I had almost forgotten about the fun Fire King patterns with swirls on the rim until I browsed my Collectible Glassware from the 40s, 50s & 60s book. We cannot forget these! Fire King Swirl is not depression glass but you’re bound to find some when you go antiquing. Anchor Hocking made this pattern under the Fire King brand from 1949 to 1962.
Fire King Swirl White Vegetable Bowl
Swirl is fun because Fire King used all sorts of colors and decorations. We have the plain white shown above in the round serving bowl plus that plain white center proved irresistible to painters both amateur and at decorating companies. You can find plates with all sorts of designs, some quite elaborate and in sets.
The only examples I have photos of the decorated Swirl are this gold-trimmed cup and saucer and soup bowl. This color combination is called Golden Swirl or 22K Anniversary.
Fire King Golden Swirl Cup and Saucer
Fire King Swirl is hard working glass, meant for every day use. I wouldn’t put the gold trimmed pieces in the dishwasher, but the glass itself is supposed to be heat proof. It is pretty sturdy stuff.
Fire King Golden Swirl Soup Bowl
You are likely to find the gold-trimmed pieces at flea markets or estate sales as it seems to have been very popular back in the 1950s. Most pieces I’ve seen were in good condition, even now 60 years later, with only minor gold wear.
Besides Golden Swirl, Fire King made a plethora of colors and decorations. They used their popular Jade-Ite for a few pieces, and their nice light blue translucent glass Azure-Ite to make a full, basic set. I don’t have a picture of the Azure-Ite in Swirl, but this square Charm cup shows the light blue color.
Charm Azure-Ite Cup and Saucer
You may also see white with colored trim around the rims; my book shows red, yellow, green and blue trims. It would be difficult to find a full set of these colors though. There are two pink Swirls. One is called Rose-Ite and is solid rosy pink all the way through the glass. This is not easy to find. The other is white glass with the pink applied to all surfaces except the underside base. I saw a few pieces of this when we used to go to the flea markets every couple of weeks.
Notice that all the rims on the Swirl pieces are smooth. Fire King made a similar pattern called Shell which I’ll show next post.