work completed, items made, decoration type and colors. In many ways, he was a modern businessman; he believed in promotion, and utilized sales agents in the larger urban centers of his era—Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York—and in advertising for his products in the Philadelphia and New York newspapers of the day.

Also like some modern businessmen, Stiegel also fell prey to overconfidence and injudicious spending, as he was known for frittering away his profits as fast as he made them. A downturn in the economy of the Colonies finally forced the closure of his once profitable glassmaking empire on May 5, 1774. He never recovered from this financial ruin, and Stiegel died a broken man. He was buried in an unmarked grave in 1785.

In regards to the Stiegel type bottles & flasks themselves shown above, today most comparable examples made from the late 18th- to early 19th-century sell in the $300-$500 range.

Mike Wilcox, of Wilcox & Hall Appraisers, is a Worthologist who specializes in Art Nouveau and the Arts and Craft movement.

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Fabulous Imperial Art Glass stretch ruffled bowl. The pattern number is 3380 and the piece has the Imperial Glass Company logo, circa 1920.

Imperial Art Glass is, without a doubt, the most elegant of the stretch glass lines, not only because of its base colors or shapes, but because of the richness of its stretch effect. This line was introduced in 1916 by Imperial and represents the highest standards by which all stretch glass is compared. Unfortunately, Imperial’s Art Glass was commonly called “Jewels” by later collectors and the name has continued to be attached to a lot of stretch glass, whether made by Imperial or another manufacturer.

Practically all the Art Glass was made from rather simple vase and bowl molds and all the pieces were “stuck up” for shaping and iridizing. Stuck up pieces are heat-attached to a metal ring and they must be removed by breaking this attachment. This means that the bases of all the pieces had to be ground smooth. Many other pieces of stretch glass made by Imperial were placed into other lines and these pieces will have a normal foot or marie that was placed into a snap for handling.

Most of the Art Glass pieces have the IMPERIAL name within a cross mark. The mark may be ground off the bottom if the base was heavily ground, and, occasionally, the mark will be inside bowls. Some pieces do not have this mark, but their sizes, shapes and iridescence are distinctive of the Art Glass line. On the other hand, many Imperial pieces can have the cross mark, but are not necessarily part of the Art Glass line. These pieces usually have normal marie bases or other colors.

Imperial’s catalog 103G lists the Art Glass line colors. In this listing, five colors are defined: Pearl Amethyst, Pearl White, Pearl Silver, Pearl Ruby and Pearl Green. Pearl White is a frosty white iridescence applied to crystal glass. Pearl Ruby is a heavy yellow-orange iridescence applied to crystal glass; we would call this a deep marigold today. Unfortunately, the name ruby has confused many into thinking that this was a red glass. Pearl Amethyst is a multicolored iridescence applied to a medium purple glass. Pearl Silver is a shiny, silvery iridescence (often with golden overtones) applied to a dark purple glass. Pearl Green is a predominately green-gray iridescence applied to a light green (or ginger ale-colored) glass. These are the only colors “officially” listed in the catalogs.

Other colors have been found, but no Imperial names have been located. Marked and unmarked pieces that use milk glass with what appears as the Pearl Ruby iridescence have been found. There have also been some milk glass pieces with the Blue Ice iridescence applied. Blue Ice is the term used by Imperial in association with its Satin Iridescent Colors (their later line of iridescent ware that we call stretch today). Blue Ice is commonly called “smoke” today. Very rare pieces with what appears to be Pearl Ruby and Pearl Green iridescence have also been seen. To confuse things even more, the No. 26 and No. 28 vases appear to be the same vase that is commonly marked with Imperial’s “NUART” trademark on the base—these are commonly found with iridescence on emerald green glass. No name has been found to describe this effect.

— by David Shetlar

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This Venetian Murano pheasant (circa 1960) measures 19 inches long and stands about 10 inches tall. Comparable examples by unknown artists sel in the $150 to $300 range.

Murano glass has a very long history. In 1292, an ordinance was passed in the city of Venice that banished glass making to the island of Murano in the Venetian lagoon. According to some historians, the reason was partly to protect other buildings from fires (which commonly started in glass works; the Great Fire of London is believed to have started in a glass works), and partly to retain a lock on the decorative glass trade. It was even forbidden to teach foreigners the trade secrets of glass making, and the threat of the death penalty was used to keep glass monopolies’ secrets on Murano.

Many of the modern Venetian Murano sculptures we see today are post-World War Two examples, and most are not signed, using a generic foil label that rarely survives the first washing, or are often removed after sale. There are many famous makers of decorative glass ware in Murano, such as Toso, Dino Martens, Salviati and others, but without a label it is difficult to attribute any one maker to items of this type without extra information, such as a provenance or bill of sale.

In the current market values for Murano glass sculptures varies widely, as the quality of these pieces goes from almost dreadful to unbelievable works of the glass makers art.

In the case of the bird sculptures, it is possible to pick up at auction a low quality “paper weight”-sized bird for less than $20, while good quality birds measuring 10 inches or longer selling in the $50 to $80 range. The Murano pheasant above is a very nice example (circa 1960) by an unknown maker, measuring 19 inches long and standing about 10 inches tall. Comparable examples often have presale estimates in the $150 to $300 range. This one was a bargain, with a purchase price of $200.

Mike Wilcox, of Wilcox & Hall Appraisers, is a Worthologist who specializes in Art Nouveau and the Arts and Craft movement.

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An example of an early American Pattern Glass celery vase. This over-sized goblet with crimped lip, in the Venus & Cupid pattern, was produced by Richards & Hartley between 1875-1884 and by U.S. Glass after 1891.

According to the early nineteenth century writer Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in “The Physiology of Taste,” gastronomy required “intelligent knowledge of whatever concerns man’s nourishment.”

