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Depression Glass Patterns
by Murray Hughes
Collectors of Depression Glass find not only its beautiful colors
fascinating, but its patterns, as well. With many glass producers making
this type of glass, as you can imagine, many patterns resulted, creating a
wide array of pretty, practical, and inexpensive glassware affordable to
every American household in that lean era of history and making Depression
Glass one of the most collectible items today.
Of the many glass manufacturers that produced Depression Glass, seven of
them became major players in the field, creating a total of 92 designs.
Below you’ll find some history, some trivia, some folklore, and some
interesting characteristics about several of these designs.
Pattern: Cameo
This Depression Glass design, sometimes referred to as Ballerina or
Dancing Girl, gets its name from the tiny dancer found on all its pieces.
Some claim the Hocking Glass Company that manufactured Cameo glass created
the pattern to honor the legendary modern dancer of the 1920s, Isadora
Duncan, who tragically died when her long trailing scarf, of which she’d
made her personal trademark, choked her to death when it wrapped around
the wheel of her moving Bugatti roadster.
Duncan died in 1927, and the Cameo pattern came into being in 1930,
continuing to be produced until 1934, so the story could very well be
true. Regardless of the inspiration for this pattern of Depression Glass,
it continues as a much sought-after design. Hocking made most Cameo glass
in green, but pink, yellow, and – more rarely – crystal, which can
occasionally still be found.
Pattern: Avocado
First produced in 1923, the Avocado or “Sweet Pear” pattern claims its
fame for being the very first 'true' Depression Glass design. Made by the
Indiana Glass Company, Avocado pieces in the form of pitchers prove to be
the most difficult to find, possibly because of this pattern’s age.
Indiana continued manufacturing Avocado for 10 years, until the company
retired this Art Nouveau-type design in 1933.
Pattern: Royal Lace
The Hazel-Atlas Glass Company began producing Royal Lace during 1934 as a
set consisting of 28 pieces. Today, Royal Lace holds the honor of being
some of the costliest Depression glass that collectors covet. Hazel-Atlas
manufactured Royal Lace in crystal (clear) and in five colors: green,
yellow, pink, blue, and burgundy. The most desirable color consistently
proves to be the blue, called Ritz Blue by the company, which actually
came about as an economic accident.
When General Mills ended a deal with Hazel-Atlas’ using blue-colored glass
in a Shirley Temple promotional campaign in 1936, Hazel-Atlas simply
poured the leftover vats of molten blue glass into its existing Royal Lace
molds to avoid wasting it. An instant success resulted. Blue Royal Lace
Depression Glass reigns to this day as 1 of the most sought after and is
now 1 of the most expensive of all the other Depression Glass patterns.
These samplings of interesting Depression Glass trivia make collecting it
all that more appealing. After all, how many other pieces of glassware can
be found in people’s homes that come with a ready-made story – at least
those people in the median income range (We’re not talking Tiffany or
Lalique here!)? And these have been gleaned from a mere sampling of the
plethora of Depression Glass designs that have survived over the years.
Imagine what stories can be found!
The next time you gaze at that lovely piece of Depression glass resting in
the window of your favorite antique dealer or – if you’re lucky – sitting
on a dusty shelf at a flea market just waiting for you to discover it,
remember: Whatever pattern it is, a good chance exists that it, too, will
have a fascinating history.
So take a chance. Buy it! Until next time,
Murray Hughes
http://www.DepressionGlassSecrets.com
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now and enrol in the free Depression Glass course "The 5 Essential Steps
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