Nemadji

The myth and magic
of Nemadji "Indian" Pottery

Nemadji Pottery has been produced at the gateway of Minnesota's Arrowhead Region since 1923. The plant was first founded in the City of Moose Lake, which is at the crossroads of Minnesota state highway 73 and Interstate-35.

Nemadji Tile first graced the floors of many churches, and businesses and the homes of America's most wealthy. The less expensive pottery was produced as a tourist item during the Great Depression. It was sold primarily in the west and in the northeast as "Indian" Pottery.

The only connection to Minnesota's Ojibway Tribe is the Name, Nemadji, which roughly translates as"Lefthand." While never produced by Indians, the pottery was promoted as being reminiscent of ancient indian pottery--overtime, it became known as Indian Pottery.
The Pottery was first made using the rich clays taken from the banks of the Nemadji River. The special painting technique used to give the pottery its unique look was developed in 1929 by Eric Hellman. The Nemadji plant was moved to Kettle River in 1972-73. The new owner updated the plant and made significant changes to the pottery. The plant was sold again in 1980. Within a year, the new owner closed down the tile making end of business. Production of Nemadji pottery ended in the winter of 2001-2002.

Chalkware

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chalkware was figurines made of sculpted gypsum painted with watercolors; most typically those made in one of two periods, the first beginning in the late 18th century and ending by the beginning of the 20th century, the second being during the Great Depression. Those made during the first period were more typically serious art; those during the second period were more typically somewhat jocular.
Today, Chalkware is more commonly created with a plaster substance to create long lasting collectibles. Vaillancourt Folk Art is known for producing the first contemporary chalkware figurines since the original gypsum versions. Contemporary chalkware was made popular by designer Judi Vaillancourt and is one of the last remaining crafters still designing by hand.

 ^{From Country Home Blog
http://wiki.countryhome.com/page/Chalkware}

Chalkware

Called poor-man’s porcelain, chalkware was the immigrant’s savvy answer to a growing demand in 19th-century America for ornamental figurines. Using fast-drying plaster of Paris (which sets white and powdery like chalk), small teams of craftsmen created products that sold for pennies. Plaster did not have to be fired in a kiln like pricier ceramics, and decoration could be quickly hand painted rather than glazed.

One family, a rented room, water, plaster, and a few jars of paint were all that was needed to create a menagerie of small, colorful chalkware animals, birds, portrait busts, and fruit compotes to sell door-to-door. Image peddlers, as they were called, strolled city streets hawking wares they carried on boards above their heads. Some took along unpainted pieces as well, which they would decorate to a housewife’s liking right on her doorstep.

Though chalkware was a commercial product, today it is appreciated as folk art. The difficulties of modeling plaster gave each figure a coarse, almost clumsy charm. Forms are often imprecise and dependent upon painting for descriptive details. Because each piece was hand painted, two casts from the same mold can vary according to the skill or taste of the decorator.

While the 20th-century eye looks for signs of the human spirit in the individuality of each piece, the original chalkware owner was more likely to focus on resemblances. Chalkware was an imitative art form, executed in the style of then-fashionable Staffordshire figurines. From sheep and peasant couples to the ever-popular spaniel, many chalkware forms were modeled on imported ceramics. However, although comparisons between Staffordshire and chalkware figures can be made, no one has ever identified a chalkware piece that was cast directly from a Staffordshire figure. Chalkware craftsmen, it would seem, did not buy the expensive imported figures to make their molds.

Instead, they made their own models with the goal of capturing the general look of the more expensive wares. They were also selective in choosing which Staffordshire forms to imitate, opting for dogs, cats, and squirrels over cows and for patriotic and pastoral themes over figures from literature, mythology, theater, or sports.

Italian immigrants in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York carried on the bulk of chalkware production in America from 1840 to 1890. They worked in barely furnished rooms and abandoned houses, rarely staying in one place long enough to set up a home or a shop. Some itinerant peddlers sold their wares on city streets; others traveled deep into the countryside.

