Glass panels are some of the more attractive features of any piece of furniture especially if the piece is an antique and the glass is original to the piece and has survived unbroken. Old glass, like an old dog, is happiest when left alone because it is set in its ways, brittle and can be cantankerous. Both should be left alone as much as possible and disturbed only in dire circumstances.

The two circumstances under which old glass should be disturbed are when the glass is broken and must be replaced or when major work such as refinishing or structural repair is about to be undertaken. Don’t kid yourself about not removing the glass to refinish a piece. Not only will the refinish job not be done as well as if the glass were removed but as much glass is broken in the refinishing process as in the removal and reinstallation. The same holds for structural repairs to a cabinet. If the piece is to be clamped or otherwise stressed in any way, the glass really should come out.

When this happens to an antique with curved glass, it can it be costly to replace and dangerous.

CAUTION: In all cases of glass removal, whether broken or unbroken, remember that the primary objective is to end the job with the same number of intact body parts that you started with. All other results, including glass removal, are secondary. In other words, use your head, and be careful. One of the most important tools used in glass handling is attitude. If you are very tired, very pushed for time, very tense or very almost anything else, wait until some other time to deal with old, irreplaceable glass. Also make sure that those around you understand your need for concentration at this point and can leave you alone for a while.

REMOVAL: The first step in glass removal is to get rid of whatever is holding the glass in place. In some cabinets, this may be only a piece of braided rope nailed into the cabinet. In other cases, molding strips of various woods may be present. Study the piece before attacking, and make sure you understand where the real structure is. In some cases, only the side molding is used with no top and bottom pieces. In others, only one piece of molding is used.

The glass may slide into a slot on one side of the cabinet and fit flush on the other side, held by the molding. Molding is on the inside of the cabinet 95 percent of the time, but there are cases where the glass is installed and secured from the outside, making removal and reinstallation a lot simpler and safer. Speaking of simpler and safer, if you are dealing with a door or other such removable panel, by all means remove it from the cabinet first, and do all the work with the piece flat on a padded surface.

Using a 1-inch-wide putty knife and a table knife, carefully remove whatever molding is in place. It’s usually easier to start in the middle of a long piece rather than on an end because the molding is more flexible in the middle. Carefully work under the molding trying to lift it a little without breaking it. Work your way toward one end carefully. You don’t have to completely remove the strip as you go. Just loosen it. Then work your way from the middle to the other end.

Once the entire strip is loose, work on removing it intact. As soon as a piece is removed, label it with a piece of masking tape indicating which side of the cabinet it came from, which side of the glass it belongs on and which way is up. (You’ll thank yourself later when it’s time to reassemble.)

After the last piece of molding is removed, leave the glass in place, and check to make sure that all the nails in the molding strips came out with the strips. One nail sticking out can break a piece of old glass as you remove it. Don’t trust your eyes here. While holding a vertical piece of glass in place with one hand, trace the outline of the glass with the other, searching for “invisible” nails or even broken pieces of nails that might snag the glass. Carefully remove any found nails using pliers, wire cutters, etc., and a block of wood as a cushion to reduce scarring of the case.

Once all obstacles are cleared, remove the glass to a safe place after labeling it the same as you labeled its molding strips (especially the part about which way is up). The safest way to store the glass is standing on a blanket or towel leaning against a wall in roughly the same position it was in the piece.

INSTALLATION: After the refinishing or whatever is done, installation is almost the reverse of removal. Have a clean, padded, uncluttered work surface available to lay out the glass panels and clean them BEFORE installation. Yes, you are going to get fingerprints on them during installation, but that’s minor. Use a new, single-edged razor blade to scrape old finish and paint from the edges of the glass before using any commercial glass cleaner.

Next, lay out the molding associated with the glass panel, and check it for protruding nails. All nails should be hammered back to their staring point. Any missing nails should be replaced with a comparable new nail, usually 1/2 inch or 5/8 inch by 18 or 19 gauge wire brads. Start new nails through the molding so they barely protrude. Fit the glass into its bed following your label marks, and fit the molding the same way so that the nails will fit back into their original holes and new nails will line up.

The objective here is to minimize the number of hammer blows in the area of the old glass. This eliminates a lot of stress on the glass and on you. If the old nails do not provide enough “grip,” extract them, and replace with the next size up in the original hole.

To reduce the chance of mishap during installation, visit your local picture-frame shop first and pick up scraps of mat board from the cutting-room floor. As you hammer nails through the molding strips, hold a piece of mat board against the glass. That way you can actually hit the glass without breaking it. Mat board is tough stuff. When installation is complete, clean the glass again, and use a crayon to fill up the nail holes.

If you do have to replace a piece of glass, especially curved glass, there are two sources that may help you. I have used both a number of times. The first is Van Dyke’s Restorers, use the keyword search “curved glass. The other is Standard Bent Glass. They have always been very polite and helpful on the phone.

Fred Taylor is a Worthologist who specializes in American furniture from the Late Classicism period (1830-1850).

Visit Fred’s website at www.furnituredetective.com. His book, “How To Be A Furniture Detective,” is now available for $18.95 plus $3 shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423.

Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture,” ($17 + $3 S&H) and a bound compilation of the first 60 columns of “Common Sense Antiques,” by Fred Taylor ($25 + $3 S&H) are also available at the same address.

For more information call 800-387-6377, fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

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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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