Chinex Classic Bouquet Dinner Plate Dep

Chinex Classic Bouquet Plate Detail

Are you confused by Bouquet, Oxford, Chinex, Cremax, Classic, all those patterns with all those decorations?  MacBeth Evans made a series of depression glass patterns in cremax translucent glass that are confusing.  Let’s go through a few of them.

First one up is Chinex Classic.  All Chinex Classic pieces have a pie crust edge and raised scrolls on the rim.

1. Is it white translucent glass?
2. Does it have a pie crust edge?
3. Is there a molded scroll on the rim?

If you answered “Yes” to all three questions then congratulations.  You have Chinex Classic.

Next one is Oxford.

1. Is it white translucent glass?
2. Does it have a pie crust edge?
3. Are there thin ribs that radiate outward on the rim?

If you answered “Yes” then you have Oxford.

Chinex Oxford Bouquet Cake Plate Depression Glass

Chinex Oxford Bouquet Saucer Detail

Great.  Wonderful.  So what’s the difference between Chinex Classic and Chinex Classic Bouquet?  And between Oxford and Oxford Bouquet?

The “Bouquet” signifies the decoration in the center.  Is there a multi colored decal of flowers?  If yes, then it’s Bouquet.  Remember, always determine the basic piece first, then look at the decorations.

Besides Bouquet you can find plain solid colored rims, rose decals, castle decals.  These are patterns you can have fun with given the variety, durability and low cost.

One last one, plain old Cremax.  Cremax has nice scalloped rims with groups of ribs.  You can see this on the plate below and how it looks decorated in the green rimmed saucer.

Cremax Windsor Castle Brown Plate

Cremax Green Trim Saucer Detail

There are a few more variations, including one that has S-shaped grooves in the rim.   All of these go well together and you can enjoy mixing and matching depression glass pieces and have a harmonious table when you are done.

Shopping Information:  We have Cremax Classic and Oxford in our store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.  Shopping with us is like antiquing with your best friend.

Viking Glass Georgian Ruby Red Iced Tea Goblet

Do you enjoy detective stories?  This isn’t a whodunit with dead bodies or great bank heists, but a safe quiet hunt to identify exactly what this goblet is.

My grandma had a set of red tumblers that had honeycombs on the side that I always liked.  Years later I found that honeycomb pattern is Georgian.

Many companies produced a Georgian pattern, including Fenton, Cambridge, Paden City, Hocking and Viking.  Some of the pieces are different enough you can tell them apart but others require detective work.  The book Great American Glass of the Roaring 20s and Depression Era, Book 2 by Measell and Wiggins has an insert that gives good clues for you.

Luckily for me this goblet is easy.  See the bulge in the stem and the spots on the foot?  That bulge has the honeycomb facets and the foot has raised honeycombs on the underside.  Easy peasey.  Viking Glass made this shape.

The next step is which goblet?  Viking made a lot of pieces, from low footed sherbets to tall iced tea tumblers, goblets, cocktails and juices.  It’s hard to tell by eyeballing a goblet, you should measure the height and the capacity.  Always fill the goblet right to the rim so it just shy of spilling and give the capacity in ounces.  (A helpful tip is that an ounce is two tablespoons and there are eight ounces to a cup.)  Armed with dimensions you can look in books or in a reliable website.  My favorite book is Elegant Glass: Early, Depression, & Beyond by Debbie and Randy Coe which gives accurate dimensions and great photos. For patterns not in Coe & Coe, try using Replacements.com.

This particular goblet is 6 1/8 inches tall and holds between 12 and 13 ounces.  It’s too big for the water and much too big for the wine goblet.  It is the iced tea.

Mystery solved!

If you have a detective story to share please leave a comment.  It would be fun to hear from you and if you like, you could contribute to a blog post with your detective work.

Shopping information:  Viking ruby iced tea is available at Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.

Full disclosure:  The book links in this post are affiliate links.

Doric & Pansy Ultramarine Teal Depression Glass Cup

Does Doric & Pansy Ultramarine Glass Glow under Black Light?

Today Debbie contacted me through my store to ask whether Doric & Pansy ultra marine / teal glass glowed under black light.  That was a good question and I didn’t know the answer.

Time to get out the black light.  Oops, no batteries.  Found the batteries.  Oops, still doesn’t work.  Asked husband to fix.  He rearranged the batteries.  Yay!  Success.  Now it’s time for the test.

I took the cup into the darkest room of the house and and turned on my little black light.   The cup glowed green

Yes, the teal depression glass cup glows under black light.  It’s the blue green color in the photo under normal lighting and a medium light green, almost opaque looking, under black light.

Vaseline Glass and Authenticity

People often use the black light test thinking it guarantees authenticity.  It is not a reliable test to show glass is old.  Any glass which was colored with uranium salts will glow.  Some very old clear glass glows; some does not.  Most depression era green glass will glow but you will find later glass that glows too.

