As its name implies, Depression Glass has its deepest and most prolific roots in the 1930s, the period of the country's Great Depression. Ironically, this highly valued and often tough-to-acquire commodity was originally developed as a low-cost, low-quality alternative to traditional glass.
In the decades that followed the introduction of mass production and mechanization in this country, glass-makers began to mechanize their industry. Like so many other commodities at the turn-of-the-century, glass had been hand-blown and hand-etched, greatly prized for its clarity and purity and hand-smoothed edges.
Long before the 1929 crash of the stock market that signaled long years of economic privation, some companies had already begun to introduce machinery, other than simple presses, into the glass-making process. This is now considered a critical influence in the development of Depression Glass.
The machinery was already in place in some companies as early as 1923, and some of the glass-mechanization processes were already perfected by the time investment cash evaporated in 1929.
Without that serendipitous situation, American glass manufacturers probably would not have been able to make the expensive investments needed to keep Depression Glass in the marketplace through the 1930s. The inexpensive glass was so popular with homemakers that some 20 companies produced some type of Depression Glass in its two-decade heyday. Much of it was marketed in dime stores and packed as premiums in everything from cereal to bags of flour.
Manufacturers used a variety of colors, but primarily crystal, pink, pale green, blue, red, yellow and black. Some firms experimented with fired-on decals; some produced interesting new colors; some produced only stemware.
Signs of the Times
Through the varied patterns and colors of more than 90 different styles of Depression Glass, we can trace peaking and evolving consumer preferences and styles of the times. The mid- and late-1920s saw the introductions of pieces considered Art Nouveau and Art Deco -- such as Jeanette Glass Co.'s "Iris." The Art Deco style's sharp optic and geometric designs are obvious in Hocking's "Black Optic" (1929) and Hazel Atlas' "Ovide," which was that company's first foray into the Depression Glass market in 1930.
The mechanization, mass production, mass distribution and delightful designs characterize true Depression Glass. Some of Westmoreland's hand-finished Hobnail, still wildly popular among collectors today, is typically classified as Depression Glass even though it doesn't meet the purist's definition of the term.
The first Depression Glass pattern, Avocado, made by Indiana Glass Company, was introduced in 1923. The last pattern, Sandwich, issued from the Hocking Co. and entered the marketplace in 1939. Sandwich Glass is generally considered to be the last true Depression Glass pattern ever manufactured.
In the later patterns -- such as Sandwich Glass and New Martinsville's "Radiance" introduced in the late 1930s -- we begin to see the gradual movement away from Art Deco's geometry and sleek swirls. By then, Depression Glass designs were beginning to reflect the consumer's movement toward fancier, lacier, more gentle designs and a bent toward the cut crystal and custard glass that took the stage in the 1940s.
Collecting Depression Glass
Collectors with an interest in Depression Glass face a challenge in identifying true Depression Glass, especially given the massive influx of reproduction Depression Glass that's been flooding the marketplace in recent decades.
The true financial value of a piece of genuine Depression Glass today varies wildly. Some pieces fetch less than a dollar a piece at retail, largely because they are either not popular collectibles or because they aren't unusual.
How rare a piece is usually determines its value. Any tiny chip or injury seriously diminishes a piece's value. The intact inclusion of original components, such as original shaker tops, sugar bowl lids and mayonnaise set spoons, which were often lost or broken, can increase a set's value dramatically.
The best advice for a new collector is to settle on a particular pattern and color that appeals to you, and then read and learn as much as you can about it and its imposters. Learn from experts in that pattern. It's often difficult to tell cheap reproductions from the genuine article!
Experts in Depression Glass will point you toward obvious problems and solutions.
For example, a new collector will probably not know that the lovely candleholders in the original Indiana Glass "Madrid" pattern did not have the raised inside ridge that its look-alike imposter now has. That's really the only way to tell the two apart. And there are many, many such situations within each manufacturer and each pattern.
King's Crown
Not a true Depression Glass, King's Crown was first introduced in the late 1800s by the U. S. Glass Company, and shortly thereafter by its surviving subsidiary, the Tiffin Glass Co., which went out of business in 1980.
As with Depression Glass, King's Crown's distinctive ruby-red design has been the object of numerous reproducers over the years.
King's Crown is a partially ruby-stained -- sometimes amber-stained -- pressed or patterned glass design. In the early days of mechanized glass production, the ruby staining process was considered an inexpensive way to impart color to different parts of a glass object.
Not a true "cranberry glass," made with a gold-based process which actually transferred a red color into the glass before it annealed, the King's Crown ruby-staining process applied a thin layer of color different parts of the glass, using a brush.
It became immediately popular because, without the need for gold in the production process, producers could make the beautiful red-stained glassware affordable and available to even householders of modest means.
In King's Crown production, the basic pieces -- whether goblet, compote, cake stand, plate or hundreds of others -- were usually produced as clear glass pieces, and then sold to various other companies that specialized in glass design. There, the ruby stain was applied and the glass was heat-treated or "fired" to produce what was considered a permanent color.
However, over the years, many collectors of this lovely glassware have discovered to their dismay that the permanence was, in fact, less than promised. Ruby-stained items are easily stripped of their color by scratching, misuse and by an event unforeseen in the early 20th century: trips through the ruthlessly rough wash and dry cycles of the automatic dishwasher.
Whether your future includes collections of Depression Glass, King's Crown or any of the dozens of other early American elegant, art and decorative glass commodities, you won't ever be disappointed if you're collecting for the sheer love of these items' beauty, elegance and the statement they make about the style and condition of the world when they first graced its stage.
By studying your chosen designs and connecting with other aficionados through books, newsletters and on-line newsgroups and e-mail lists, you'll soon feel absolutely comfortable with your pieces and less likely a target of imposters!
Most of all, enjoy not only the purchases you make and the collections you acquire, but the hunt, as well!