Brillat-Savarin’s 1825 treatise on the fine art of foods was the first treatment of dining as an art form. The newly developing interest in food appropriately reflected a growing awareness of gastronomy that flowered during the Victorian period. However, 19th-century consumers must have taken the author quite literally when they read, “the discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star.”

Of the multitude of dishes—on which food was served, as opposed to the food itself—offered to the middle-class consumers, perhaps one of the most unique was the celery vase. During the 19th century, middle-class households sought to establish their position in the community in a variety of ways. Perhaps the greatest indicator of one’s status was offered in the dining room. By serving a variety of exotic foods, a hostess could solidify her husband’s situation as “having arrived” at a high rung on the social ladder.

Celery became one of these exotic foods important to the class-conscious consumer. This vegetable, like other foods considered elegant at the time, was important enough to require its own serving dish. Glass and silver celery vases (sometimes called celery stands) allowed for prominent presentation on the table. With leafy ends protruding, celery could be offered from a tall glass or silver vase akin to a flower vase, providing ease of serving and the height needed to give variety to the vast array of cuisine. ¹

Celery as a food dates back as far as the 16th century when it was used for flavoring. During the next century, evidence indicates that the stalks were eaten, often dipped in oil. By the 19th century, the vegetable had grown in popularity, in part because of its reputation as a hothouse plant.

A 7-inch hobnail and opalescent cranberry celery vase by Hobbs and Brockienier, circa 1870-1897.

A member of the parsley family and native to Europe and Asia, celery requires blanching, or mounding rich, moist soil around the stalk to exclude light. Moreover, celery needs a long growing season with cool temperatures. Normally maturing several months after planting, celery is among the most expensive vegetables to produce even today.

Low baskets offered another, though less popular, means of presenting the vegetable for the table. Celery vases outsold baskets by a ratio, of 17 to 1, according to the catalogues of silver manufactures. Popular during the Victorian decades of the 1860s and 1870s, sales of these stands increased into the 1890s, when celery “boats” to “yachts” were listed in manufactures’ catalogues.

At the turn of the 20th century, celery stands or vases had disappeared from the tabletop landscape because of the development of a commercial process for growing the vegetable. Cultivating celery had been very labor-intensive, because it required blanching to preserve the white hue of the stalks, as well as the slightly sweet flavor. This new commercial process allowed for easier growing, thereby making the vegetable more available. Increased availability meant less cost, making it ordinary and no longer suitable for the status seekers of the middle-class.

A cobalt blue glass celery vase with a tri-fold fluted ruffled edge, circa 1898-1906.

With celery out of fashion, eager consumers sought other less common foods as status indicators and celery vases were no longer needed. Today, these vases appear in shops sometimes listed as “spooners” or simply as flower vases, but the knowing dealer and collector will recognize them for what they are: an indicator of the originality of the 19th-century manufacturers’ eager to find his niche in the fashionable, yet faddish, world of cuisine.

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^1. Susan Williams, “Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feast: Dining in Victorian America” (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996). 111.

— Originally published in the American Antiquities Journal

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– JC, New York, NY, via e-mail

ANSWER: I forwarded the photographs that accompanied your e-mail to Debbie and Randy Coe, authors of “Elegant Glass: Early, Depression, and Beyond, 3rd Edition” (Schiffer Publishing, 2007; coesmercantile.com) and among the best glass pattern identifiers I know. Your bonbon or nappy (candy dish works as well) is Jefferson Glass Company’s Pattern #192, known to collectors as Sea Spray, and was made between 1906 and 1907. The piece is found in three colors—blue, green, and white.

Harry Barstow, Grant Fish, George Mortimer and J. D. Sinclair founded Jefferson Glass, located in Steubenville, Ohio, around 1900. Steubenville is the county seat of Jefferson County, hence the firm’s name.

Jefferson Glass produced fancy tableware, e.g., vases, and plain and decorated novelties, many of which were made in opalescent glass. Jefferson Glass remained in Steubenville until 1906, at which time it moved to Follansbee, W.V. Imperial Glass leased its former Steubenville plant. The Follansbee site produced non-opalescent glass and remained in operation until 1933.

A link existed between Jefferson Glass and Northwood. William Heacock, a leading glass researcher focusing on late 19th- and early 20th-century glassware, revealed Jefferson Glass sold a few of its opalescent molds to Northwood. Heacock’s “Collecting Glass, Volume 3” states: “George Mortimer, a prime force in the establishment of the Jefferson factory, went to work for Northwood in 1905, which may be why Northwood copied some fast-selling Jefferson designs.” With these few exceptions, most of Jefferson Glass’s opalescent molds vanished following the move to Follansbee.

Debby and Randy also noted that some collectors confuse Jefferson Glass’s Sea Spray pattern with the S-Repeat pattern. “We don’t feel that it is close to it. The piece shows the beading below the pattern and this is different than the S-Repeat … the pattern really looks like ocean waves as they are breaking on the beach.”

While many glass patterns included numerous forms, often enough to set a complete table, Sea Spray was only available as a bonbon/nappy. As a result, it has more appeal to opalescent rather than pattern glass collectors.

When I assumed the editorship of “Warman’s Antiques and Their Prices” in the early 1980s, opalescent and pattern glass were hot collecting categories. This is no longer true. Many glass collecting categories fell upon hard times after the dawn of the twenty-first century. Pattern and opalescent glass are on the list.

Your bonbon/nappy is more than 100 years old. If age determined value, its value would be high. Alas, age is now a minor value consideration and often discounted completely. The buyer is the key. If there is no buyer, there is no value.

Your Jefferson Glass Sea Spray bonbon/nappy has a secondary market value of between $30 and $45, down more than fifty percent from what it was worth 10 years ago. Its value derives from its conversation/decorative potential as opposed to its collector interest.

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QUESTION: I own a FADA Model 605W radio. It works. What can you tell me about it?

