Depression glass is glassware made in the period 1929–1939, often clear or colored translucent machine-made glassware that was distributed free, or at low cost, in the United States and Canada around the time of the Great Depression. Depression glass is so called because collectors generally associate mass-produced glassware in pink, yellow, crystal, green, and blue with the Great Depression in America.

History

The

Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by PepsiCo since 2001. History Precursor miller companies In the 1850s, Ferdinand Schumacher and Robert Stuart founded oat mills. ...

, and other food manufacturers and distributors, put a piece of glassware in boxes of food, as an incentive to purchase. Some movie theaters and businesses handed out pieces to patrons. Most of this glassware was made in the Ohio River Valley of the United States, where access to raw materials and power made manufacturing inexpensive in the first half of the twentieth century. More than twenty manufacturers made more than 100 patterns, and entire dinner sets were made in some patterns. Common colors are clear (crystal), pink, pale blue, green, and amber. Less common colors include yellow (canary), ultramarine,

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(opaque pale green), delphite (opaque pale blue), cobalt blue, red (ruby and royal ruby), black, amethyst, monax, and white (milk glass). Some depression glass is

uranium glass Uranium glass is glass which has had uranium, usually in oxide diuranate form, added to a glass mix before melting for colouration. The proportion usually varies from trace levels to about 2% uranium by weight, although some 20th-century piec ...

. Although of marginal quality, Depression glass has been highly collectible since the 1960s. Due to its popularity as a

collectible A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

, it is becoming more scarce on the open market. Rare pieces may sell for several hundred dollars. Some manufacturers continued to make popular patterns after World War II, or introduced similar patterns, which are also collectible. Popular and expensive patterns and pieces have been reproduced, and reproductions are still being made.

Manufacturers and patterns

* Anchor Hocking Glass Company **Forest Green **Manhattan **Oyster and Pearl **Queen Mary **Royal Ruby **Teardrop and Dot * Belmont Tumbler Company **Bowknot **Rose Cameo * Dell Glass Company **Tulip * Diamond Glass-Ware Company **Victory **Economy **Round Robin * Federal Glass Company **Colonial Fluted **Columbia **Diana **Georgian **Madrid **Mayfair **Normandie **Optic Paneled **Parrot **Patrician **Raindrops **Rosemary **Sharon **Twisted Optic * Fry Glass *

Hazel-Atlas Glass Company The Hazel-Atlas Glass Company was a large producer of machine-molded glass containers headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was founded in 1902 in Washington, Pennsylvania, as the merger of four companies: *Hazel Glass and Metals Compan ...

**Aurora **Beehive **Cloverleaf **Colony **Colonial Block **Crisscross **Florentine No.1 **Florentine No.2 **Fruits **Moderntone **New Century **Newport **Ovide **Ribbon **Roxana **Royal Lace **Ships **Starlight **Wagon Wheel * Hocking Glass Company **Ballerina **Block Optic **Circle **Colonial **Coronation **Fire-King dinnerware ***Philbe **Fortune **Hobnail **Lake Como **Mayfair **Miss America **Old Cafe **Old Colony **Princess **Ring **Roulette **Spiral **Vitrock **Waterford * Imperial Glass Company **Beaded Block **Diamond Quilted **Laced Edge **Little Jewel **Molly **Twisted Optic *

Indiana Glass Company Indiana Glass Company was an American company that manufactured pressed, blown and hand-molded glassware and tableware for almost 100 years. Predecessors to the company began operations in Dunkirk, Indiana, in 1896 and 1904, when East Central In ...

**Avocado **Cracked Ice **Indiana Custard **Lorain **No.610, Pyramid **No.612, Horseshoe **No.616, Vernon **No.618, Pineapple and Floral **Old English **Park Lane **Sandwich **Tea Room * Jeannette Glass Company **Adam **Cherry Blossom **Cube **Doric **Doric and Pansy **Floral **Hex Optic **Homespun **Iris **Sierra **Sunburst **Sunflower **Swirl **Windsor * Jenkins **Ocean Wave * Lancaster Glass Company **Jubilee **Landrum **Patrick *

Liberty Works Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

**American Pioneer * MacBeth-Evans Glass Company **

American Sweetheart American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

** Chinex Classic **Cremax **Dogwood **Petalware **S Pattern **Thistle *

McKee Glass Company McKee is a surname of Scottish or Irish origin. The surname is derived from the Gaelic ''Mac Aodha'' ("son of ''Aodh''") a patronymic form of an old Gaelic personal name which means "fire". Similar surnames which also are derived from the same ...

**Laurel **Rock Crystal *

Paden City Glass Company Paden may refer to: Places in the United States * Paden, Mississippi, a village in Tishomingo County, Mississippi * Paden, Oklahoma, a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma * Paden City, West Virginia, a city in West Virginia ** Paden City Element ...

**Cupid **Gothic Garden **Orchid **Peacock and Wild Rose **Peacock Reverse * L. E. Smith Glass Company **By Cracky **Mt. Pleasante **Pebbled Rim **Romanesque * U.S. Glass Company **Aunt Polly **Cherryberry **Floral and Diamond Band **Flower Garden with Butterflies **Primo **Strawberry **Swirl *

Westmoreland Glass Company The Westmoreland Glass Company was a company that produced glass in Grapeville, Pennsylvania. History The Westmoreland Glass Company was founded in 1889 when a group of men purchased the Specialty Glass Company located in East Liverpool, Ohio, and ...

**Della Robbia **English Hobnail **Woolworth Fluorescent Uranium Depression Glass

Elegant glass

A prominent sub-category of Depression Glass,

Elegant glass Elegant glass is high quality glassware created in the United States during the Depression Era. It was sold for high prices in department stores and given as wedding gifts."Elegant Glass is Not Depression Glass , Just Glass Online." Designer Gla ...

, is of considerably better quality, often including polished mold seams, and hand-decoration such as cut patterns, etched patterns, and painted patterns. It was distributed through jewelry and department stores from the 1920s and continuing after the Great Depression through the 1950s, and was an alternative to fine china. Most of the Elegant glassware manufacturers had closed by the end of the 1950s, when cheap glassware and imported china replaced Elegant glass. Some Elegant glass manufacturers were: * Cambridge Glass Company * Consolidated Lamp and Glass Company * Duncan Miller Glass Company *

Fenton Art Glass Company The Fenton Art Glass Company is a glass manufacturer founded in 1905 by brothers Frank L. Fenton and John W. Fenton. History The original factory was in an old glass factory in Martins Ferry, Ohio in 1905. The factory at one time was owned by the ...

Fostoria Glass Company The Fostoria Glass Company was a manufacturer of pressed, blown and hand-molded glassware and tableware. It began operations in Fostoria, Ohio, on December 15, 1887, on land donated by the townspeople. The new company was formed by men from West ...

* Heisey Glass Company * Imperial Glass Company * Lotus Glass Company *

* Morgantown Glass Works * New Martinsville Glass Company *

* Tiffin Glass Company *

References

{{reflist

External links

National Depression Glass AssociationConsolidated Lamp & Glass Co History
Depression glass identification:
ChatAboutDG Glass Pattern Database

Brief summary on Depression glass
Collecting Great Depression History of glass Retro style Nostalgia in the United States Glass types

History

Manufacturers and patterns

Elegant glass

See also

References

External links