The other confusion is with the term ” Vaseline glass”.  Originally Vaseline referred to a glass color, light yellow, not bright yellow and not green.  This light yellow glass glows green under black light.  Often today people use the term “Vaseline” to refer to any green or yellow glass that turns green under ultraviolet light.  Besides the green and light yellow glass there is some cranberry or opalescent glass that turns green.  A good book on the topic is Vaseline Glass: Canary to Contemporary by David A. Peterson

Many people collect Vaseline glass, enjoying the vintage patterns and the fun color response.  If you are one of them have fun and just be aware that not everything touted as “Vaseline” truly is.  You can get inexpensive black lights sometimes sold to detect counterfeit money and it’s a good idea to take one with you when you shop for Vaseline glass. The UV light in the link below is the one I use.

2 In 1 Uv Torch Light And Uv Counterfeit Money Detector

And Rose Point etched crystal is always in perfect taste.  It’s not too ornate; it’s not gaudy; it doesn’t look or feel like discount store glass.

Rose Point Etched Crystal Candy Bowl

Many older people are hard to shop for because they have a lot of stuff already and want to downsize, not add more clutter. One advantage of a candy dish like this one is that it’s hard to argue with the size. This dish is only about 6 inches across and fits in a small niche or space on a table. You can point out how special vintage glass is and how much you and the rest of your family will enjoy seeing it on the table and how it will bring memories with each piece of candy savored.  Rose Point candy jar will be anything but clutter!

Glass companies made candy dishes in most elegant and depression patterns and they are fun starter pieces for people who are just beginning to explore vintage glass.  The designs and shapes and colors vary and there’s something to fit in any home.  When you shop for Christmas put candy jars on your list and add your favorite candy to give a combined gift that is even more special.  Even the hardest to buy for person will enjoy their favorite sweets packaged in a beautiful glass dish.

Shopping Information:  We offer Rose Point crystal and vintage candy dishes in our store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.  Click here for our candy jars and here for all Rose Point.  Shopping with us is like antiquing with your best friend.

Patrician Amber Plate with Inner Rim Roughness

Today we went to an antique mall that had a gorgeous green Royal Lace console bowl in a case.  I didn’t ask to see it up close because there was obvious roughness on the inner rim even seeing it through the case.

What is inner rim roughness and why should you care?

The photo shows a close up of the inside edge of the flat rim on a Patrician plate.  The plate has a sharp drop off where the rim turns into the main part of the plate and that sharp edge gets small dings and rough spots when people stacked the glass for storage.  Royal Lace, Madrid, Florentine #1 are particularly susceptible to this damage.

Glass patterns with rounded inner rims are much less prone to inner rim roughness; Miss America has a wide flat rim but I’ve seen only a few  pieces with damage on the inner rims.

There are different philosophies about damaged glass.  After all, a bit of wear or tiny rough spots simply means that someone used the glass before you.

Or you might feel that this is inconsequential damage and if you intend to use your glass frequently or with children then you may be wise to purchase glass that has a few nicks.  But if you prefer glass that’s in as good a condition as possible then you’ll want to learn how to check glass for inner rim roughness and when you buy online how to find glass that will come to you as described.

Tips to check for inner rim roughness:

• Look carefully at the glass and pay special attention to sharp corners.
• Run your fingers along the top edge of the inner rim.  Check out any rough spots or discontinuities.
• Run your fingers along the side inside edge of the rim.  You’ll feel most nicks here.
• If you are buying online ask your seller to do the same checks.
• If you are buying a pattern with sharp edges on the rim pay extra attention.

This is how I buy glass, and yes, I’ve missed damage even with this checking.  That’s why I re-check when I list and then re-re-check when I wrap to ship to a buyer.

Friends wouldn’t let friends buy chipped glass without pointing out the damage and since I want shopping at my store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass to be like antiquing with your best friend, I must take extra care.  That’s what friends do.

Cambridge Glass Rose Point Etched Crystal 3121 Water Goblet

Earlier blog post I told the story of the older couple who sold me their Cameo depression glass because “their daughters didn’t want it”.  The couple never used the glass so no one had memories tied up in it.

I have this glass now and will list it for sale so someone else can treasure it and hopefully pass on to their children as a tangible memory.

So… what are your suggestions for helping family enjoy your glass collection?  It’s more fun to collect and use special things when others share your appreciation of them.  How do you build that into your family life?

One tip from Linda Carannante of the Collectors Journal May 4 edition is to let each child have their own glass.  Yes, mom keeps it and takes care of it, but while the kids are growing up each one has their glass – and if you have children then you know what that means.  Kids get quite possessive and careful of their glass.

Linda tells how her kids would tell visitors about the glass and politely explain how fragile and special it was.