– C, Reading, PA

ANSWER: FADA, because several of its radios were housed in Modernist design catalin cases, is a magic name among radio collectors. Although your Model 605W has a plastic case, it is not catalin.

Frank Angelo D’Andrea (1888-1965) founded FADA. As a youth, he worked for Frederick Pierce Company, a firm that helped inventors develop working models of their inventions. Frank D’Andrea left Frederick Piece and founded FADA (his initials) to produce crystal detectors for radios. D’Andrea’s company was operating in three different locations on Jerome Street in the Bronx, New York, by 1921.

FADA began manufacturing radios in 1923. FADA had a stormy employer-employee relationship, and 500 of the 600 works went on strike in 1926. Lewis Clement, FADA’s chief engineer, left in 1927 for a better offer, as did Dick Klein, second in command. A group of Boston businessmen purchased the company in 1932, filing for bankruptcy in 1934.

A group headed by Jacob M. Marks bought the company and renamed it Fada Radio and & Electric Company. It remained in operation until 1955.

An advertisement in the August 1946 issue of “Radio News” pictures FADA models 605W, 1000 (the famous bullet case), and 1001. The Model 605W is listed as having five tubes.

Had your FADA Model 605W not worked, it would have little to no value. A dealer who restores radios might pay $5 to $10 for parts salvage. Even in working condition, the value is low, i.e., between $50 and $60. Collector interest in the common radios of the 1920s through the 1950s is fading. The collecting community is graying, i.e., collectors are getting older and not being replaced by younger collectors. If you are thinking of selling your radio, the longer you wait, the less you will receive.

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QUESTION: I have a copy of “The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy, 2nd Edition.” What is its value?

– CB, via e-mail

ANSWER: Bishop Alma Bridwell White authored “The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy,” a 144-page book, in 1925. White was the founder of the Pillar of Fire Church and author of more than 35 books. The Reverend Branford Clarke provided the illustrations. Arthur H. Bell, the Grand Dragon of the New Jersey Ku Klux Klan, wrote the introduction.

“The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy” was a compilation of articles written by White for “The Good Citizen,” the Klan’s political periodical. The book’s primary focus was a violent diatribe against the Catholic Church. In addition, it promoted anti-Semitism, white supremacy and women’s equality.

“The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy” enjoyed numerous editions and printings. It is still in print. Apparently, it is very popular in India. Unfortunately, your e-mail provides only a minimum of information. Go to abebooks.com or bookfinder.com and research the printing you have. If you are fortunate enough to have a first or very early printing of the second edition in very good or better condition, your book can be worth between $75 and $100.

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QUESTION: You write that most 78 rpm record albums are not worth much. There must be exceptions, and I hope I might have one. Attached to my e-mail is a picture of the RCA Victor record album cover for Robert Merrill’s Brooklyn Baseball Cantata, with music by George Kleinsinger with words by Michael Stratton. The piece was composed in 1937 but not recorded until 1948. There are two 78 rpm records in the album. Play time is approximately 12 minutes. What is its value?

– LE, Reading, PA, via e-mail

ANSWER: Robert Merrill, one of the Metropolitan Opera’s leading 20th-century baritones, was an ardent baseball fan. In fact, he died in his chair listening to a World Series game.

Although best known for the playing of his recording of the national anthem at Yankee Stadium, especially on opening day, Robert Merrill recorded the “Brooklyn Baseball Cantata” about a legendary World Series game between the Brooklyn Dodgers—“dem Bums” —and the New York Yankees. The 12-minute cantata is somewhat disjointed. A disgruntled umpire takes out the frustrations of his own failed baseball career on the players. The game seesaws back and forth. A Cookie Lavagetto-pinch-hit homerun wins the game. Alas, it is all a dream. The cantata ends with a “wait until next year” theme.

“The Brooklyn Baseball Cantata” faded from the scene before the runner reached first base, albeit it often is include on Robert Merrill greatest hits albums. “The Brooklyn Baseball Cantata” was one of several Dodgers’ songs recorded in 1948-1949, including Negro bandleader Buddy Johnson’s “Did You see Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?”

George Kleinsinger (1914-1982) is far better known as the co-author, along with Paul Tripp, of “Tubby the Tuba” and the numerous musical scores that supported the book. Kleinsinger’s “Brooklyn Baseball Cantata” is a mere footnote.

Copies of the RCA “Brooklyn Baseball Cantata” are readily available. The album sells for between $15 and $20 in the general marketplace. Collectors of Brooklyn Dodgers memorabilia pay a bit more.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out his Web site.

You can listen and participate in “WHATCHA GOT?,” Harry’s antiques-and-collectibles radio call-in show on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. It streams live on http://www.gcnlive.com on the Genesis Communications Network.

“SELL, KEEP OR TOSS? HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY” (House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Random House Information Group), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via Harry’s Web site: http://www.harryrinker.com

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the 20th century. Selected letters will be answered on this site. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049. You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered. Please indicate that these are questions for WorthPoint.

Copyright © Rinker Enterprises, Inc. 2009

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An amethyst-colored Victorian lady’s flask found during a bottle dig at a site where an outhouse once sat. The owner of the flask used WorthPoint’s Ask a Worthologist service to determine its idently and fair-market value.

WorthPoint member Suzanne from Massachusetts must have had that same rush of excitement when, in 1980, when she found an incredible, cut-glass flask with a sterling top. Suzanne told me that she found the flask during a bottle dig. You must be thinking, “a big hole with a bunch of bottles just waiting to be discovered? “ And then think, “How did those bottles get there?”

Bottle digs are mostly nothing more than the excavation of an outhouse. There were no weekly garbage pickups. Much of the everyday trash was placed in the outhouse. Outhouse were known by many different names: Nessy, Privy, Thunder Box, Crapper, Back House; whatever it was called, they all served the same purpose. Every house and business had one prior to indoor running water and plumbing. Enquiring minds: Yes, everything that can decompose has decomposed over time.

