Duncan Millder Sandwich Glass 10 inch Deep Fruit Bowl

Nice bowl, right?  Yes, it is Duncan Miller Sandwich pattern, good quality glass, nice ground base, useful salad bowl, rather hard to find size, so on and so forth.  So what’s not to like?  If you collect this pattern – and I hope you do – this is a choice piece you will be glad to own.

This is a cautionary tale about relying on published price guides.

Don’t get me wrong, Gene Florence and his fellow authors do a superb job cataloging glass and making it accessible to everyone.  Without the books buying glass is a leap in the unknown.

The problem comes in when you rely solely on the published values to buy or sell.  About two years after I started my business a collector offered me her entire collection of Duncan Miller Sandwich glass.  This was a huge collection filled with unique pieces like candelabras, nut cups, cigarette boxes.

Like an idiot I relied only on my trusty reference books to set prices.  I put rare pieces out on eBay with buy it nows of exactly book value.  I put common-as-grass pieces out the same way.  Needless to say I have very few rare pieces left and lots of the hard to sell stemware, cups and saucers.   I found this salad bowl hiding in a box, which is why it’s still available.

Do buy the books.  I highly recommend Gene Florence’s Collector’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass and Coe’s Elegant Glass.  Both are excellent with good photos.  These books are responsible for glass being so popular to collect:  It is easy to know what you have, easy to have a clue to the value, and fun to learn more.  Just don’t rely on the book values without doing more research and some sanity checking.

Dogwood Pink Depression Glass Sherbet Macbeth Evans

Last month we shared the Top 10 Reasons to Collect Depression Glass.  OK, so you are convinced, but now what?  How do you start with this fun hobby?  There are so many patterns and pieces to choose among that it’s easy to get lost trying to decide which one is for you.

My advice?  Start with a book or a blog like mine or browse a website such as our eBay store, www.Catladykate.com or larger site www.CatladykatesGlass.com and see what appeals to you. Don’t worry if you can’t make up your mind just yet.

Go ahead and pick a couple pieces, maybe in different patterns or colors. You can find glass that won’t break your budget and I’m always glad to help you with shipping cost by packing glass together. Or if you find a piece you like, go ahead and email and ask about it.

The main factor is whether you like the pattern and color, but also consider how many pieces a pattern was made in, the overall price range, durability and whether it’s plentiful enough that you can realistically find something when you shop.   Depression glass that came in a wide range of pieces will be more fun to collect than one where you have only a few shapes to pick up.  The wide selection sometimes means you have more than one size of a tumbler or a serving bowl available to you.

The pattern we show here, Dogwood in pink, is a great choice.  It is very pretty (as you can see from the sherbet); there are many pieces available including tumblers and serving pieces.  MacBeth Evans made Dogwood and it is pretty durable, just like their American Sweetheart and the shapes are not prone to nicks.  It is priced in the higher medium range.  It’s about even with American Sweetheart, more than Block Optic, but well under some of the higher priced elegant patterns or hard to find depression sets.  Oddly enough the sherbet is rather expensive.  The sherbets are usually pretty inexpensive in most depression glass, in the $5-25 range, but the Dogwood pink one retails for about $40.  Cups are about $15 and serving bowls are $60, so it is affordable.  It is also available, always good.

Even if you are not sure, there are ways to reduce your risk.  If you get a few pieces in Dogwood, like the one shown here, then decide you don’t like it, you can probably sell it and move on to the next pattern.  It’s hard to sell glass well online, like on eBay, but often you can do well at garage sales if you advertise your pattern.  While I would not advise collecting depression glass to fund your retirement, you generally are going to do OK as long as you buy quality pieces in good condition.

Regardless of pattern you choose, the main thing is to start!

Hazel Atlas Florentine Poppy #2 Yellow Depression Glass Pitcher

Yellow must have been a popular color during the depression because depression glass manufacturers made several patterns in yellow and makers such as Fostoria did extensive lines in topaz.

