Jeannette Glass produced their beautiful and popular Cherry Blossom pattern for a long time, from 1930 to 1939, far longer than most depression ware. The pattern is lovely with sprays of cherry branches with leaves and twigs framed by graceful arcs of glass and small dots. The sprays are not centered, which makes the design more lively. It is one of the best known and most beloved patterns as evidenced by the generous supply of glass available online and ongoing sales.
We find mostly green or pink Cherry Blossom and you may find Delphite, a translucent mid blue color. Jeannette made limited pieces of Jadeite, yellow, crystal or red and made a small set of children’s dishes in pink and Delphite. I’ve never seen yellow, crystal or red, and have only seen Jadeite at glass shows. I like green the best although Jeannette’s pink is quite an attractive shade.
Look for full dinnerware sets with plenty of serving pieces and tumblers in either green or pink. Jeannette made 6 inch sherbet plates (we’d call them bread and butter size), 7 inch salad plates, 9 inch dinner plates. There is one common size grill plate, 9 inches across in both colors and a less common 10 inch green grill plate. Remember back in the 1930s people ate smaller portions than we might be accustomed to and the plate sizes reflect that.
There are several bowls, an easy-to-find berry bowl or sauce dish that’s about 4 3/4 inches wide, a less common cereal bowl and a larger, flat soup that’s quite uncommon. All the bowls have rims with the design and curved arcs partly on the rims.
You have many choices for tumblers, with three sizes and variations on the foot. The flat tumblers have the pattern at the top (Florence calls these PAT) and the footed ones have the design all over (AOP, all over pattern) and the edges on the foot may be round or scalloped. If you like Cherry Blossom then be sure to buy a good collectors’ guide like Gene Florence’s Collectors’ Encyclopedia of Depression Glass, to get familiar with the many pieces and variations.
The sherbets are the only stemmed pieces and there is only one style of cup and saucer.
It’s easy to use Cherry Blossom for dinnerware with several serving bowls, oval or round or footed, multiple oval platters, creamer, sugar, pitcher, cake plate, coaster and butter dish. In fact the only pieces missing are the salt and pepper shakers. Apparently Jeannette made very few of these – Florence says only two pair of pink have ever been seen – and thus you would be advised to steer clear of shakers to avoid reproductions.
Ah, reproductions. These are the bane of Cherry Blossom, although I understand that only some pieces have been reproduced and that most fakes are easy to spot. I’m not going to discuss the fakes in this post because I only know what I have seen by listening and reading and I’m anything but expert on the problem. Do know that there are no real cobalt blue or ice blue pieces, you’re unlikely to see real shakers and most red pieces you see are fakes.
There are over 1100 listings for Cherry Blossom Depression Glass on eBay, representing most of the pieces, even some rather rare mugs, and including some obvious reproductions. Prices appeared to be about in line with the values quoted from my depression glass guide published in 2010, suggesting that prices have stabilized as supply and demand balance. If you go to a glass show you’ll see several dealers who have Cherry Blossom and that’s a very good way to get familiar with the pattern. Most dealers will take the time to show you the pattern and how to tell a piece is real.
If you like Cherry Blossom you aren’t alone! This is a beautiful pattern and I also enjoy the delicate design and lovely colors. Just be sure to get a good reference book and learn as much as you can about this gorgeous glass. Go to a glass show, talk to knowledgeable dealers, learn what to buy and what to avoid and above all, enjoy your glass!