The valuation on Suzanne’s flask was done by Audra Blevens, a generalist Worthologist for WorthPoint. The flask that Suzanne found was a ladies flask, very ornate, with a sterling hinged top. The glass flask was made of a layer of amethyst-colored glass and a layer of clear glass. The design is made when the amethyst layer was cut away to reveal the clear glass. There are English Hallmarks in the silver top, which dates the flask to Birmingham, England, and the year 1901. The maker’s marks B&F remain unidentified, but a fair market value of $300 to $350 was placed on the flask. Today flasks are highly desirable and collected, particularly ladies’ flasks, which were very ornate.

Some examples of Victorian ladies’ flasks. These items are available for purchase on GoAntiques.

Ladies did have flasks. There were many different reasons for ladies to carry a pocket flask like the one Suzanne found. Apparently, there was much more imbibing going on than is generally thought. Social drinking was widely acceptable in Victorian times, and doctors frequently prescribed alcoholic beverages to alleviate a host of ailments. It would be quite reasonable for a lady to have a flask full of brandy, gin, absinthe or any numbers of homemade or quack cures. Laudanum, a liquid made of opium and alcohol, was prescribed for pain, as a cough suppressant, for sleeping problems and to calm down fussy babies. Many doctors neglected to inform their patients that laudanum was highly addictive, which is just one more reason to carry a flask.

Who knows how that flask ended up where it did at the bottle dig. It could have been secretly hidden away in the Privy for years and forgotten, or dropped in the hole by mistake, with the owner not daring to go in after it. Perhaps, during prohibition, someone felt the need to discard it. However the flask landed where it did, Suzanne was very happy to have found it and is happy knowing just a little bit of history about it. If only the flask could talk.

If you have an item you’d like to know more about, Ask a Worthologist.

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To set the tone, get dressed for the part. What would be more appropriate than a suit made specifically for Barack Obama during the campaign? To show that you never know where you’ll come across a significant collectible, this great find was discovered by a shopper at a bargain store in New York. A tag bearing Obama’s name was stitched in the inside coat pocket attesting to its authenticity. Its value has not been determined because no similar suit has been auctioned to date. However, it is estimated to be worth from $5,000 to the low five figures.

Naturally, you will want to complement your new suit with a set of cobalt-blue-and-gold presidential-style cuff links in its own leather presentation box. On the reverse is a bas-relief signature of Barack Obama, just perfect for your inaugural party at $250 a set or a lapel pin for $150.

Obama cuff links

Plates with a smiling Santa Claus obviously won’t fit your theme. Instead, consider setting your table with official inaugural plates. They cost $82 each and have a startling navy-blue-and-gold pattern with the official inaugural seal in gold.

2009 inaugural plate

When it’s time, bring out a wonderfully colorful, etched bottle of Mumm Champagne. Limited to only 200 individually numbered bottles, bearing the red-white-and-blue campaign logo with the inauguration date of Jan. 20, 2009, is an unusual collectible starting at $300. Add the gold-etched set of four Champagne flutes for $60 or a set of etched rocks glasses, too, featuring the presidential seal and the etched signature of the 44th president of the United States. A matched decanter with the gold-embossed presidential seal rounds out a perfect set for $75.

Obama Champagne

Decanter and flute

Caution alert: Lest you get carried away in the headiness of the festivities, be sure to buy a back-up bottle or two of bubbly for toasting purposes, otherwise you’ll drink your collectible’s value.

Decorate your inaugural table with the cross-cut crystal vase adorned with the presidential seal and signature of Barack Obama in gold for $75. I don’t know if President Obama has a favorite flower is, but it will look just as presidential filled with your favorite. Or you might go with some patriotic red, white and blue carnations.

Obama vase

Once the party’s over, store your cuff links and lapel pin in a hardwood replica of the Oval Office desk, similar in design to the original given to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria of England and used by most presidents ever since. The original desk, the one that John-John Kennedy famously played under, is priceless, but your wooden replica box is much more affordable at $125.

Oval Office desk replica

Of course, there are other collectibles to be had. Every inauguration brings out the best in artists and artisans. Issuing an official inaugural medal has been tradition since 1901 when William McKinley took office. This year, Mark Mellon, a Connecticut artist, was asked to create the bas-relief image of Barack Obama for the 2009 official inaugural medal.

“There were times when I was sculpting when I literally had tears in my eyes,” Mellon said, “just knowing the magnitude of the moment. As an artist, to have just a little bit of input in how we celebrate this president is a huge honor—a huge honor and a big responsibility.”

To truly commemorate the occasion, purchase the complete set of gold, silver and bronze medals in its own presentation box for $3,000. Or you can purchase an individual bronze for $70 and a sterling silver version for $400.

Inaugural medals

To see other great and wonderful gifts (and future heirlooms) that honor our 44th president on the day of his inauguration, visit Worthologist Jim Warlick’s Official Souvenirs site.

P.S. And don’t forget to buy food and beverages for the party.

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles

Collecting has gone global, thanks to the Internet. As a result, antiques and collectibles divide into two groups: (1) those that have a global market and (2) those with only a national or regional market. Beatles memorabilia and Royal Doulton are two examples of collecting categories that have a global market. Ceramic categories such as Hall, Hull, Roseville, Weller, etc., illustrate categories whose marketplace is limited to their country of origin.

America is the mother lode for antiques and collectibles. After World War I, during the Depression and in the two decades following World War II, American collectors and dealers raided the antiques and collectibles treasures of Africa, Asia, Europe, Central and South America, and other parts of the world.

Foreign items returning home

As the economic power of these countries increases, especially through the creation of a viable upper-middle and lower-upper class, private individuals and others are coming to American to buy back their historical heritage. Large quantities of Asian and European objects sold at auction are going back over the east or west horizon.