So what’s the right name for this color?  Is it yellow?  Topaz?  Canary?  Vaseline?  Yellow is certainly the color name.   Hocking called their Cameo and Block Optic yellow.   Nothing fancy!

Some glass makers had their own terms for glass colors.  Fostoria called their yellow Topaz; check this link for Fostoria June etched topaz glass.  They called an almost identical color Gold Tint.  Ah yes.  Marketing ploys were alive and well in the 1930s!  (On a side note Fostoria was known for astute marketing.)

Older yellow Early America Pressed Glass (made in the late 1880s) is called canary but I’ve not seen this term used for depression-era glass.  I visualize canary as a vivid, bright yellow and my dictionary defines it as light to vivid which isn’t a lot of help!

Vaseline strictly speaking refers to glass that is light yellow or greenish yellow and glows green in ultraviolet light, but you will see people call anything that glows under black light vaseline.

Yellow is a cheerful sunshine color that looks great in glass.  The 1930s era glass isn’t an in-your-face eyesore color, but a pretty, soft pleasing tone that blends well with other colors and looks great by itself.

If you like yellow glass then patterns I recommend:

• Hazel Atlas Florentine #1 or #2, aka Poppy.  The pitcher shown is the Florentine #2.  These two patterns are identical but on different shapes and come in yellow, green, pale pink and clear.  The colors look wonderful together.
• Hocking Cameo also called Dancing Girl or Ballerina.  I like this pattern a lot and it is relatively easy to find, comes in lots of pieces and is moderately priced.
• Hocking Block Optic is art deco styling and is also fun to collect with many pieces to find and rather inexpensive.
• Fostoria Trojan etch or June.  These are more costly but gorgeous.  And fun to collect with plenty of pieces.

There are more yellow patterns, but these are excellent starting points.

Federal Patrician Green Depression Glass Lunch Plate

Reason #10:  Depression glass is beautiful!  The colors are entrancing, the designs are compelling.

Take this Patrician depression glass pattern from Federal Glass.  This has a neat design on the rim like little Vs and a center medallion that looks like a wagon wheel.  You won’t find colored glass made today that is prettier than this!

You could use this pattern in a lunch set and set a pretty table!  In fact you could mix the green and the amber colors and get a great fall look.

Tomorrow: Reason #9!

Hazel Atlas Florentine #1 Poppy Green Depression Glass Creamer

This creamer is Florentine #1 or Poppy green depression glass from Hazel Atlas.  Hazel Atlas made two shape with the same mold etched flower design, Florentine #1 and Florentine #2.  This is a popular pattern that I try to buy whenever I can.

Sad to say, both of my last three online purchases of Florentine green depression glass came with a lot of undisclosed damage.  This is such a problem when buying online and even sellers with good feedback and experience can miss damage.  (I know this from personal experience so now I check, recheck, then re-recheck.  Amazing how some of those nicks like to hide.)   Two of the last three purchases were from people who don’t sell a lot of glass but the other was an experienced seller.   Of course some sellers just aren’t careful.

Why is Florentine chancy to buy?  Is it just bad luck?  I don’t think so.  Most of the cups I’ve gotten have had chips on the top of the foot.  Saucers, plates and small bowls in Florentine #1 have sharp corners on the inner rims and these tend to get chipped.  I think many sellers don’t think to check the inner rims and you would not feel the chips on the top of the foot if all you do is casually run your fingers along the edge of the rim, and not the top or sides.

Moral of the story?   In the last case I did not email the seller before buying to ask about the inner rims.  Times before I did email and the sellers didn’t respond and I disregarded that red flag and bid anyway.  Note to self:  Ask and if you don’t get the answer, leave.

I hope you have better success buying this great pattern than my last few attempts.  If you choose to buy from me you can be sure that I’ve checked every piece many times – and if I still miss something I’ll make it right.

Hocking Mayfair Open Rose Pink Depression Glass Cup

In yesterday’s post about taking care of depression glass we showed a Hocking Mayfair pink depression glass sherbet that was all nasty haze from water spotting. I thought you ought to see what a beautiful pattern Hocking’s Mayfair pattern really is.