Although chalkware has been found as far north as Maine and as far west as the Mississippi, it was eastern Pennsylvania’s German population who proved such an enthusiastic audience that, until recently, collectors mistakenly regarded chalkware as a homespun craft of that region. Experts attributed the vibrant, often garish paints on chalkware to the local taste for color and proposed theories as to how a tradition of plaster figurines so strong in Italy could have developed and flourished in the German community. This misunderstanding of the origin of chalkware led collectors to believe that it was an exclusively country art form favored by those who could not afford pricier ornaments. The truth is that plaster ornaments were just as likely to have decorated urban homes as rural homes, and, while they were certainly very popular with working-class loan modification people, they also appealed to Victorians of more than humble means. Victorian interiors were dark, with heavily draped windows. Indoor lighting was expensive and inefficient, but rows of inexpensive, colorful chalkware could brighten a room.

The majority of chalkware pieces depicted animals—sleeping and sitting cats, poodles, spaniels, squirrels, roosters, parrots, deer, and sheep. Religious figures included angels, nativity scenes, Madonnas, kneeling children, and Saint Nicks. During the first half of the 19th century, portrait busts and relief portraits of royalty and political figures such as Napoleon and Josephine were made, but they soon fell out of fashion. After 1860, the range of chalkware that depicted people focused almost exclusively on working-class heroes such as firemen, idyllic peasant couples, custom shot glasses,George Washington, singer Jenny Lind, and social reformer Amelia Jenks Bloomer.

The Saga of Landers, Frary & Clark

The Saga of Landers, Frary & Clark
By Earl Lifshey
Copyright © The National Housewares Manufacturers Association
Reprinted with permission.
"This is the story of Landers, Frary & Clark and its service to the American home. For more than a century three able men, active in the industrial, political and cultural life in New Britain and in Connecticut, were the principal actors in our little story. But the real theme is the changing pattern of American living in the past 100 years and of the company's contribution to this changing pattern, because Landers has been making products for the American home for nearly twelve decades and its success has been due to ability to change products with the changing times."
Those were the words with which Richard L. White, then chairman of the board of directors of Landers, Frary & Clark, began a speech on his company's history at a meeting of The Newcomen Society in Noank, Connecticut, August 12, 1955. (Mr. White resigned as chairman in 1958. B. C. Neece continued as president of the company. The following year he was named chairman but retired in 1960. Harry T. Silverman, who had been president and was then elected chairman, was the last to hold that post.)
In 1965 though, this great company, once one of the best known and most prestigious in the housewares and hardware business, closed its doors permanently. The unbelievable had happened. While rumors of its impending doom had long been zig-zagging throughout the marketplace, the final reality came as a shock to the thousands of retailers who had known and dealt with the company for so long.
On May 17, 1965 its illustrious "Universal" trademark along with the remaining assets, inventory and equipment were acquired by the General Electric Company's Housewares Division, though not until after some rather frantic last minute meetings with government officials in Washington who wanted to satisfy themselves the acquisition involved no "monopolistic" aspects.
The number of products manufactured by Landers over the years was enormous and their scope amazing. They made stainless steel bull-nose rings and electric ranges, kitchen scales and vacuum bottles, window hardware and ice skates, mouse traps and percolators, can openers, cutlery and aluminum cookware, and thousands of other products. And somehow, almost until the very end, it seemed to work out profitably.
Landers, Frary & Clark traces its start to the time George Landers, age sixteen, arrived in New Britain, Connecticut in 1829 looking for a job. He soon went to work for Josiah Dewey who, seven years earlier, had started a small foundry making cupboard latches and other hardware. After Dewey's death, it became Landers & Smith Manufacturing Company in 1853. As president, Landers' salary was seven hundred dollars a year.
In 1862 the small but prosperous company made another of the many acquisitions that were to mark its history and growth in future years. It acquired the firm of Frary, Clark & Company, of Meriden Connecticut, the company name changed to Landers, Frary & Clark, which it retained for the next full century of its existence.
Probably the most important item introduced around this period was a household scale, "the first product designed particularly for the American housewife," White explained in his speech.
The company and the extent of its line continued to grow...now it had added meat choppers and sausage stuffers, screw eyes and strap hooks, door handles and floor scrapers, molasses gates and faucets, meat hooks and harness hooks, cast iron match boxes and curry combs, fancy brass hat hooks and eyes with porcelain knob ends--and even toys.
In 1870, George Landers, having turned fifty-seven, decided to retire from active management, but to stay on as vice-president and director. His son was now secretary of the company.
In the 1890s the trade name "Universal" was adopted for the company's products. And it was in the same period that it introduced a series of quite revolutionary household products that were to help establish it as a leader in the housewares field.
One of these, explained Richard White to the Newcomen Society, was the "Universal" bread maker.

