What made Imperial glass so unique and set it apart from other glass companies? Learn what separates Imperial glass from other glass companies. As a company, I think it is the diversity of the glass they...
As a company, I think it is the diversity of the glass they produced. Some of the other companies were much more focused on producing tableware. Imperial produced tableware patterns, but they also produced things like art and slag glass, which is a combination of colored glass. They also produced milk glasses. If you look at their catalogs from the 50s and the 60s, there was just a huge variety of different kinds of glass. Sometimes they would introduce a series of items and they would only be in production for a six month period or so. This is what I think sets Imperial glass apart. Some of the other companies discontinued marketing their tableware patterns and they struggled, where as Imperial still had their tableware patterns too. But they were very, very diversified. They had a wide range of different types of glassware items to try to keep their sales at the level they wanted.
In the beginning, they started off with pressed glass, big pressed glass patterns. They produced tumblers for the hotel industry, and they produced lead luster in art glass. They started producing Candlewick in the 30s. A pattern called Cape Cod, which preceded Candlewick, was another pattern. It was probably their second most popular pattern, but there were other patterns as well. The company really exploded in the 1950s with some very creative management and ownership. They offered much more than just tableware patterns. That continued into the early 70s. In 1984, they were taken over by Lenox. If you go to our website imperialglass.org, there is a detailed history of the company there.