Maybe you can’t get each person their own pattern, but how about a few pieces?  Or if you collect a pattern that came in colors, mix in a few pieces of different colors and allot one color per child.

What other ideas do you have to help your family appreciate your glass and enjoy your hobby as much as you?

Link to previous post:  How to Help Your Family Appreciate Your Glass Collection Part 1

Shopping Guide:  We sell depression glass and elegant glass from Cambridge, Fostoria, Tiffin, Central, Monongah and others at Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.

Cameo Green Depression Glass Grill Plate

Let me share a sad story with you and suggest how you can avoid the same thing happening to you. This weekend I bought a set of green Cameo depression glass like the grill plate pictured.

The sellers were an 85 year old couple who were selling because “our daughters didn’t want this”.  The gentleman had gotten the glass set from his mother about 30 years ago and had not used it.  Not once.  Never.

He told me this was his mother’s most treasured possession and she used it once a year at Christmas.  He never used it, not even once a  year.  His daughters have no memories tied up with this glass; they don’t instantly remember happy meals and fun family times when they see it.

Of course they don’t want it.  Of course he doesn’t want it either.

Will this happen to you?  I encounter many people who are downsizing because their “children don’t want it”.  What about your children?

It’s easy to avoid this happening:  Use Your Glass.  Use it for special meals, use pieces of it on Sundays, use it when you have family or friends.  But use it.  Make your glass an integral part of your family’s memories and traditions.

Glass is tangible and it’s an easy way to tie a memory for your children.  But you have to use it or they will have no memories.

One pattern that was reissued was Madrid.  Federal Glass made Madrid depression glass mostly in amber, blue and some pink, green and other colors during the depression.  They reissued Madrid for the American bicentennial and marked each piece with a “76″ in the design by the edge.  Then Federal Glass went out of business in the late 1970s and sold their molds to Indiana.

Indiana Glass has re-issued several patterns of their own and they added Federal’s Madrid to their line up.  They reissued Madrid in pink, amber and a light aqua blue plus clear and called it “Recollection”.  None of the pieces is marked in any way to distinguish it from the original depression era glassware but you can spot most of the reproductions by the color, feel or shape.  The bowl shown in this video fails the “real depression glass” test in two ways, by color and by shape.

I hope this is helpful.  Please leave me a comment so I know what you think.

Cherry Blossom Pink Depression Glass Cup

Jeannette’s Cherry Blossom pink depression glass is exceptionally pretty with the entrancing design of blossoms, leaves and cherries dangling from a stem. Sadly this popular pattern attracted unscrupulous reproductions in the early 1970s.

So what’s a collector to do?  You want to protect yourself, but how?

You can spot most repro pieces pretty easily.  I was unsure I’d be able to recognize them from book descriptions, but last week when I went antiquing we found several cup and saucer sets that were obvious reproductions.

The repros didn’t feel quite right, true, but if you haven’t seen the real thing it’s not much use to tell you “it’s different”.  The biggest difference in the cups were the flower and leaf pattern elements on the side panels were further apart and looked unconnected.  The cherry leaves were crude and the bottom only partly designed.

Saucers also had poorly done, crude designs.

The cup shown here is the real thing.  The design is tight with little bare space between the leaves and flowers on the sides and the base has realistic looking cherries and leaves.

Gene Florence covers repros in his depression glass encyclopedias and collector’s guides.  It’s hard to feel confident just based on books but your best bet is to spend time reading and looking at pictures and getting familiar with your pattern.

It was a relief to find that yes, I can spot repros!

Shopping information:  We carry Cherry Blossom depression glass in our store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.   You may find Gene Florence’s books at your library and they are available from Amazon.   Here is a link to the most recent edition on Amazon:   Collector s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass,19th Edition (Collector’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass)

Heart Shaped Center Handled Server Ebony Black Glass

I love center handled servers, they have everything I like so much about depression glass:

• Vast array of colors and shapes
• Beautiful
• Unique.
• Entrancing to hold and think of the people before you who held and treasured this.
• Did I mention beautiful?

This ebony black one is especially different.  It has 8 sides with dramatic points and the sweetest heart shaped handle.  I’m not terribly fond of opaque glass but I could not resist this at an estate sale.  That heart shaped handle plus the beautiful shape and clear shiny surface won me over.

Do you worry a piece like this just sit in your china cupboard?  Center handled servers are useful and start conversations.  Put your cupcakes on this or arrange your cookies just so.  These were marketed as sandwich trays – and we have moved beyond serving dainty cucumber morsels to including lunch sandwiches.  Even peanut butter and jelly will look great on such a unique plate.

This particular piece is from Imperial Glass, their line 725.  I could identify it by the pretty heart shaped handle.

We have several center handled servers including this dramatic ebony one from Imperial Glass and others in amber, green, topaz and crystal in our store Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.  Come take a look.