In those days breadmaking was a common household chore...the days of baker's bread were still far away. In the "Universal" bread maker, dough was prepared in the evening, left in the machine to rise overnight, ready for baking in the morning. That business was one of the mainstays of the company.
The second product to become a household necessity was the "Universal" food chopper. Choppers were not new, but this one ground not merely meats but vegetables as well....Odds and ends could be turned into hashes and casseroles with ease....The identical model food chopper first produced in 1897 is an active item in our line now in 1955--58 years later. The third, and to us, the most important invention of the period was the "Universal" coffee percolator (first produced in 1905). Here was a brand new method of brewing coffee below the boiling point, with resultant improvement in clarity and flavor....Today percolators outsell other types of coffee makers. This percolator of the nineties was a simple one, heated on the stove. The day of electricity was only dawning.

A stock clerk named Charles F. Smith had gone to work for Landers in 1882, and in 1900 on the death of Charles Landers, son of the founder, he was elected president. Until his death in 1938, Smith was responsible for the tremendous growth of the company. Beginning with a patent it received in 1908 for the development of an electrical unit to be used on percolators, the company moved head-on into the appliance field.
The first "Universal" appliance appeared in 1912 when a "thermo cell" electric iron was introduced. Percolators, toasters and ranges soon followed. By 1915 it was already making electric ranges. Then came World War I when all production was devoted to military needs.
After the war the company greatly intensified its entry into electrical household products, an era Richard White referred to as the second or "electrical phase" of its development. "Today [1955], while Landers is manufacturing many non-electrical products for the home, its principal products are in the electrical field," he said.
It is noteworthy that in the early 1920s Landers, in order to exercise more complete quality control over its appliances, adopted a policy of making all its own parts as far as possible. At the time it claimed that six out of every ten homes in the country had at least one "Universal" product. Its capitalization in 1923 had reached $10.5 million and it employed over three thousand people.
In 1919 the Barnes & Kovell Company and the next year the Columbia Heating Pad Company were added to produce its own "Universal" line. In 1940 it acquired the O-Pan-Top Manufacturing Company, producers of a top-opening carpet sweeper.
Throughout the many years of its growth Landers had developed a conservative, intensely quality-minded image; here, it seemed, was a company so solidly rooted "it'll go on forever." So in 1950, when it announced the discontinuance of its cutlery division after eighty-four years of operation, the trade was shocked. Landers, they would tell you, acquired businesses--it didn't drop them.
But the next few years saw acquisitions. In 1954 Landers bought the Dazey Corporation with a big line of can openers, juicers, and other items. The following year it bought the Electric Steam Radiator Corporation, Paris, Kentucky, adding the name "Electresteem." In 1958 the Standard Products Company, Whitman, Massachusetts, was purchased and its line of portable appliances marketed through a new subsidiary, Handy-Hannah Products Corporation under the "Handy Hannah" brand. The same year a Canadian firm, Ever-Bright Limited, was bought. It made copper-clad utensils and portable appliances. To house the operation making private brand merchandise, Landers bought a big new plant in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, the Eastern Metal Products Company. In the next couple of years Landers also brought out a line of "Cookamatic" copper-cored stainless steel appliances, operated by a single control.
A great effort was made to develop new products, especially in portable appliances, using new principles of design. Yet an ominous cloud of doubt still hovered over the company's future.
The complicated closing chapters of Landers, Frary & Clark can be well summarized by these excerpts from an account of those developments which appeared in the New Britain (Connecticut) Herald, April 21, 1965:

Concern over the future of L F & C in New Britain, its birthplace, reached large proportions in 1957 with the purchase of the modern Eastern Metal Products plant in Fort Smith, Arkansas.... President Bret Neece advised stockholders on March 3, 1958 there would be greater utilization of subsidiary facilities.... Final days of true local control of L F & C were early in 1959. Frederick W. Richmond of New York, called a modern "empire builder" and "financial wizard," came onto the L F & C scene in 1958 by way of a "blind offer" to buy stock. The Franklin National Bank of Long Island made the offer.

