Federal Yorktown - Sturdy Glass with Colonial Flair

This is Yorktown by Federal Glass, a sturdy design that is perfect for everyday use. You'll see how the light bounces off the oval thumbprint indentations and sparkles on the scalloped rim. This is the footed fruit bowl, one of the less common pieces in this vintage pattern.

You'll usually find Yorktown in clear, but it's also available in yellow and a very nice crystal with an iridescent wash. Federal made several patterns with similar colors, notably Petal, in this time period, roughly the 1960s and early 70s.

We have this listed now in our TIAS and eBay stores.

Cambridge Roselyn Etch Ruffled Square Console Bowl

You've probably noticed we have a lot of bowls! I'm a sucker for etched bowls and have bought every one I could. This one came from eBay -

a good transaction, just as described - and is Roselyn etch by Cambridge.

What makes this a little different and special is that it is square and ruffled. It is not perfectly symmetrical and you can see the corner in the back left is raised higher than the other three corners. This reminds you that the glass from the 1950s still had a lot of handwork and took skilled artisans and craftsmanship. The bowl is beautiful!

Fostoria Vesper Etch - Beautiful Flower Etched Rim Design

Vesper is one of Fostoria's older etched patterns, made 1926 to 1934 and in green, blue and amber. We've got two console bowls in different sizes and the candleholders you see here.

Fostoria made many different candleholders, sometimes several in a given pattern, and had a few that they used for many different designs. The one shown here is what I consider a generic candleholder, rather plain shape, similar to those from other companies. Being simple this shape works wonders when etched as in this Vesper candleholder. The design is just there and the etch gets the spotlight.

Fostoria must have had a design contest or something similar to have had three etches that were quite similar, Vesper, Royal and Seville. To me Vesper is by far the prettiest and you can tell it from the others by the flowers packed into the trailing V shape. Royal and Seville both have the etched band but lack the distinct flowers that trail into swags.

We offer this in our TIAS and eBay stores.

Viking Sonata - Elegant Rose Trailing Vines Etch

Here's one of the prettiest designs from Viking or New Martinsville, yet it isn't well known. This is Sonata, also called Sonita. It was one of the etches that Viking made early after they took over the reorganized New Martinsville.

This particular piece is the oval celery bowl and what makes it so very nice is the utter simplicity of the shape -a simple oval with no molded ornamentation - combined with the graceful, pretty rose etch. I had this piece for many years and finally got help from a glass expert to identify it. It's listed now on both eBay and TIAS; beautiful as it is, I cannot keep every piece of glass and this one needs a new home!

Federal Glass - Petal Jelly Server - Retro Glass from the 1950s

Pretty little jam dish, isn't it? This is Petal from Federal Glass, made from 1954 to 1979, quite a long period for a glass pattern, 25 years. Petal is interesting to collect as it comes in a wide range of colors as well as crystal with flashed colors and iridescent treatments.

Petal was not made as a dinner or lunch set. There are no cups or saucers, creamer or sugar. You will find wide shallow bowls with smaller bowls, which make a nice salad service, and several sizes of plates. You could have a lovely dessert set with a serving plate and individual plates. The retro style is appealing.

Our daughter collects Petal and has an amazing collection of colors and sizes. She tells me the jelly set shown here is rather uncommon with the original spoon and with the holder in good condition. The little bowl is one of the small sizes and is itself quite common. We have this set in our eBay and TIAS stores. Come take a look!

Forest Green - Gorgeous Color from Anchor Hocking

Green glass is consistently my best selling color, whether it be depression glass like Sharon or Georgian, elegant Fostoria Fairfax or this retro glass from Anchor Hocking. This little vase was a 1960s era piece and the whole line was known by its color, Forest Green. It is a true green, the color of a green crayon, not teal and not chartreuse.

Anchor Hocking used this nice color in a several lines of their mid-century glass, and you will find square Charm pieces, green Bubble, Sandwich and the rounded nameless shapes like this cute little vase.

The Forest Green was similar to Royal Ruby in that Anchor Hocking used the name as a trademark, it was used on many different patterns, and the color was the main point of the glass.

We have several pieces of Forest Green listed in our TIAS site.


http://www.tias.com/stores/catladykate/

Marathon Wrapping Session - Customer Service with a Smile

I'm smiling but I'd really rather be sitting down with my cat on my lap, a cup of tea, and a book! You see, I just finished wrapping four packages and printing four priority labels and one UPS label.