After World War II, the world was influenced by American movies, music and television. Licensed product associated with these three categories is collected worldwide. While some foreign licensed rights were issued, foreign collectors want the products sold in America, most of which did not appear abroad. A French Coca-Cola collector has far more American than French objects in his collection.

The trend toward investing in antiques and collectibles is increasing, thanks to the current world economic situation. Investors are moving from intangibles, such as bonds and stocks, to tangibles, such as gold and antiques and collectibles. Whereas Japanese investors played a significant role in the 1990s and early-21st-century market, today’s investors are likely to be from Arabic countries or Russia. These investors want the best of the best. They buy it wherever they find it, at home or abroad.

Online auctions broaden collectibles and antiques markets

Thanks to eBayliveauctions, no longer in business, worldwide collectors, dealers and investors want ready access to the American auction marketplace. Several firms, e.g., Artfact and Proxibid.com, have created platforms to replace eBayliveauctions. The viewing audience for these sites is smaller than for eBayliveauctions. The number will grow. Some sites will fall by the wayside; others merge. What will not change is the appetite of foreign buyers to play an active role in the American auction scene.

Some things sell better in one market than another, the result of personal preference and other considerations. When I visited antiques shops in Germany, I was astonished at the prices asked for pearl-handled fruit-knife sets, double to triple what they bring in the United States. Check out the clock and music box prices in Amsterdam’s antiques row, three to 10 times those for the same pieces in the United States market. Likewise, German collectors have little to no interest in late-19th/early-20th-century inkwells. Buy them in Germany, and sell them in the United States at triple what you paid.

Americans are jingoistic and isolationist when it comes to the antiques and collectibles marketplace. It is time to remove the blinders. The market is global. The next step is to determine the where, when and how.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out his Web site.

You can listen and participate in “WHATCHA GOT?,” Harry’s antiques-and-collectibles radio call-in show on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT?” streams live and is archived on the Internet.

“SELL, KEEP OR TOSS? HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY” (House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Random House Information Group), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via Harry’s Web site.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the 20th century. Selected letters will be answered on this site. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049. You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered. Please indicate that these are questions for WorthPoint.

Meet Harry Rinker in person at the 8th Annual Northeastern Pennsylvania Home & Garden Show, Jan. 23-25, in Wilkes-Barre. He will also be appearing at the 8th Annual Southeast Pennsylvania Home & Garden Show, March 13-15, in Reading.

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles

How about buy-what-you-know as opposed to buy-what-you-like? Knowledge is power in the antiques-and-collectibles field.

Far too many individuals buy without doing adequate homework. “Look before you buy” may be a truism, but it is a key to spending your money wisely when it comes to antiques and collectibles.

Your first homework assignment is to understand what you want to achieve from your purchase. Is your motivation financial investment? Investing in antiques and collectibles is far more risky than investing in the stock market, even in these difficult times. If financial investing is your goal, an antiques show may not be the best venue to acquire material. Show prices tend to reflect an object’s “highest” value.

How will you use what you buy?

Are you planning to collect, display or use your purchase? Each requires a different buying approach. “Gorgeous” suggests to me that you are thinking use or display. In this case, an antiques show is a great place to buy. Antiques shows tend to offer better quality merchandise than do many other sales venues.

Be honest with yourself in respect to how much money you have to spend on antiques and collectibles. There is little sense drooling over a $25,000 object if you can only afford to spend $2,500. Everyone is tempted to stretch their limit, and many do. Do not go into debt to buy antiques and collectibles. Use your discretionary income, and keep within your budget.

Once you have finished these assignments, you are ready to visit antiques shows and do more homework. Note, I wrote shows, not show. You need to develop perspectives—what is available within my price range, what incites my passion, etc. No matter what a dealer tells you, antiques and collectibles are not a one of a kind. You do not have to buy anything now because you will never see another. Almost every item is mass produced, meaning if there is one, there is another. Take the time to get a feel of the full range of what is available in your price range.

Research, research, research

When you do find objects that call to you, research them. WorthPoint is a good place to start. Proceed next to your local library or the library at a local historical site or art museum. Knowledge creates excitement.

When you are ready to buy, you want to be comfortable during the buying experience. Pay attention to the tone of your conversation with the seller. I always am leery when I know more about an object than the person selling it. I am offended by condescending conversations. I never do business with individuals who demand cash and are unwilling to accept my personal check.

Caveat emptor

The same applies to individuals who will not provide me with their address, phone number, e-mail address (although I am a bit forgiving on this point) and a receipt stating what I paid, a full description including condition report and date they believe the object was made. Further, I absolutely refuse to buy from sellers who have not prepriced their objects.

Finally, I buy what calls to me. This is not as silly as it sounds. Once you have developed an intimate knowledge of the market, you learn to rely on the one trustworthy person you know—yourself. You buy only when YOU feel comfortable and are happy with your decision to buy.

Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out his Web site.

You can listen and participate in “WHATCHA GOT?,” Harry’s antiques-and-collectibles radio call-in show on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT?” streams live and is archived on the Internet.

“SELL, KEEP OR TOSS? HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY” (House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Random House Information Group), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via Harry’s Web Site.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the 20th century. Selected letters will be answered on this site. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049. You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered. Please indicate that these are questions for WorthPoint.

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles

After six months of financial turmoil that saw the U.S. economy slide into the first recession in decades, it’s hard not to be pessimistic. For most of us, antiques aren’t a consumer necessity. They are not things we need to live a normal life, but they are things we want. As any economist worth his salt can tell you, that’s a big distinction.

Consumers spend first on necessities and last on luxuries. As virtually every auction house and antique dealer can attest, 2008 was not an especially great year. Collectors, dealers and institutional buyers weren’t spending as freely as they were in 2007.