Richmond, still in his thirties at the time, headed an investment firm which wound up with one hundred thousand shares of L F & C. Richmond soon became chairman of the board.
He was unseated in June 1960. A group, headed by another New Yorker, Harry T. Silverman, became the largest shareholders....
Silverman expressed confidence at the outset, predicting the number of employees would double within a year. Approximately 1800 were on the payroll then, about one-half the 3600 peak.
By the Spring of 1961 Silverman, the chairman of the board, the president and other holders of large blocks of stock, turned their ears to offers.
On March 30, Silverman announced a tender to acquire controlling stock of L F & C by J. B. Williams Company, a leading producer of pharmaceuticals. Within six weeks J. B. Williams had ownership of 80% of some 404,000 outstanding shares.
Matthew B. Rosenhaus, president of J. B. Williams, came to New Britain before the stock was actually acquired. He spoke optimistically of the future. Williams paid $22 per share or approximately $9 million for the stock. The total investment of the Rosenhaus group, Silverman estimated, would be $25 million. Williams officials have maintained L F & C has been a losing proposition.
The efforts to diversify, to strike out in new areas continued. In 1964, for example, with much fanfare, it introduced what was said to be the first, mass-produced, pure nickel electroformed coffeemaker under the brand name of "Permatel." Research and development for this project cost $500,000 and cost of installing production equipment was $1 million.
But a year later it was all over. Landers, Frary & Clark was now another famous name that had passed into history where, with the years, its former fame would soon fade away.

Trifari history

Since the 1920s, Trifari has been one of the most respected and admired producers of costume jewelry in the United States. Founded in the 1910s by Gustavo Trifari, the Italian-immigrant son of a Napoli goldsmith, the company has designed jewelry that’s been worn by countless high-profile clients, from Mamie Eisenhower to Madonna.

The success of Trifari, and the reason for its collectibility today, is most often credited to French designer Alfred Phillipe, the company’s chief designer from 1930 until 1968. His use of invisible settings for stones, which he originally developed for Van Cleef and Arpels, added a level of craftsmanship and technique that had not been previously seen in costume jewelry.
Among Phillipe’s countless contributions are the Trifari Crown pins from the late 1930s to the 1950s. The crowns were so popular that Trifari incorporated a crown into its mark in about 1937. Authentic Trifari jewelry is typically marked with "Jewels by Trifari," "TKF" (for Trifari, Krussman & Fishel), or "Trifari," depending on when it was made.
Some of the Trifari Crown pins feature eye-catching, brightly colored cabochons. Others are composed entirely of clear crystal rhinestones for a monochromatic effect. Naturally, a series of Coronation Gems was produced in 1953 to celebrate the ascendancy of Elizabeth II to the British throne.
Trifari’s Jelly Belly pins of seals, poodles, roosters, and other animals appeared in the 1940s. Each animal’s "belly" consists of a solid Lucite "pearl" with settings of sterling silver or gold plate. Although any Jelly Belly from this decade is going to command a good price, the poodles are especially rare.
Other categories of vintage Trifari costume jewelry to look for are the vintage floral pins from the 1930s and the fruit and vegetable pieces from the 1950s. In particular, collectors like the miniature fruit pins (apples, pineapples, grape bunches, and strawberries, to name a few) from the late 1950s through the 1960s. These single pieces, usually finished in a matte silver or gold, were worn by themselves or in groups. Also popular are the patriotic pins from the 1940s of American flags and red-white-and-blue eagles.
Like all manufacturers during World War II, Trifari was unable to use metal in its products due to rationing. This forced Trifari to switch to sterling silver during the war, which tripled prices for Trifari products (although that didn’t seem to hurt sales). Post-war, Trifari wanted to go back to less costly, maintenance-free metal, but its audience was now used to silver. To hype the return to a cheaper base metal, the company began advertising a "revolutionary" new metal called Trifanium, which was a made-up name for their basic metal — unlike silver, it could be given a no-polish rhodium finish.
The campaign worked so well that by 1953, Mamie Eisenhower felt perfectly comfortable to break with tradition and wear costume jewelry to the inaugural ball. To match the First Lady’s pink satin gown (studded with 2,000 rhinestones), Alfred Phillipe designed an "orientique" pearl choker with matching three-stranded bracelet and earrings, each laden with eight pearls. Three sets were made: one for the First Lady, a second for the Smithsonian, and a third for the Trifari archives. Mrs. Eisenhower was so pleased with the ensemble that she had Trifari make jewelry for her second inaugural ball in 1957.