The wrapping wasn't so bad except one box had 8 pieces of china, including dinner plates, the gravy boat shown here, and other serving pieces. Luckily we had a big box right there that was the perfect size. In fact it was a case of getting two wins at a time since this box was right in the middle of the floor and there wasn't any place to put it!

I read a motivational email today that said you should look at a busy evening like tonight's with this frame of mind: "I will have gotten so much done tonight!" instead of "I've got so much to do". Yes, that does help! What helps even more is thinking of my customers' smiling faces when they open their packages in a few days!

Georgian Green Depression Glass - St. Patrick's Day

Somewhere near the top of my endless to-do list is getting these plates listed. I bought several pieces of Georgian green depression glass last fall and so far have listed - and sold - exactly one piece. Georgian sells well and all my pieces are in great shape, so there's no reason not to get it done. (Except for the other bazillion things also on the list that clamor for time!)

This pattern is also called Lovebirds. You can't see it well in this photo, but those triangular designs alternate with baskets and two birds. The birds sort of look like parakeets, and it's a neat design. This is one of the mold-etched depression patterns from Federal Glass where the design was incised into the mold itself, which then could be used just like any other pressed glass mold to make pieces with fancy designs quickly and cheaply, with little hand work.

Check my store - oh, maybe this weekend - for my set of Lovebirds to fly in!

Romance of Vintage Stemware - Morgantown Virginia Etched Tumbler

Morgantown Glass went through several changes of name and ownership, beginning as the Economy Glass Company and eventually bought by Fostoria in 1965 and closed a few years later. They were known for their crinkle glass and wide color range and also produced several notable etchings, among them Virginia.

This is the footed water tumbler in Morgantown's Virginia, here etched on an optic glass shape, blank 7711. You may find Virginia on other glass blanks and of course Morgantown produced the usual wide range of stemware, plates and bowls.

Virginia is quite pretty with a central urn motif flanked by swags of leaves and flowers. To me it has a formal appearance and would go well with some of the Lenox china.

We offer this in both our TIAS and eBay stores. Come check us out at the links below.

Catladykate's Elegant and Depression Glass at TIAS http://www.tias.com/stores/catladykate/
Catladykate at eBay http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Elegant-Depression-Glass

Rose Point Creamer - Pretty Pieces to Grace Your Table

Rose Point was an extremely popular etching and Cambridge Glass made it for a long time. Probably the most common blank you will find is the 3121, which has three nubs around glass spheres in the stem. However, Cambridge used many of their most popular etchings on many different blanks, and Rose Point was made on several. The creamer we show here is the 3900 blank. The handle is fairly plain and the pieces lack the extra curlicues of other shapes.

This is also a little larger than some creamers, holding about 6 ounces when filled to overflowing. The matching sugar, which is also listed in our store, is the same size and holds 8 ounces.

We have a few other pieces of Rose Point to list this next week, including a small bowl and candle, and have some stems on order. Come check us out!

Romance of Vintage Stemware - Cambridge 701 Flower Basket Goblets

If you like baskets and swags of flowers this goblet is for you. This is Etch 701 from Cambridge Glass, just a beautiful design in a beautiful shape goblet. Etch 701 is one of the many Cambridge designs that never got a name and is thus less well-known than Rose Point or Elaine.

I got this on eBay, one of the successful purchases where the glass was just as described. I originally thought it was Tiffin Diana, which also has baskets, but it clearly is Cambridge. Tiffin's Diana has larger baskets and the swag is more dramatic, hanging from the top of the baskets. (Apollo Diana by Tiffin has the same basket and swag but adds a border etch along the top of the goblet.)

If you enjoy beautiful glass, take a look at our eBay and TIAS stores for many pieces from the elegant depression era.

Catladykate at eBay:
http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Elegant-Depression-Glass

Cat Lady Kate's Elegant and Depression Glass on TIAS: http://www.tias.com/stores/catladykate/

Something Different - Modern Ebony and Crystal Champagne Flutes

These champagne flutes are not what I usually sell as they are contemporary and moderate quality glass. The ebony stems hold the clear glass bowls and look like they are wrapped around. Rather a neat design and I could not resist getting these to resell.

It is interesting that so little glass is still made in America and I think one reason is that styles changed and stems like these, which are rather plain and do not require handwork to make, are more popular than the lovely etched glass from before the 1950s.

Flipping through my Fostoria reference books makes the point obvious. Glass before about 1960 was often etched, usually required skilled craftsmen, and was fairly intricate. Glass companies could compete on style and design and having a skilled workforce was an advantage. Glass patterns became increasingly plain during the 1960s, etchings became far less popular, and there is very little to differentiate Fostoria's patterns like Argus or Mesa from mass-produced glassware. If you pick up a Fostoria Argus tumbler the quality is obvious, but just looking, especially looking at pictures, it is not immediately clear why a Fostoria tumbler would be several times as expensive as the mass-produced glasssware.

