We’re looking at pink depression glass patterns that are safe to collect – no reproduced pieces – and are beautiful, enjoyable to own and use, have lots of interesting pieces and are fun to seek. I’m calling this the collecting fun quotient and of course you may have different criteria for patterns you love and want.
American Sweetheart Pink Depression Glass Cereal Bowl
American Sweetheart in pink so far is getting high marks for its beauty – it truly is a spectacular design!
The next collecting fun thoughts relate to antiquing, always a fun topic!
- Available. You can find some pieces easily.
- A bit challenging. You need to hunt for other pieces.
- Affordable. This is personal but important.
Piece Availability Now
Pink American Sweetheart isn’t as easy to find as the Monax white is, at least here in Michigan. Nonetheless, you can find the cereal bowls, cups, saucers, smaller plates without too much trouble. If you go to an antique mall you will see a piece or two, maybe even a larger set.
American Sweetheart Pink Depression Glass Cup
Serving pieces vary. The salver, a 12 inch flat plate meant for serving, is pretty easy to find and the 9 inch round serving bowl and oval platter are not uncommon. You can find those with some looking at antique malls or online. In fact eBay right this moment (Memorial Day, 2016) has several listings for all three of these pieces.
Tumblers, oval serving bowl, creamer, sugar, soup bowl and dinner plate are in the middle. Yes, you can find them, but it will take hunting if you want to look in person and they are more expensive.
Both pitchers and salt and pepper shakers are hard to find and costly. You can probably find these at a glass show and if you are patient, probably online.
Availability And Price Over Time
It’s fun to look at older glass books for the pieces then sought after. Hazel Marie Weatherman used a stars and stripes method to rate patterns for how sought-after they were (stars) and how available (stripes). Her 1981 Price Trends rated pink American Sweetheart 4 stars and 3 stripes, meaning lots of people were looking for a good but not vast selection.
In 2000 Gene Florence’s 14th edition of the Collector’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass noted that pink was very popular and prices were rising. He noted prices were up on all pink pieces and very much higher for the rare pitchers and shakers.
Florence’s 19th edition, published in 2010 after prices had softened, notes that common pieces like plates, salver, cereal bowl, were fairly common and less costly. The rare pieces were still rare and expensive. (One reason prices declined is people realized the glass they stashed in the attic was valuable and listed it on eBay leading to oversupply.)
Today eBay shows two pitchers, both in the $500 range, and two shaker sets in the $450 range.
Here’s a historical look:
Pink 60 Ounce Pitcher Hard to find
1981 $250-300
2000 $950
2010 $995
2016 $500 on eBay, $1100 on Replacements
Pink 6 Inch Cereal Bowl Easy to find
1981 $6-6.50
2000 $19
2010 $14
2016 $6-15 on eBay, $14 on Replacements
Pink 4 1/2 Inch 9 Ounce Flat Tumbler Medium hard to find
1981 $22-25
2000 $90
2010 $58
2016 $50 on eBay, $110 on Replacements
Overall Antiquing Fun
It’s no fun looking and looking in antique mall after estate sale after glass show and never finding pieces of your pattern. It’s also not such fun to walk into the first antique mall and walk out with every piece ever made. Where’s the fun hunting and antiquing if you either can never find what you like or never even need to look.
I look for a balance. Ideally you want to get a few pieces fairly easily and without breaking your budget. That way you have a bowl or a creamer and sugar or set of dessert plates you can use and enjoy while you continue your antiquing for the rest.
American Sweetheart pink depression glass is well-balanced. You can find a few pieces without too much trouble or expense, and some others like the tumblers or cream soup will be a bit challenging. And for a few pieces you may need to attend a glass show. It’s a fun combination of finding and hunting!
I’ll give pink American Sweetheart a 10 on these three criteria.