Coro history

Coro, a partnership between Emanuel Cohn (the "Co") and Gerald Rosenberg (the "ro"), began producing jewelry in New York in 1901 and continued through the 1970s under the marks Coro, Coro Craft (later Corocraft), and Vendome, among others. Although Vendome was the company's high-end line, some of the most sought-after pieces today are the Coro pieces, especially the Duettes, the company produced in the 1930s and 1940s.

The reason for much of Coro’s early success was Adolph Katz, who became the company’s design director in 1924, and Gene Verri, who designed for Coro from 1933 until 1963. Katz created Coro’s en tremblant floral pins, which featured tiny metal springs that allowed elements of the pin to vibrate or tremble when its wearer moved.
Among the most collectible vintage Coro pieces today are the Coro Duettes from 1931 to the 1950s. The Duettes utilized a frame based on one designed by Cartier in 1927. Like the Cartier frame, the Coro version had two openings in it, one for each pin. Pins could be attached to the frame to be worn as a set, or detached from the frame to be worn individually.
The first Duette designs were Art Deco and monochromatic in style, but subsequent pins include pairs of enameled owls with aquamarine eyes and pavé-set rhinestone bodies, crowned cherubs, horse heads, and an Indian brave and squaw. Though their popularity ebbed in the 1950s, today a vintage Coro Duette, particularly one that trembles like the Quivering Camellia, is highly prized by contemporary collectors.
Corocraft was the next step up in quality, price, and prestige from Coro. Under the Corocraft brand, Coro introduced a line of Jelly Belly pins that were similar to those made by Trifari, right down to the Lucite "belly." Whereas most vintage Coro pieces were built on metal frames, vintage Corocraft pins and bracelets were often made of sterling silver or plated in gold. As for the rhinestones, Coro Craft ads from the late 1940s refer to these as "Diadem Jewels" to give its line of cut glass the allusion of royal lineage and status.
Vendome, which was introduced in 1944 and replaced Corocraft in 1953, was the top of the Coro line. This was serious, simulated bling, featuring rhinestone-studded chokers, cabochon-festooned silver-plated bangles, and, by the 1960s, a set of six gold-plated pins designed by Vendome’s Helen Marion, who was inspired by the work of the great Cubist artist Georges Braque.
Like Coro, which had embraced Lucite for both its Jelly Bellies and individual pins, Vendome also used Lucite. But instead of treating the material as just a clear or translucent replacement for a glass bead, Vendome designers shaved and formed Lucite into organics shapes in unexpected colors. For example, one floral pin with matching earrings features delicate blue-and-white Lucite petals atop verdant-green Lucite leaves.
Key terms for Vintage Coro Costume Jewelry:
Cabochon: A stone that has been shaped and polished instead of faceted. It usually has a flat back and a shape that is round or oval.
Diamante: Another word for rhinestone.
En tremblant: A trembling effect on a piece of jewelry achieved by mounting coiled metal springs to the piece’s fitting. Brooches and other piece that have this effect are usually called tremblers.
Pavé: A setting in which numerous small stones are set so tightly together that they create a uniform surface.