So what does 2009 hold in store? I would say that I am “cautiously optimistic.” Collectors will still want to buy, and some will want to put their discretionary funds into a tangible asset that they can see, feel, and touch- like those Chippendales and weathervanes I mentioned that will likely increase in value despite the economic situation. Great antiques will still bring great prices, and whether you’re a collector or dealer, there will be plenty to buy.

Baby-boomers will continue to downsize to smaller residences, shedding collections accumulated over a lifetime. Other collections will come on the market through the normal course of death and estate dispersal, while some will appear as a result of financial necessity. Make no mistake; there will be a flood of great antiques to buy.

As these antiques come to the market in 2009, we’ll undoubtedly see a continued softening of prices for objects in the “middle market.” This has been a trend that began several years ago, and will almost certainly accelerate in the New Year. The “middle market” includes items such as cut glass, Haviland or Limoges china, and most antiques that were produced in factories. If you collect any of these things, this will be good news as you will be able to buy and collect on the cheap!

Regardless of whatever the overall effect the economy has on the antiques business there are segments that will be affected less than this “middle market”. The market at the top for the rarest items will remain as strong as ever. Even in a recession, the competition for quality and rarity won’t diminish, and record prices will be paid in the coming year for great antiques!

About the Author:

Wes Cowan is founder and owner of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio. An internationally recognized expert in historic Americana, Wes stars in the PBS television series History Detectives and is a featured appraiser on Antiques Roadshow. He can be reached via email at info [at] cowans [dot] com. Article research by Diane Wachs.

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There were no more than eight of the moss-green colored glass bottles, which stand just a tad over nine inches high and are valued as high as $10,000, known to exist when a business dealing with a New Englander on another bottle led to the rare tonic bottle emerging from an attic.

Sachems Bottle

“That’s the thing about the bottle market, there are still new discoveries and surprises,” Lindsey said. “Not quite as many as there used to be, but just enough to keep things interesting.”

The tradition of bottle collecting started out West, digging at old mining and logging camps, ghost town and whistle stops. That’s how Lindsey, who lives in Klamath Falls, Ore., started digging for bottles at Pacific Northwest mining and logging sites as a boy. “These were family outings,” Lindsey said.

Starting in the 1950s, the growing popularity of bottle collecting was driven by such “diggers,” and while digging started in the mining camps out west, it soon spread east. “Urban renewal opened a lot of land in big cities like New York and Philadelphia, and people started to hunt,” Lindsey said. “Wherever people lived, you find bottles, and for a long time, bottles were valuable, they were reused, so recycling goes back a long way. It was only after the Civil War that bottles became a common throwaway item.”

The collectible bottle market has focused on the period of blown-glass bottles—stretching in the U.S. from the late 1700s to the early 20th century, Lindsey said. In the 1920s, machine-produced glass containers supplanted hand-blown glass. Although now even some machine-made items like vintage milk and applied color label (aka ACL) soda bottles are seeing a market, Lindsey said.

And what makes a bottle a valuable collectible?

First, it generally can’t be machine made. It has to be hand-blown glass. “If one compares similar bottles made by both methods, one will easily be able to see the difference—the hand-blown example will have more ‘character’ to the glass,” Lindsey advised.

Cottle Bottle

Second, the brighter or odder the color, the greater the chances it is more valuable. “Color is king,” Lindsey said. There are, for instance, the soda bottles of Cottle, Post & Co., a Portland, Ore., beverage maker during the late 1870s. Most of the Cottle soda bottles were made in a blue-green glass that now fetches around $350 a bottle. There were, however, a few bottles blown in amber glass, and those go for about $2,000, Lindsey said.

Third, the odder the shape, the more valuable the bottle will be, both for its oddity and the fact that fewer of these will manage to survive making them rarer. Consider the elegant cathedral or “Gothic” pickle bottles of the mid-19th century. These long and graceful bottles broke easily, and so they are rare and can fetch upward of $40,000 for the extremely rare, deep amber glass examples produced in New England.

Pickle Bottle

Fourth, the bottle’s embossing can add to its value. Embossing took the place of labels early on, Lindsey explained. While many of the bottles sported just the name of the product and the manufacturer, others have embossing and motifs that were artistic, historical or commercial. There are, for example, the “Corn for the World” flasks with a large, heavily embossed ear of corn and the motto “Corn for the World.” These flasks run a few hundred dollars in aqua color, with the much rarer and aesthetic shades of deep green, various blues and blue-greens, and amber examples (someone once said, “Color is king”) being worth up to $4,000 or more.

Corn Front Bottle

A lot of historical details and information can be found on Lindsey’s website and at the Historic Glass and Bottle Identification & Information website, sponsored by the Society for Historic Archaeology and the federal Bureau of Land Management of which Lindsey is creator and author.

Bottle collecting got a big boost in the 1980s when several big auction houses held regular auctions featuring bottles, Lindsey said, and then got another market jolt with the advent of the Internet.

“Everything started to escalate, and in that flush of excitement, everything went,” Lindsey said. The glass bubble has, however, burst, and a little wiser and savvier approach is called for. “Most of the good stuff has been found,” Lindsey said, and then added, “But you know out in Virginia City, Nev., which has been the mecca for Western bottle diggers since the 1950s, they still turn up a good piece now and then.”

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Bottle shows strongly emphasize old or historic bottles, though always have an assortment of other collectibles ranging from glass insulators, to coins and trade tokens, bottle related items (e.g., shot glasses, advertising signs, trade cards).

I attended the Saturday main session (free admission) of the show which was nominally the second day of the show. Bottle shows these days typically have a dealer “set-up” day on Friday where they unpack their goods. The show sponsors (usually a local/regional bottle club) charge an “early lookers” admission of $5 to $10 for non-dealers on that day. Often the set-up day is a frenzy of buying, selling and trading action as each dealer sets out his wares for all to see. Virtually all bottle dealers are also collectors, buying and selling amongst each other, as well as those willing to pay the early fee that first day. The second day-typically Saturday- is the main show day, which is a bit more relaxed, allowing for a more calm approach to ones bottle collecting activities.

