10/03/2017

Not All Vintage Glassware Collectibles Are Alike And How To Spot Your Favorites

By Angela Miller


Collecting old glass pieces is something many individuals enjoy. Interesting examples of the most popular styles and genres are pretty easy to find in vintage and antique stores throughout the country. Most enthusiasts are able to participate in this activity because of the affordability and petite size of the glassware. The vintage glassware collectibles listed below are examples of the most iconic genres.

Some collectors are interested in several different types and styles of glass while others concentrate in specific genres. Whatever your preference, before you begin buying pieces, you should know something about them. Cut glass, for example, has been around for more than twenty centuries and is as old as the art of glass blowing itself. Today serious designers replicate the ancient process of grinding patterns and designs out on a specialized wheel.

Owning and entertaining with large, impressive pieces of pressed leaded glass symbolized your wealth and influence at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. This period was known as the American Brilliant. It came to an end when manufacturers began to produce cheaper versions of the prized pressed glass.

European pressed glass became much more affordable for American families in the nineteen twenties, and some of the American manufacturers suffered because of it. This all changed with the Great Depression when an even cheaper form of pressed glass began to be mass produced by an Ohio firm that made so much of it, it could be sold on the market, for a profit, for just pennies apiece.

It was during this same time period, when so many Americans could only dream about owning a genuine Tiffany lamp, that two companies began to mass produce glass pieces in the style of Tiffany. It eventually became known as Carnival Glass because is was such a common prize on carnival midways. There was so much competition in the making of this type of glass that one company even put out a product that glowed thanks to coatings of uranium salt.

Milk glass has a very distinctive look and style which makes it stand out in antique and vintage shops. The original glass is not native to America. It was first manufactured in Venice in the seventeenth century. The British put out popular products during the Victorian Era. Milk glass can come in several colors including white, pink, blue, black, brown, and yellow.

Almost all glass is fragile, and old pieces are even more so. When they need to be cleaned, the dishwasher is not the place for them. The high temperatures can crack them and damage the designs. Hand washing with mild detergent and drying with a soft cloth is the best way to safely clean them.

If you want to collect something, glassware might be a good choice. Most of it is affordable, and pieces can be displayed even with limited space. A lot of people love to browse antique and specialty shops in the hopes of finding the missing piece in their collection. It is not unusual for the glass to pass from generation to generation.




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