Vaseline Glass

Just What is Vaseline Glass, Anyway?
By Dave Peterson
It was 1997, and I was looking at some baseball memorabilia on eBay when I saw the following posting: "Please see my other auctions, including vaseline glass!" I thought to myself: "Why would someone want to collect those little bottles that contain petroleum jelly?"
I saw a piece of yellow-green glass in one photo and another photo of the same piece of glass that was taken in a dark room with a UV blacklight. Wow! It was bright neon green! I had been looking for something new to collect other than baseball memorabilia and this seemed like just the ticket. I figured that even a novice like myself could buy a blacklight and could verify that a piece of yellow glass was really vaseline glass before buying it to make sure I was getting the real deal. I had just officially started "paying for my education."
I started going to antique stores and continued to roam around the Internet, looking for any information I could find on this amazing glass that did tricks. In short order, I found an Internet email group that had about 100 members of vaseline glass enthusiasts, and my enthusiasm grew as I continued to learn about this amazing glass that changes color.
I was able to piece together the history of this glass, and this is what I found. A Bohemian named Joseph Riedel separated uranium salts from pitchblende in approximately 1835. He added these salts to glass as a colorant, and the result was a bright yellow-green glass that he named Annagelb (after his wife, Anna, and the German word for yellow, gelb). This was during the Biedermeier Era in Europe. (The word Biedermeier is derived from two fictional bourgeois characters, Biedermann and Bummelmeier, in the satirical verses of Ludwid Eichrodt.) It was extravagant glass for the middle classes. The glass during this time was about 40% lead and was referred to as flint glass. The decorative cuttings were elaborate and excessive.
This color was just one more color to add to the palette of the glassmaster. Riedel also made a uranium-based color he called Annagrun, which was a bright green and is also reactive to a UV blacklight. Other glass companies took note of this new colorizing agent, and soon factories in Europe, England and the United States were making this color. In the United States, the generic name became "canary" for this yellow glass. During the time period from 1840s to 1870s, the primary manufacturers of this color were Boston & Sandwich and the New England Glass Company. McKee also made a few patterns in canary.
Because it is uranium being used, it will make a Geiger counter click, but 98.5% of the radiation emitted is beta waves, which dissipate within 18 inches. A person receives about the same amount of radiation standing in the sunlight. There are old stories that the glass workers died young from making uranium-based glass, but there is no documented case of an increase in thyroid cancer when comparing glass workers and the general public. Exposure to radiation affects the thyroid before anything else.
In 1863, William Leighton, working for Hobbs, Brockunier and Co., invented a glass formula that substituted soda and lime for the lead. This could be used with colorless glass as well as colored glass. It transformed the glass industry around the world. One of the main motivations to invent a new formula was because lead was in short supply, as the United States was in the middle of the Civil War. This new formula made glass five times cheaper. When uranium dioxide (depleted uranium salts) was added to the glass batch (about 2% of the total weight), it did color the glass yellow, but it was not the same rich color of the leaded canary glass. During the early 1880s, there was a period of four or five years that all the glassmakers offered their glass in clear, plus amber, blue and canary. (This has since become known as the ABC Period.)
There was also a new petroleum ointment on the market during this time period called vaseline, and the formula for the jelly at that time was the same color as this soda-lime formula of yellow glass, so coincidentally, people started calling the yellow glass vaseline glass. The oldest reference I have found in print is from N. Hudson Moore's book, Old Glass: European and American (c. 1924). On page 349, she writes, "All the pieces shown in figure 207 are in this royal purple and canary yellow, which, by the way, no real collector would ever call vaseline, a dealer's term."
It is obvious from her statement that the terminology was in use (at least by dealers) by 1924. Vaseline glass has now become a generic term that is used in the United States, which goes to show that the English language is always changing. What was once considered uncommon terminology has now become the norm. The only worldwide collectors club for this glass, The Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc., uses the following definition:
"Vaseline glass is a transparent, yellow-green glass that will fluoresce a bright green color when exposed to any ultraviolet light source, due to the addition of a 1%-2% amount of uranium dioxide in the original glass formula. The transparent quality may be obscured by treatments such as opalescent, carnival, iridizing, stretch, satinizing, sand or acid etching, casing, inclusion and cutting treatments. Hand painted and applied decorations are also acceptable. These treatments do not change the original transparent quality of the glass. The name vaseline glass is due to the similarity of the color to that of petroleum jelly as it appeared in 1901."
Since 1840, the glass has been made off and on (depending on popularity and perceived marketability) by glassmakers, except for the period from approximately 1943-1958. During that time, it was the Cold War, and the U.S. Government banned uranium salts from any commercial use. In November 1958, the government reversed that ban, and in 1959 companies such as Imperial, Fenton, Fostoria, and others went back to making vaseline glass. Today, the companies that batch their own uranium-based glass are Fenton, Mosser, Summit and Boyd. Pairpoint also makes some on a limited basis. Other independent glassmakers will also make vaseline glass, but they primarily use cullet (glass waste) from factories such as Fenton. Of these independent shops, Gibson is probably the largest.
