Dragon & Lotus by Fenton
|
Cherry by Dugan
|
Three Fruits by Northwood
|
Marigold Bowl
|
Marigold Bowl
|
Marigold Bowl
|
Carnival
Glass
Carnival
glass is pressed and iridized glass manufactured between 1905 and 1930. Various companies in the United States,
England, France, Germany, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and Finland made
it.
The
iridization, unlike the costly art glass produced by Tiffany and his
competitors, was achieved by a spray process on the surface of the glass before
firing, thus, producing a very beautiful product at a greatly reduced cost,
giving everyone a quality product well within their budget.
In
addition, carnival glass was the last hand-shaped glass mass-produced in
America and remains as a beautiful reminder of the glassmakers skill.
Fruits and Flowers by Northwood
|
Holly by Fenton
|
Question Marks by Dugan
|
Blue BonBon
|
Dark Green Bowl
|
Amethyst BonBon
|
Color
To
tell the true color of a piece of carnival glass, hold the piece to a strong
light source. The base color you see is
the color of the piece. The colors given
off by the iridescence have little or nothing to do with the true color of the
glass. The pieces color is by far the
most important feature and also sometimes the most difficult to classify. Not all pieces come in all colors. Here are a few of the basic colors. Marigold is by the far the most used color
in carnival glass.
Marigold
|
A golden
yellow color (most look like old gold)
|
Amethyst
|
A purple
color from quite light to quite dark
|
Green
|
A true
green, not a pastel color
|
Blue
|
A true
blue, not a pastel color
|
Peach
Opalescent
|
Marigold
with a milky (white or colored) edge
|
Aqua
Opalescent
|
Ice blue
with a milky (white or colored) edge
|
Pastel
Colors
|
A satin
(frosty) treatment in white, ice blue, ice green
|
Red
|
A true
red, rare color but some were made
|
Black
Amethyst
|
Very dark
purple or black in color
|
Vaseline
|
Clear
yellow/yellow-green glass, glows in black light
|
Clambroth
|
Pale
ginger ale color
|
Fish Scales & Beads by Dugan
|
Stippled Rays by Dugan
|
Persian Medallion by Fenton
|
Marigold Bowl
|
Green Bowl
|
Marigold BonBon
|
SHAPES
Bowls
and plates are easy to understand, as are pitchers, tumblers, and vases; but
even these have variations: bowls can be ruffled, unruffled (shallow unruffled
bowls are called ice cream bowls), deep, or shallow. Pitchers can be standard, smaller (milk pitcher), taller
(tankard), or squat. Tumblers can be
standard size, tall (lemonade), or small (juice), even as small as a shot
glass. Vases can range in size from
tiny 4 bud vases to monster 22 sizes called funeral vases (any vase over 16
tall is considered a funeral vase).
Vases may be straight topped, flared, or JIP (jack-in-the-pulpit) shaped
with one side down and one side up. In
addition there are table sets, consisting of a creamer, sugar, covered butter
dish, and spooner (a spooner has no lid).
There are decanters and stemmed goblets of several sizes; rose bowls,
evident by the lips being pulled in equally around the top of the piece; candy
dishes that have the rims flared out; and nut bowls that have the rim standing
straight up. There are banana boats
that are pulled up on two sides, baskets that have handles, bob-bons that have
handles on opposite sides, and nappies with only one handle. In addition there are berry sets (small and
large bowls that are deep and usually come with one large bowl and six small
ones), orange bowls (large footed bowl that holds fruit), handled mugs, and
plates (these are shallow without any bowl effect, coming straight out from the
base and no higher from base to rim than 2).
Specialized shapes include candlesticks, hatpins, hatpin holders (footed
piece with the rim turned in to hold hatpins), epergnes (pieces that hold
flower lilies), card trays (flattened bon-bons or nappies), toothpick holders,
cracker and cookie jars with lids, stemmed compotes (or comports as they were
originally called), hair receivers, powder jars with lids, as well as many,
many novelties that include paper-weights, animal novelties, and wall pocket
vases. Finally we have punch bowl sets,
which consist of a punch bowl, standard or with base, and matching cups.
These are all the general shapes of carnival glass. In addition there are many, many specialty
shapes that include light shades, marbles, beads, beaded purses, odd whimsy
shapes of all sorts that have been fashioned from standard pieces, pin trays,
dresser trays, pickle casters in metal frames, and brides baskets. The list of shapes is almost endless and the
beginner should study these and ask other collectors about odd pieces they
cant identify.
The Big Five in Carnival Glass
The
Dugan Glass Company
The
Dugan Glass Company of Indiana, Pennsylvania, began production in April 14,
1892, calling itself the Indiana Glass Company. It operated for less then a year before closing. The vacant plant was first leased, and then
purchased by Harry Northwood in 1895.
For the next two years it pored out a steady stream of Northwood glass
till Northwood decided to join the glass combine and moved his operation. Northwood leased the Indiana plant to its
managers, who changed the name to Dugan Glass Company (also called the American
Glass Company).
Dugan
produced basically the same sort of glass as Northwood until 1913 when the name
was changed again to the Diamond Glass Company. During this time many Northwood moulds were reworked, a trademark
with a D within a diamond was registered, and most of the carnival glass from
the company was produced under the supervision of Thomas Dugan.
The
plant operated until 1931 when it was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt
because of the Depression that gripped the country and the industry.
The Fenton
Glass Company
Founded
in 1905, the Fenton Glass Company was opened in Martins Ferry, Ohio, in an
abandoned factory rented by Frank Fenton and his brother, John (who was later
to found the famous Millersburg Glass Company). It took the company until 1907 for it to become fully productive.