A view of the smaller of the two buildings at the 49er Bottle & Antique Show.

Buyers perusing some of the fantastic bottles being offered by American Bottle Auctions.

This year’s show had, by my estimate, 150 to 175 tables set up as usual in two separate buildings (I’ve attended at least seven or eight previous shows here over the past 25 years). Bottle shows strongly emphasize old or historic bottles, though always have an assortment of other collectibles ranging from glass insulators, to coins and trade tokens, bottle related items (e.g., shot glasses, advertising signs, trade cards) to… well, just about anything old. Even for non-bottle collectors, there is usually something of interest to most other collectors. My wife is not a bottle collector but always finds some jewelry of interest.

Some of the rare and colorful Western bottles – produced from the 1850s to 1890s – that are being offered at the ABA’s next auction in January, 2009.

An assortment of equally colorful barrel bitters (back row against light) being offered at fixed prices, ranging into the many thousands of dollars.

Another fixture at Western bottle shows for several decades has been Pete Hendricks “Pacific Coast Bottle Exchange” table that features bottles of all types and origins.

As a (the?) premier Western show, it isn’t surprising that this show has a high percentage of Western American bottles. One of premier dealers in such bottles is American Bottle Auctions (ABA) of nearby Sacramento, Calif., which had several tables set up at Auburn, showing some of the rare and colorful Western bottles-produced from the 1850s to 1890s, and an assortment of equally colorful barrel bitters (back row against the light) being offered at fixed prices, ranging into the many thousands of dollars. Another fixture at Western bottle shows for several decades has been Pete Hendricks’ “Pacific Coast Bottle Exchange” table that features bottles of all types and origins.

Herb Yue displays a collection of differently colored “ladies leg” bitters bottles.

Bottle shows also usually feature collectors’ displays of bottles. Auburn had only two displays this year-the only disappointment for me, as I love to see other collections creatively displayed. Fortunately, both displays were impressive. Image #7 shows Herb Yue’s collection of differently colored “ladies leg” bitters bottles. These uniquely shaped bottles have a distinctively bulging neck that has been creatively dubbed a “ladies leg” style by collectors although early glass makers referred to them as “Boker Bitters” bottles after the most popular brand of the 19^th century. Bitters were a (typically) high alcohol medicinal product very popular during the 19^th century when many thousands of different brands produced throughout the U. S. The other display was of Mike McKillop’s small size-”splits”-Western beer bottles. Splits were a very small beer bottle holding around eight ounces. As usual, I was educated by the displays, as I didn’t even know there were that many beer splits produced in the West.

Mike McKillop’s small size – “splits” – Western beer bottles.

Was the Auburn show the best in the West? Probably, though I don’t attend every show held in the West. I did, however, attend the Las Vegas bottle show this past February, and if the standard for “best” is the number of sales tables, then I believe that Auburn easily takes the nod… for this year. I will most likely be attending the Las Vegas show again this coming February (Feb. 13 & 14, 2009, at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino). If I attend, a report on that show will be featured on WorthPoint in February.

Has this article made you want to check out a bottle show in your region? For a constantly updated listing of bottle shows being held throughout the U. S. check one-or both-of the following websites:

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector Magazine show site:

http://www.glswrk-auction.com/ShowCale.html

The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors show site:

http://www.fohbc.com/FOHBC_ShowCalendar2.html

My obsession with glass began at the age of 16 with a pink Cherry Blossom Cup & Saucer that I purchased for $ .25!  Over the years as I began a family & it grew, so did my collection!   My husband, who I met when I was 17 jumped right in too!   His philosophy has always been if you like it, buy it!  Ladies you can’t find one better than that.

One of my early goals was to have at least one piece from every pattern which I quickly began.  As my family grew I decided I wanted to bring them into the appreciation of this glass I loved.  I began putting a complete set together for each of them and picked my favorite patterns so that I could share my love with them.  Each special occasion, family dinner or birthday the collections came out and we used them!

In the beginning the children didn’t understand, all they knew was the pink dishes with the cherries on them belonged to the oldest, the green ones that looked the same were for my daughter and the baby got the pink dishes with the holes in the edges!  For years that is what my prized pieces were referred to!  For those that can’t guess the patterns from their expert naming; in order we have Pink & Green Cherry Blossom and Pink Open Lace, also called Lace Edge or Old Colony!  As they got older, the name changed just to “the dishes we can’t put in the dishwasher!”  But whenever we walked through an antique store, or went to a flea market they would run around and look for a piece then run back to find out if we needed that.  The game they would start to play was run back and announces “I found a piece for my sister’s pattern but I’m not going to tell where it is!”  Then she would beg and plead; when the tears were about to begin he’d tell her.  Of course she did her share of getting even with him.  The younger one just ran after them both.  Every Christmas when they found a piece with their father they could hardly sit still until I opened the box.  Most years my daughter couldn’t hold it in and would say Papa didn’t know if you needed this or not but he said we can always use an extra!  (Husband is from Italy so kids always call him Papa just to be clear it isn’t Grandpa!)

When we set the table we would alternate colors, green dinner plate, pink salad plate, green sherbet plate and finally pink sherbet dish on top.  Then the next place setting would be the reverse.  This not only looked beautiful, we used everyone’s dishes and it also kept the kids busy for hours trying to get the setting correct while I did the cooking with no one under foot!  (See I had ulterior motives!)  Also I understand I’m ahead of my time as Oprah now says it’s better to set a table with different place settings.