If one looks on eBay for vaseline glass, they will find anything that glows labeled with that name. I have seen auctions for green vaseline, custard vaseline, teal vaseline and even glass that glows a peach/orange color being labeled in this fashion. According to the most widely used definition, vaseline glass has to first be yellow-green and THEN has to glow a bright neon green under a blacklight. If it does not pass the first condition, then the second condition does not apply. Another way to look at it: all Camaros are cars, but not all cars are Camaros.
A few sellers started using the term green vaseline to sell their green Depression glass (as it got more people to look at their auctions by word searching), and others started to pick up on it. Full time dealers are just as apt to show it in their shop as vaseline glass. I cannot count the number of shops I have gone into that have a blacklight shining on green Depression glass. There are a lot of different glass types that will glow neon green under a blacklight: green Depression, some custard glass, Burmese glass, some teal glass and Bristol (green opaque glass).
To add to the confusion, every company uses their own marketing names and will change them if they think it will improve sales. Some names that have been used by various companies include: topaz, mustard, canaria, jasmine opalescent, yellow opalescent, Florentine and citron. In England, vaseline glass is a sort of wispy, opalescent glass. Their "Primrose Pearline" (made first by Davidson, and then by Sowerby; Greener; Burtles, Tate; and Molineaux & Webb) is what we call vaseline opalescent. In Australia, anything with an opalescent edge is called vaseline glass, including blue opalescent. In Germany, any glass that glows is called uranglas (uranium glass), and they do not differentiate between yellow, green or teal.
Vaseline glass collectors collect this glass because of its personal appeal and its novelty, and they can call their own possessions anything they so desire.
Now that the history has been discussed, let's take a look at today's marketplace. When true antiques are seen in antique malls or live auctions, it is one or two pieces here and there. There ARE, however, a lot of modern pieces being made by Mosser, Summit and Boyd, with more high-end glass coming from Fenton. At any given time, there are at least 500 pieces of glass labeled as vaseline on eBay. Fine pieces are a bit more scarce to locate, and damage-free antique pieces are the most difficult to locate.
More than 50 companies made pressed vaseline glass in the United States during the Early American Pattern Glass (EAPG) era. Interest in vaseline glass has also been in cycles. Starting with the 1840s, there were high points in the early 1880s, 1900-1905, 1924-1927, 1941-1943, 1959-1962 and then post 1972. Each time period had companies that tried to revive the color, and other companies would also market it at the same time, due to interest. Each factory had their subtle differences in formula and coloration, inclusive to that time period. For instance, a piece of Fostoria vaseline glass made during the 1924-1927 period looks nothing like the yellow opalescent Heirloom pattern that they marketed in 1959-1962. The absolute best way to learn about this special glass is the same as it is with any other collectible: read, read, and then, read some more! Only by studying, handling the glass, and getting a feel for who made what and when, does one begin to appreciate the subtleties of the various companies and time periods when the glass was made.
Another excellent way to get involved in this hobby is to join the only club for this glass, Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc. At the club's convention (held annually; this year in Pittsburgh, Oct. 7-8), specialties such as Murano, Bohemian, English blown glass, Moser or Tiffin are apt to turn up.
The new collector invariably buys anything that glows and within a short time realizes that he/she has accumulated a lot of glass, but there is no theme or direction to their collection. This is what one collector once told me was "paying for your education."
A collector (new or advanced) needs to also decide what direction they want to take their collection. It may be a particular pattern or company. One might become enamored with toothpick holders, Victorian novelties or salt shakers. Another direction is figurines, such as dogs, cats or even frogs. I know of one collector who has over 200 toothpick holders, all in vaseline glass. Another one collects candlesticks. Yet another collects mugs made from vaseline glass.
When shopping for vaseline glass, notice the color differences. New vaseline glass is generally a very bright, almost chartreuse, color. Old EAPG is a very pale yellow. Primrose Pearline is a deep yellow with a buttery rich opalescent rim on it. Look for honest wear on the bottom. If your interest is in pressed glass, look for sharp detail in the mold work. Quality glass will eventually speak to you, if you handle enough of it. True canary (pressed) flint glass from Boston and Sandwich almost feels soft and warm to the touch, as compared to a piece of daisy and button pattern from the EAPG era.
Before buying (especially on eBay), comparison shop with other dealers. If it is a new piece (1980s to present), there will be other dealers carrying the same item. Read the ads carefully. Sometimes it is not what they say, but what they forget to say that matters. The word vintage has come to mean anything made before yesterday. Some dealers will tell you it was made by an active glass factory and will price it accordingly. Others will refer to it as "damage-free, vintage and marked 'Westmoreland'." All of that is true. However, the dealer forgets to mention that it is a reproduction of a Westmoreland piece that was never made originally in vaseline. As with any collectable, studying your topic pays off in the long run.
Collecting vaseline glass can be a rewarding hobby and the interest in collecting this "glowing glass" grows yearly. It can be rewarding as a hobby whether you collect old or new glass. Hopefully, this article has given some insight or intrigued the reader enough to start his or her own collection!