Center Handled Server - Westmoreland Flower & Ray Cut

I'm particularly attracted to center handled servers, CHS for short. Sometimes you'll find them called center handled serving trays, sandwich trays and so on. The main point is they have a neat handle in the center and usually are round and meant to hold cookies or small cakes or sandwiches.

These are basically fancy little tidbit trays. They come in every color depression glass was made - clear, amber, yellow, blue, green, pink, red - and with satinized decorations, painted designs, cuttings, etchings, gold trim, and so on. Very pretty and lots of variety to choose.

This particular piece is by Westmoreland. We have a monograph published by the West Virginia Museum of Glass, bought on eBay, that identifies many CHS based on the handle shape and other clues. This slightly rounded handle top, plus the shape of the vertical section, are what led me to attribute this to Westmoreland. It most likely dates to the 1930s. The cutting style is older and so are the design elements.

We list this on our eBay store and TIAS store. Take a look!

Wexford - Sturdy Glass for Every Day Use from Anchor Hocking

Recognize this? Anchor Hocking made Wexford for a long time, all through the 1970s and 80s, 1967 to 1988 to be exact. You probably saw this, if nothing else in the ubiquitous canisters or goblets.

Wexford is big and heavy and sturdy and came in many useful shapes and sizes. A case in point is this small salad bowl. You could imagine using this with the larger bowl as a nice table set. Use it and run it through the dishwasher. The creamers and tumblers are also nice.

Every once in a while you may see this listed as early American pattern glass, or vintage depression glass. While it is not old, it is useful, reasonably priced and available. Something to consider if you want American-made, attractive glass.

eBay Buying - One Good, One Not So Good

Today two packages came in the mail for me.

One was a set of 5 sherbets beautifully etched. The seller communicated well and shipped quickly. They were just as described. They made it here safely although I was a little concerned. Each one was wrapped in bubble wrap but they were packed tightly without much foam peanuts between or between the glass and the sides of the box. But the fact is, they arrived safely, quickly, and most importantly, were in the condition described. I left this seller positive feedback with 5 stars in all categories.

The other box had a mixed lot of candle holders, glass jam jar and glass figurines. I bought this because one candle holder was Rose Point and another looked to be etched as well. This seller wasn't too communicative; when I asked her to confirm condition she said they were put away. Even so, I took a chance. These were also wrapped with lots of bubble wrap and some foam peanuts. One of the least valuable holders was broken but the others came safely. However, the Rose Point holder had many scratches and one Indiana Sandwich holder is badly chipped. This is disappointing. I don't care about the Sandwich holders, but I would not have bid if the Rose Point was accurately described.

So now what? The post office will not refund anything for the broken holder because the pieces were packed inadequately. My best option is to keep the glass and sell for what I can as it will be profitable on the whole. I'll leave a positive feedback, but this does not rate 5 stars.

This weekend I'll photograph these and you can see more pretty glass!

Janice - New Martinsville's Elegant Depression Glass

Janice is one of New Martinsville's elegant glass patterns that is often classified as depression glass. You may find it with various etches and in colors like blue or red. This bowl here is crystal and one of the less common shapes. It is about 11 inches across with a ruffled rim.

Janice is a molded design with a prominent drape design on the lower portion. The base is ground and formed by little scallops. It's a nice pattern that deserves more appreciation!

Happy Easter - Westmoreland Pansy Baskets

This is a really cute design from Westmoreland Glass that is super nice for Easter. Unfortunately it is white milk glass, which is not a personal favorite. Westmoreland made only this size and shape, which is a shame because it is pretty and appealing. According to my books they made it almost every color of glass and some two-tone treatments. All we have seen are the white milk glass.

I bought the first basket in my first year of business and sold it on eBay immediately. So the next time we found one, we bought it, and the one after that, too. This was about the time that eBay became a household word and the floodgates opened on collectible glass. Everyone had something in their cupboards and almost everyone decided to sell it! Pansy baskets littered the auctions and you could hardly give them away. Prices plummeted below what we paid.

Now, several years later, I'm listing all sorts of glass that we need to move out. OK, it won't return what we paid and we'll lose on each item. But that has to be better than hanging onto it and keeping our investment tied up in bad inventory!

This means that if you are looking for a nice Easter basket, hop on over to our store and our eBay auctions and take a look at these.