Every special dinner every guest would know just who’s dish they were using and were politely told how delicate these dishes could be so be careful!  (At this point I would slide under the table in embarrassment)   As they grew they began to realize the value in those colored dishes and a new joke era began.  One of the kids would yell at the other not to scratch their plate, don’t cut your meat like that because that plate belongs to me; oh if it’s your plate then I can drop it; put ice in that pitcher because it’s his and so on.  I got them good one year as we were having a large gathering, making sure everything was absolutely perfect with the glass, large elegant candlesticks, silver polished and cleaning for weeks.  The kids were going on how strangers would scratch their dishes and ruin them.  When dinner was announced everyone came to the table going on about how beautiful it was, “Oh that’s Depression Glass I didn’t know there was so much still around”, then sat down and politely looked at each other.  My children however started rolling off their chairs as I had set the table with all my beautiful glass and plastic utensils!  After the Shrimp I let them use real utensils but the memory is laughed about every gathering we have!

My personal favorite was one year for my anniversary my husband bought all 16 of the tall Cherry Blossom tumblers, which are quite expensive.  The new rule was when we do cheers no banging the glasses as hard as they usually did, which was actually trying to see if they could shatter them.  Well they secretly made a pact and when we did cheers they all put their hands between the glasses so this has become our new way to toast!

I hear so many people tell me their children want no part of their collections.  When asked do they use them the common answer is, NO!  It’s too expensive, I can’t put them in the dishwasher, they may get scratched and so on.   Maybe if there was more of the above we’d have less of our children not being interested in them?  If the reason you began your collection was a special memory of someone you cherished don’t you want your children to have that same special memory?   I would wash a 1000 more hours of dishes, if I had to, just to keep those memories.

Depression Glass vs. Elegant Glass: What’s The Difference?

By Linda Carannante

One big misnomer that I often hear is the assumption that all Pink and Green Glassware is Depression Glass. This isn’t always the case, and the pieces in question may very well be Elegant Glass. So what is the difference and where did these names come from?

Depression and Elegant is actually a modern name bestowed by price guide writers who had to find an easier way to describe the glass they were writing about. In the end, both names were appropriate. Both types of glass began production around the same period of time; the late 1900s. The overall “recipe” to make the glass was basically the same. Some companies even made both types of glass, and, to confuse you even more, they used the same molds to produce them!

The name “Depression Glass” was given to a period of glass whose production began around 1920 and continued until the late ’40s. However, some patterns which are still considered Depression were still being made into the 1980s. Throughout glass collecting circles, Depression glass is typically American-made glassware, but we must not forget that this glass was also being produced throughout Canada, Europe & Australia.

If not made only during the Depression years, why then is it called Depression Glass? I’ve heard several assumptions over the years as to why it acquired the name. The most accepted reason seems to be this is a form of “pressed” glass, originating during a “depressed” era, thus the name was born!

The simplest way to explain it is that for the most part, Depression Glass is machine-made glass that was mass produced and did not have to be touched by human hands. Imperfections were a natural part of the process and often left alone. It was usually a premium item or sold in a dime store.

Depression Glass was produced in a variety of colors in addition to pink and green; blue, amber, yellow, crystal and even white to name a few. Jeannette Glass, MacBeth Evans, Anchor Hocking, Imperial, Hazel Atlas, U.S. Glass were just some of the companies that produced Depression Glass.

Elegant Glass

Elegant Glass—although it has many of the same characteristics such as color, production and era—had to be touch by “human hands” in its production. Elegant Glass, unlike Depression, was polished to get rid of the imperfections in the glass. These same imperfections are one of the things we expect to find in Depression Glass. The base of bowls, platters, etc. in Elegant Glass were ground so it would sit evenly on your table; acid etching or hand etching was used to create the pattern, one more beautiful then the next.

Another, and probably the biggest difference, is the way in which two were distributed. As we said before Depression was usually a premium item or sold in the 5 & 10 stores. Conversely, Elegant Glass was sold in the finer stores and never given away.

These patterns were marketed as wedding patterns, as early on china was not really used. One reason may be it was much more expensive and American Companies were far behind Japan and other foreign countries in producing colorful, attractive china in a large variety. Elegant glass provided a variety of beautifully etched designs in an equally attractive array of colors as well as pieces. There was a piece of glass created for every possible use, and available in many patterns! This was something else Depression Glass did not offer. The more successful an Elegant pattern was, the more pieces you would find. Take Candlewick for example. You have your standard table setting, but you also have a Card Tray, which the lady of the house would have her cards on and setting in the middle of her bridge table when her guests would arrive; lights were made for every room of your house; not only the glasses were made for your cocktails, but the decanter, the bitters bottle, and even the muddler was made; All you needed to serve a proper drink!

Elegant Glass was made by several glass companies; Heisey, Fostoria, Cambridge, Imperial, just to name a few. Because of the the onset of World War II, many glass companies went out of business or were bought out by other companies. Molds continued to be utilized and patterns went on just under other names.

One more thing: Where Depression Glass, for the most part, was fading away in the 1940s, it was the opposite for Elegant Glass. The momentum for this type of glass was increasing. Think about it: Families were benefitting post war and wanting to add the finer things. People disposed of their Depression Glass as it represented a time they couldn’t afford anything else! Elegant Glass represented status, change and an individual affluence. I remember when I was 16, I purchased my first piece of Depression Glass and my mother’s first words were: “What did you buy poor man’s glass for?” My response was if she would have kept hers, she would have been a rich darn woman! However, that shows you the mindset of a particular item. A single piece of glass represented a status to many.

There is beauty in both types of glassware as well as an economic building of a nation. Their common threads are stronger than their differences, although great. These two sets of glass were developed early in our history, their production kept this country going during a hard time, and they lived on for future generations to cherish!

Well, now that you know the definitions of each. Aren’t they a perfect fit?

Reference: The Collector’s Guide to Depression Glass by Marian Klamkin 1973

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