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About the author: David A. Peterson is a founding board member of Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc. He is also the editor of "Glowing Report", the official publication of VGCI. He is the webmaster for www.vaselineglass.org and the author of two books: Vaseline Glass: Canary To Contemporary, copyright 2002 by Antique Publications, Marietta, OH, and The Lost Chapters, the addendum to Canary to Contemporary, copyright 2004, self published. The author can be reached at vaselineglass@vaselineglass.org.

Custard Glass

Custard glass definition now includes color

Custard glass usually is the color of egg custard, but collectors have added to the definition and now identify some glass as blue custard, custard with nutmeg stain and custard with painted roses or other decorations.

By: By Terry Kovel, INFORUM

Custard glass usually is the color of egg custard, but collectors have added to the definition and now identify some glass as blue custard, custard with nutmeg stain and custard with painted roses or other decorations.

The original catalogs from the companies that made custard glass called it Ivorina Verde (Heisey), Ivory decorated (Jefferson Glass Co.) or ivory and gold (Northwood Glass Co.). But it is difficult to tell real custard glass from glass of a similar color.

Original custard glass was made in England about 1880. Most of the pieces were mugs, drinking glasses or novelties – small pieces like toothpick holders or match holders. Many pieces were made to be souvenirs, so event or town names were added to the decoration.

It was not until the 1890s that custard was made by Northwood Glass Co. of Indiana, Pa., the first maker in the United States. Northwood made some of the famous patterns collectors prefer today, including Inverted Fan & Feather and Chrysanthemum Sprig. The company used hand-painting, stains and gilding, and even produced “blue custard,” which was made using a different glass formula.

At least 10 other companies made custard glass before 1930, and a few are making it today. It is easy to tell if any cream-colored glass you come across really is genuine custard glass. Get a black light, shine it on the glass and look for the luminous glow caused by the uranium in real custard glass. A Geiger counter will click near real custard glass. But don’t worry. Little uranium was used, so the glass is not dangerous.

From Ebay

Custard Glass:  a category of glass.  Custard glass is a form of pressed opaque glass that varies in color from ivory to pale yellow to light green.  Beginning in the 1870's, glass companies added uranium sulphide to custard glass to tint it yellow, and thus old custard glass glows yellow-green under a black light.  The glass often was made with nutmeg (brown) coloring, goofus treatment, or gold enamel decoration.  Custard glass was invented in Bohemia in the 1870's, spread to Britain in the 1880's and was introduced to the United States in 1887 by the Dithridge Glass Co. of Pittsburgh.  The heyday of custard glass in America was from about 1896 to 1908, but by 1915 it had dwindled in popularity.  According to the Glass Encyclopedia, Northwood was the most successful producer of custard glass during this period, introducing an ivory variety decorated with gold enamel called  Louis VX (shown below).  Other prominent producers of early (1890-1915) American custard glass included Cambridge, Coudersport, Dugan & Diamond, Fenton, Fostoria, Imperial, Heisey, Jefferson, Tarentum, U.S. Glass, and (from 1915-1930) McKee.

From Justglassonline.com

Custard Glass – an opaque milk glass variation in colors varying from rich, creamy yellow to bone white with an opalescent finish; Uranium salts were added to batches used to produce antique custard glass, so that it will trigger a Geiger counter needle to move and also glows under a black light.