Article Contributed on: 9/10/2007 9:58:13 PM
Start a new Tradition II
In March I wrote an article on starting a new tradition and I suggested a good way to do this was to start a collection of glassware with your children. Decorating for the Holidays provides a perfect opportunity to involve your children in the decision making aspect of what to collect. It's also great to take them out glass hunting and spend some quality time with them.
Glass collecting can range from collecting whole sets of glassware to individual accent items. Much of today's newer glassware is colorless and it is hard to find newer colored glass that can be used around the Holidays. Many home decorators are now turning to glassware made during the 1920's-1960's to find just the right color or piece to decorate the home or office. Colored stemware is a great way to add a splash of color to your dinner table. Colored serving pieces, candlesticks, water pitchers and vases can be used to decorate the table too.
There were several wonderful Holiday table exhibits at the April glass show held in Castle Rock earlier this year. One club member set up a really great inexpensive table exhibit featuring Snowman through out the display. Snowman of course are a traditional favorite of kids everywhere and they will be excited to help find both glass and non-glass items to decorate with. This exhibit featured a Snowman cookie jar as the centerpiece, Noble Snowman china, Snowman candles, Snowman napkins and Snowman butter knives. The table setting also used Hocking Glass Company forest green Bubble stemware, a Cambridge Glass Company forest green water pitcher and bowl. The table setting also contained a splash of red glass in the form a pair of salt/peppers and sugar/creamer. Almost all of this table setting was obtained on sale except for the glass pieces which can be added at a relatively low cost. The Noble Snowman china pattern and the placemats were found on sale at Dillards, the Snowman cookie jar came from a gift shop in a hospital, the wreath surrounding the Snowman was on sale at St. Nicks and the candles were on sale at Hobby Lobby. The silverware and napkins came from Target. The glassware was obtained from several local glass shops and glass shows in the Front Range area.
A Thanksgiving display was also on exhibit and it featured amber Apple Blossom made by the Cambridge Glass Company and Harvest china made by Fitz and Floyd. Fall colors were on display in this exhibit with plenty of ambers, yellows, oranges and others. One of the interesting color combinations was the stemware. The bowls on the stemware are yellow and the stems/feet were amber. The place settings were done in amber as were the butter dish, gravy boat/liner, sugar/creamer, candlesticks, bowl and large vase. The Fitz and Floyd Harvest pattern goes very nicely with the amber and yellow glassware. Fitz and Floyd pieces used in the display were: covered casserole, platter, pitcher and salt/pepper shakers. The vase is sitting in a fall wreath which was found at St. Nicks. The green Styrofoam used to hold the silk flowers was covered with plain brown wrapping paper before it was inserted into the vase, making the green Styrofoam hard to see.
A Christmas display featuring Westmoreland Glass Company's Wakefield pattern was on exhibit. The Wakefield pattern is also known under the name of Waterford. This pattern is mainly found plain or stained with deep ruby red finish applied to it. The exhibit featured the stained version of the pattern. This is a pattern that is truly beautiful to see in person. There were many positive comments about this exhibit and several offers to purchase it as is. Stemware and candlesticks are the easiest pieces to find in this pattern, followed by bowls in various sizes. Dinner plates are very hard to find as are cups/saucers. A set of Wakefield can be collected, but it will take some time to do so. This pattern would make a great family collection. The vase in the exhibit can be found with some looking and is often offered for sale as English Hobnail. The Wakefield urn is basically a vase with a lid on it and they measure 15" tall. A pair of Urns is truly magnificent and would look fantastic on a fireplace mantle or coffee table. There are 3 sizes of this urn: 9", 12" and 15". The Urns may be found in plain crystal, milk or with the red stain on them. They were also made in green, pink, amber, black, light blue, yellow and a few two-tone combinations, but they are rare and very hard to find. The 12" urn is also easily confused with Hockings Miss America 12" urn. The Wakefield urn does not have hob nails on the bottom of the bowl of the urn and the Miss America urn does. The vase is set off by a Christmas flocked wreath found at St. Nicks.
All three centerpieces in these exhibits had to be raised up so that they could be seen. An upside down soup bowl, covered by a matching napkin to hide the bowl, was used to elevate the centerpiece. The Snowman exhibit also used Hocking forest green bowls placed upside down to elevate the snowman candles.
If you are looking for ways to incorporate some of this beautiful glass into your holiday decorating, I will be hosting a Glass identification session on Oct. 6th, 2007 at the Colorado Antique Gallery, 5501 S. Broadway in Littleton, Co. 80121 between the hours of 11am and 4pm. I will be happy to share ideas on how best to care for and display some of your glass and pottery. Please limit yourself to 1-3 items for identification. If you're looking for ideas on decorating, then you might want to browse through our album of displays from the Rocky Mountain Depression Glass Society and see if there are any ideas that appeal to you. The identification session is also a great opportunity to learn what types of books are available to help you with researching glass and pottery. Our club has over 100 books in our extensive library. If you are interested in learning more about American made glass from the 1920's to the 1960's you might attend a meeting of the Rocky Mt. Depression Glass Society. Meetings are held monthly on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 PM at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 790 S. Corona. Please visit the RMDGS website at: www.rmdgs.com
The next all glass and pottery show featuring many of the patterns, and others, mentioned in this article will be sponsored by the Pikes Peak Depression Glass Club (PPDGC) which will be holding their 21st "A Rainbow of Glass" annual glass and pottery show on Sept. 29th (9-5) & 30th (10-4), 2007 at the City Auditorium - 221 East Kiowa St. - Colorado Springs. Driving directions from I-25 take the Nevada exit & come to Kiowa & turn east. There will be hourly door prizes and a grand prize. The grand prize is a starter set of Jeanette's green Floral pattern. Please visit the PPDGC at:
www.ppdgc.com
http://www.rmdgs.com/