The nickname for this super pattern is Open Rose and  you can see why in the photo.  There are bouquets of big full blown cabbage rose on panels around the sides of this cup.  It is quite a pretty pattern.

Hocking Glass made Mayfair in pink, light blue, green, some yellow, clear and frosted pink.  You’ll probably find more pink than the other colors and I believe Hocking produced almost every piece in pink although that was not true for all the other colors.   Just looking at the list of pieces produced in my depression glass books by Gene Florence it looks like Hocking green, blue and yellow for most of the different pieces, but the green and yellow are pretty scarce.

There are some reproductions out there, notably a beverage set in some obvious colors like cobalt blue, the cookie jar, shot glass and shakers. Most of these are rather easy to tell apart from the originals. The original pitcher, for example, has a round mold mark on the base and the pattern detail is sharper. If you are interested in collecting Mayfair – and it is one of the most popular patterns – then I recommend Gene Florence’s Collector’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass, which gives tips to recognize and avoid repros.

Diamond Glass Adams Rib Amber Depression Glass Candleholders

Eeek!  Not more candleholders!  Yes, more candleholders, but these tell a story.

We went to a big flea market in Clare, Michigan a few weeks ago and got these candleholders.   So what are they?  Here’s how I identified them.

First these are more likely to be depression glass than anything from the 1960s or 70s based on style and general heft.   They are not likely elegant glass because the bases are not ground, although these are nicely made they don’t look like “good glass”.

Knowing they are depression glass narrows the field quite a bit.  True, we still have a lot of companies to consider, but we can rule out many like Cambridge or Fostoria.  I have my trusty depression glass books by Gene Florence which are great if the candles are a recognized depression pattern.

What I didn’t tell you is that these candleholders came with a console bowl.

Diamond Glass Adams Rib Amber Depression Glass Console Bowl

Often if you buy glass in lots or at an estate sale there will be pieces that are part of the same pattern, even if they don’t obviously go together.  Or maybe the people had a lot of glass by Fostoria that you do recognize.  It’s not unreasonable that other pieces may be Fostoria too – it’s a clue and a place to start.  Just don’t fall in love with the theory and forget to check other possibilities.  Lots of people mixed and matched glass.

My books don’t show this exact bowl, but Gene Florence’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass shows a pattern with the same bold ribs and wide smooth band.  It’s Adams Rib by Diamond Glass.  I read the description and looked at the photos.  Yes, it came in amber, and yes, a console bowl is listed.

No, the only candleholders listed were taller or blown, not these.  But wait, Florence mentions this is not a well-known pattern and he may not have all pieces listed.

At this point I conclude the quest and list the bowl and the candleholders!

Rosemary Amber Depression Glass Oval Serving Bowl

We live in mid-Michigan and the closest flea market is in Bay City.  It’s open every weekend from early spring to late fall and most years we’ve found excellent selection in April and May.  I’ve bought a lot of glass there in the past 8 year and the biggest challenge was to be sure the dirt was really washable dirt and not haze or something permanent.

This year we’ve gone there three times and have bought very little.  There has not been much glass and what there has been has been priced about what I can sell it for online or beat up – or both.  

There’s another big flea market twice a year a bit further away in Amish country and we went there today.  This is a neat experience even if you don’t find much to buy because it’s in the country and many people there get around by horse and buggy.  The ladies all wear warm-looking hats, dresses in plain fabric that go below their knees, black sturdy shoes and the guys wear hats and many have beards.  Some of the Amish bring their jams and hand-crafted wood and quilts so this is not your ordinary flea market.

Sad to say, we got only a few pieces of glass.  Someone had a Fostoria Vesper etched console bowl, which they had last year too,  and this year I could not say no.  And we got a couple etched candleholders and a few pieces of Federal Diana.  Most of the glass there was chipped and overpriced, for example, $28 for an Iris iridescent ruffled bowl, or $35 for a chipped Cameo cake plate.  But hey, one thing I do enjoy is buying glass.  If it was in good condition and anywhere near reasonable – I bought it!