Posts About Lorain
Lorain Depression Glass – Beautiful Basket Pattern in Green and Yellow from Indiana
Lorain Depression Glass – How Hard Is It to Find?
Glass Pick of the Week – Lorain Basket Green Depression Glass Cup
Fancy Friday – Lorain Basket Green Depression Glass Relish Tray
What to Watch for When Buying Pretzel Glass from Indiana Glassware of the 1940s, 50s and 60s (damage concerns)
Depression Glass Squared – Two Patterns with Square Shapes
Basket Motifs and Designs on Mold Etched Depression Glass
Green Depression Glass – An Assortment of Beautiful Glassware
Beautiful Depression Glass – Antiquing Together in Downtown Kalamazoo
Depression Glass Flaws – Charm and Character or Annoying Blemishes?
Green Glass on Parade – Depression Era through the 1970s
Tip of the Week! Display Your Glass
Tips to Avoid Reproduction Depression Glass (Hint – Lorain has not been reproduced or reissued.)
How to Store Treasures and Vintage Glass Safely
Tables Set with Lorian Green Depression Glass
Voting Time! Pick Your Favorite Green Depression Glass – Tablescape Thursday
Rainbow Depression Glass Tablescape Thursday – And Vote Results
Green Lorain Depression Glass Repeat – Tablescape Thursday
Lorain Depression Glass
Indiana Glass made Lorain very early in the depression era, 1929 to 1932, in yellow and green and some crystal. I saw many pieces of yellow when shopping in mid-Michigan, a crystal creamer and sugar and we had a nice set of green.
The pattern features a basket overflowing with flowers that is suspended from a curlicue scroll. Plates and bowls have the baskets in the corner and paired scrolls on each side and a square-ish motif with scrolls in the center.
Lorain is mold etched. That means Indiana acid-etched the pattern into the mold, not each individual piece, so the design is raised from the background. Mold etching must have been an exciting technique back in the 1920s because before then designs were applied by hand, by etching or cutting each individual piece. Mold etching meant the glass could be mass produced, even with the fancy design.
Lorain Pieces Available
Lorain is a dinnerware pattern, meaning you will find plates, bowls for individual place settings, cup and saucer, creamer, sugar, basic serving pieces plus a tumbler and sherbet. Plates are square with scallops on the corners and include the 5 1/2 inch sherbet liner, 7 3/4 inch salad plate, 8 3/8 inch lunch and 10 1/4 inch dinner. Measure plates and bowls from side to side, not diagonally.
Creamers, sugars, sherbets and tumblers are footed and square-ish.
One of the interesting serving pieces is the 4-part relish tray. It has small tab handles and is basically square. I like the extra little floral swags on the side scrolls.
Availability and Damage Concerns with Lorain
We got our Lorain pieces at estate sales mostly plus a few from antique malls or fairs. Lorain is one pattern that people recognize as depression glass and is usually identified correctly. Those baskets are distinctive!
Checking just now on eBay I see several yellow pieces, and quite a few of the more common green pieces, such as lunch plates, cups and saucers, creamers and sugars. If you like this pretty pattern you can probably get a basic set for lunch or dessert quite easily either shopping locally or online. I did not see any bowls today (February 2024).
Lorain is a moderately pricey pattern, not one of the highest cost but certainly not inexpensive either. The lunch or salad plates are quite easy to find but the small sherbet liner and dinner are harder and thus more costly.
Bowls of any sort are harder to find and correspondingly expensive. I don’t believe we owned any bowls although we had many plates and other pieces.
Be aware that Lorain is susceptible to chips in at least three places. The rims on pieces like cups are curved over and that can chip and the top of the curve can show wear, especially if someone stored tumblers or cups upside down (don’t do that).
The foot on pieces like creamers has a flat base with a sharp edge. We saw chips on the outside edge of the foot and on the inside edge. Chips on the inner edge may be less problematic for you but do check for them.
The last place comes from protruding seams. Like many patterns from Indiana Glass, Lorain has bits of extra glass sometimes in the seams and those bits can feel rough and may chip.
On the plus side, Lorain has not been reproduced.
And the very biggest plus is that Lorain is beautiful!