Depression Glass Patterns

By Author: Murray Hughes
Total Articles: 15
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Collectors of Depression Glass find not only its beautiful
colors fascinating, but its patterns, as well. With many
glass producers making this type of glass, as you can
imagine, many patterns resulted, creating a wide array of
pretty, practical, and inexpensive glassware affordable to
every American household in that lean era of history and
making Depression Glass one of the most collectible items
today.

Of the many glass manufacturers that produced Depression
Glass, seven of them became major players in the field,
creating a total of 92 designs. Below you'll find some
history, some trivia, some folklore, and some interesting
characteristics about several of these designs.

Pattern: Cameo

This Depression Glass design, sometimes referred to as
Ballerina or Dancing Girl, gets its name from the tiny
dancer found on all its pieces. Some claim the Hocking
Glass Company that manufactured Cameo glass created the
pattern to honor the legendary modern dancer of the 1920s,
Isadora Duncan, who tragically died when her long ...
... trailing
scarf, of which she'd made her personal trademark, choked
her to death when it wrapped around the wheel of her moving
Bugatti roadster.

Duncan died in 1927, and the Cameo pattern came into being
in 1930, continuing to be produced until 1934, so the story
could very well be true. Regardless of the inspiration for
this pattern of Depression Glass, it continues as a much
sought-after design. Hocking made most Cameo glass in
green, but pink, yellow, and - more rarely - crystal, which
can occasionally still be found.

Pattern: Avocado

First produced in 1923, the Avocado or Sweet Pear pattern
claims its fame for being the very first 'true' Depression Glass
design. Made by the Indiana Glass Company, Avocado pieces
in the form of pitchers prove to be the most difficult to
find, possibly because of this pattern's age. Indiana
continued manufacturing Avocado for 10 years, until the
company retired this Art Nouveau-type design in 1933.

Pattern: Royal Lace

The Hazel-Atlas Glass Company began producing Royal Lace
during 1934 as a set consisting of 28 pieces. Today, Royal
Lace holds the honor of being some of the costliest Depression
glass that collectors covet. Hazel-Atlas manufactured Royal
Lace in crystal (clear) and in five colors: green, yellow,
pink, blue, and burgundy. The most desirable color
consistently proves to be the blue, called Ritz Blue by the
company, which actually came about as an economic accident.

When General Mills ended a deal with Hazel-Atlas' using
blue-colored glass in a Shirley Temple promotional campaign
in 1936, Hazel-Atlas simply poured the leftover vats of
molten blue glass into its existing Royal Lace molds to
avoid wasting it. An instant success resulted. Blue Royal
Lace Depression Glass reigns to this day as 1 of the most sought
after and is now 1 of the most expensive of all the other
Depression Glass patterns.

These samplings of interesting Depression Glass trivia make
collecting it all that more appealing. After all, how many
other pieces of glassware can be found in people's homes
that come with a ready-made story - at least those people
in the median income range (We're not talking Tiffany or
Lalique here!)? And these have been gleaned from a mere
sampling of the plethora of Depression Glass designs that
have survived over the years. Imagine what stories can be
found!

The next time you gaze at that lovely piece of Depression
glass resting in the window of your favorite antique dealer
or - if you're lucky - sitting on a dusty shelf at a flea
market just waiting for you to discover it, remember:
Whatever pattern it is, a good chance exists that it, too,
will have a fascinating history.

So take a chance. Buy it!
Until next time,

Murray Hughes
http://www.DepressionGlassSecrets.com

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