From
the first, the design abilities of Frank were obvious, and each pattern seemed
to bear his own special flair.
In
1908 friction arose between the brothers, and John exited to pursue his dreams
in Millersburg, Ohio. By this time, the
Fenton process of iridization had taken the mass-scale art glass field by storm
and carnival glass was on its way.
For
the next 15 years, the Fenton Glass Company would produce the largest number of
patterns ever in carnival glass, and huge amounts of iridized glass would be
sent to the four corners of the world to brighten homes. Fenton made many other types of glass at their
plant but nothing surpassed the quality and quantity of their iridized
glass. Almost 150 patterns are credited
to the company in carnival glass alone, and many more probably credited to
others may be of Fenton origin.
The Imperial Glass Company
Imperial
Glass Company was founded in 1901 but it wasnt until 1904 till the first glass
was produced; and not until nearly five years later that the first iridized
glass was made.
In
1909, Imperial introduced their iridescent line of blown lead luster articles
as well as the Nuruby, Sapphire, and Peacock colors of carnival glass.
Huge
quantities of iridized glass was designed, manufactured, and sold to the mass
marketplace across America and the European Continent for the next decade in
strong competition with the other art glass factories.
In
quality Imperial must be ranked second only to Millersburg and certainly in
design, is on an equal with Northwood.
Only Fenton produced more recognized patterns and has outlasted them in
longevity (Imperial became a subsidiary of Lenox in 1973).
In
the early 60s, the company revived some of its old moulds and reproduced many
of the old iridized patterns as well as creating a few new ones for the market
that once again was invaded by carnival glass fever.
The Millersburg Glass
Company
In
1908 with the Fenton Art Glass Company going strong, the brothers Frank and
John clashed over company policy. John
went looking for a new location for a glass plant of his own. John found a good location in Millersburg,
Ohio
On
May 20, 1909, the first glass was poured.
The initial moulds were designed by John and were Ohio Star and Hobstar
and Feather both crystal patterns not carnival. Carnival was also produced in the first month in amethyst, green
and a soft marigold.
During
the following years the Millersburg plant was at its zenith, and the Hipkins
Mold Company made dozens of new moulds for them. By late 1911 they wanted pay for the moulds made, as did many
other creditors, and John Fenton found his finances a disaster. The plant was kept producing, but bankruptcy
was filed and the factory sold in late 1911 renaming it the Radium Glass
Company. The Jefferson Glass Company
reused many of the moulds when they bought the plant when Radium folded. Jefferson used the factory for a short time
and again it was sold to a tire company who removed the furnace and great smoke
stack. Millersburg was no more.
The Northwood Glass
Company
Harry
Northwood came to America in 1880 and first worked at an old established
glassmaker. For five years, Harry
remained there learning his craft and dreaming his dreams.
He
worked at various other glass companies until 1896 when he formed the Northwood
Company at Indiana, Pennsylvania. His
famous custard glass was one of the first lines produced at his new factory.
In
1901, he purchased Hobbs, Brockunier and Company, where he first started out in
1880. For the next couple years, there
were two Northwood plants.
Finally
in 1904, he sold the Indiana, PA plant to its managers, which was later to
become the Indiana Glass Company.
In
1908 Harry Northwood, following the success of his student Frank Fenton, in the
iridized glass field, marketed his first Northwood iridescent glass, and
Northwood carnival glass was born. For
the next 10 years carnival glass was the great American craze, and even at the
time of Harry Northwoods death in 1919, small quantities were still being
made.
Other American Companies
In
addition to the five major producers of carnival glass in America, several
additional companies produced amounts of iridized glass.
Cambridge Glass Company,
|
Cambridge,
Ohio
|
Jenkins Glass Company,
|
Kokomo,
Indiana
|
Westmoreland Glass Company,
|
Grapeville,
Pennsylvania
|
Fostoria Glass Company,
|
Moundsville,
West Virginia
|
Heisey Glass Company,
|
Newark,
Ohio
|
McKee-Jeannette Glass Company,
|
Jeannette,
Pennsylvania
|
U.S. Glass Company,
|
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
|
OLD Trademarks
Northwood, Imperial, Cambridge, Dugan-Diamond, Higbee, and
Jeannette are trademarks on old glass that collectors will see. All of these companies marked at least
part of their production. The dates
for marking vary between 1904 and 1939, depending on the companys lifespan and
when they first started making glass.
NEW Trademarks
New trademarks generally fall into two categories: marks
intended to appear close enough to the old, well known trademark to fool
buyers; or completely new trademark that bear no resemblance to the old one.
L.G. Wright and Mosser both have trademarks that resemble the
old Northwood trademark and are used on many old carnival patterns, so
BEWARE! Other concerns are copying old
patterns in opalescent and carnival glass with no markings at all. So please be
cautious.
The Fenton Company is the most responsible as far as new
production identification. Since Fenton
never marked their items before 1971, any item marked with a trademark is newer
then 1971. (Old glass had paper labels,
never imprinted in the glass.)
The Imperial Company began using their well-known IG mark on
re-issue patterns in 1951 and continued till 1972. From 1973 through 1981 Imperial was in receivership and items had
a large L added to the IG trademark.
When Imperial was finally sold, an A was added to the L, IG
trademark, this lasted from 1981 through 1982 when they went out of business.
Vintage by Fenton
|
Pansy by Imperial
|
Marigold Bowl
|
Emerald Green Bowl
|
This
information was abridged from the Standard Encyclopedia of Carnival Glass, 6th
Edition. By Bill Edwards and Mike Carwile.
I
highly recommend that this book be purchased as a reference and price guide for
Carnival Glass.