THE 2025 STRETCH GLASS SOCIETY CONVENTION
August 7-9, 2025
"Topaz Glows"
TOPAZ GLOWS!
The 2025 Stretch Glass Convention Display
By Dave Shetlar
Wow! Incredible! These were just some of the statements made when attendees of the 2025 Stretch Glass Convention entered the display room on August 8. We were able to assemble nearly 400 pieces of topaz stretch glass for our combined club display of “Topaz Glows!” Cal Hackeman delivered banana box after box of topaz on Thursday which were combined with my 10 boxes. Pam Steinbach, Sharon Mizel, Joan & Pat Halliburton, and Donnis Headley & Jean Bear also contributed to the display. I had to wait until the Thursday auction was finished and glass had been removed from the tables before I could begin the task of arranging the topaz stretch in some kind of order. I decided that alphabetic order would do with Central first, followed by Fenton, then Northwood and finally U.S. Glass.
Only a few examples from Diamond were shown as was a single Imperial wide panel bowl. Notice that we had no topaz examples from Jeannette, Lancaster, or Vineland. It soon became apparent that Fenton, Northwood and U.S. Glass were the major producers of topaz stretch. I was able to get most of the topaz stretch arranged along the north wall, as planned, but there were so many pieces, I had to continue the display on the tables that remained on the right-hand wall.
The following morning, after Tom Foozer had delivered an interesting and informative talk on Vaseline glass, I set up some blacklight flood lights that the Convention Committee had requested. These consisted of two giant light panels that were designed to light up a dance floor or party room as well as six smaller blacklight banks scattered to illuminate some of the far away tables. I continued to try and put name tags on as many pieces as I could for the rest of the afternoon, leading up to the evening reception. After most attendees had settled during the reception, we dimmed the front lights and turned on the blacklights to many “Oohs and Ahhs!” I noticed that many were using their cell phones to capture the display under blacklight with their cameras, taking both still photos and video.
On Saturday afternoon, Cal Hackeman and I did a tag-team marathon discussion of the Topaz Glows! display. We went from one end of the display to the other, pointing out rarities, differences in similar items and having fun with our audience. Someone asked, “What’s the rarest piece in the display?” This question always stops me short as the question inevitably causes me to upset someone! I’ve collected glass long enough to know that as soon as I declare that a piece of glass is “rare,” similar pieces begin to show up. But, I took the bait and pointed out that all of the Victoria Topaz (Fenton’s name for their topaz opalescent curtain or rib optic) pitchers, tumblers and vases could all be considered to be difficult to obtain and highly desirable. The rose bowl-shaped Fenton #550 footed bowl appears to be a one-of-a-kind whimsey. I also pointed out that the little U.S. Glass toothpick was the only one I knew of in topaz. Personally, whether rare, difficult to find or fairly easy to obtain is irrelevant if you like the piece and it fits your budget!
As an auxiliary to our Topaz Glows! display, I want to thank Pat and Andy Wartell for bringing their personal display table filled with the Fenton Topaz stretch pieces that had been treated by the Barnard Rice’s Sons with their Etchardt silver plate bands and handles. Cal and I brought some additional Etchardt pieces which resulted in the largest grouping of those items that I’ve ever seen.
Next year, our club display will feature the glass that is currently in the holdings of the Bill Crowl Memorial Collection. Unfortunately, this will place a lot of packing duties onto Cal and other volunteers, but it will reduce the load of having other members bringing glass other than for their personal displays or for sale in their rooms.
What is Vaseline Glass?!?
By Tom Foozer
Why is this glass named ‘vaseline?’ Probably because the color of the glass resembled that of early Vaseline Petroleum Jelly, which had a yellow-green color. Vaseline glass is also not greasy feeling as some might suggest. The fact of the matter is the color, yellow green, is a part of Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc. concise definition: “Vaseline glass is a transparent yellow green glass that fluoresces under ultraviolet light.”
Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc. further clarify by stating, “The transparent quality of the glass may be obscured by treatments such as opalescence, carnival, iridized stretch, sand or acid etching, cased and cut treatments along with hand painting and other applied decoration.”
The point here is that the original transparent quality and color of vaseline glass is still the same. We will be looking at some of these treatments, later in this article.
Different glass manufacturers used different names for vaseline glass. Topaz is the common name for many manufacturers along with canary, canary opalescent, canaria and jasmine opalescent.
Regardless of the different names, the glass is a transparent yellow green. England made vaseline glass in the late 1870s and they called it Primrose, after the yellow Primrose flowers. In addition, any color which was decorated with that creamy, rich opalescence was called “Pearline” as white as pearls.
The following are examples of manufacturers glass with different names.
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Fostoria Glass – “Canary”
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Fenton – “Topaz”
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Albany / Flint – “Canary Opalescent”
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Pairpoint – “Canaria”
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Geo. Duncan & Sons – “Jasmine Opalescent”
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Cambridge – “Topaz”
In addition to different names, glass manufacturers had different formulas for mixing the different elements in the batch. These formulas account for the subtle differences found in the shade of glass pieces. No doubt, the formulas were closely guarded too but because of the rate at which glass workers moved from company to company, many formulas ended up being shared!
A Bit of Vaseline Glass History
The history of vaseline glass can be traced back to 1835, at Josef Riedel’s glassworks in Polaun (today’s Polubný, Czech Republic) where he began using uranium oxide as a colorant for glass. Riedel created two colors which he named “Annagelb” and “Annagrun”, reportedly named for Empress Anna of Austria. Gelb is “yellow” and grun is “green.” Josef Riedel is generally credited with being the first to make vaseline glass.
Once word spread that there was a new glass in town, other companies began to produce vaseline glass too. Bohemia in 1836, followed by England in 1837 and France in 1840, the same year our own Boston & Sandwich began their own large scale production. Boston & Sandwich is still highly sought after by collectors today and it is quite expensive.
In October, 1942 The U.S. War Production Board (WPB) took control of all uranium and uranium compounds for the Manhattan Project. Uranium salts, including uranium dioxide and uranium oxide (the coloring agents for vaseline glass), were classified as critical war materials.
It was in 1959 when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission allowed decorative use again, the only form released to industry was depleted uranium oxide — mostly U-238, with far lower radioactivity than natural uranium.
Question is, where did Josef Riedel get the idea to use uranium oxide? Uranium oxide was discovered in 1789 by a German druggist, turned chemist, Martin Heinrich Klaproth. Druggists of that time were skilled at mixing chemicals, and this was just one of Klaproth’s experiments. Using Klaproth’s discovery to color glass is credited to Reidel but Klaproth’s discovery would take on much greater significance well into the 21st century.
Klaproth got samples of pechblende (pitchblende) from the Joachimsthal silver mines in Bohemia. At the time, miners considered it a worthless by-product. He ground the pitchblende into powder and dissolved it in strong nitric acid. After removing all metals he recognized, he was left with a yellowish substance which he named “uranium”, after the newly discovered planet, Uranus. The yellow substance he discovered was actually uranium oxide also known as “yellowcake”, the same substance used today in the production of nuclear fuel rods!
Glassmakers in Bohemia began experimenting with metal oxides for new colors in the 1820s. Uranium oxide’s bright yellow-green tint was noted in laboratory chemistry work, the first inkling that this might work in glass.
Finally, in 1835, Josef Riedel in Bohemia perfected recipes for yellow, green, and eventually fluorescent glass by adding uranium oxide.
Let’s talk about those treatments we mentioned earlier. There are ten ways to decorate (add a treatment) on vaseline glass. Remember, each of these treatments do not change the transparent yellow green quality of vaseline glass. They are: Opalescent, Carnival, Stretch, Stained, Satin, Etched, Enameled, Hand Painted, Cased, and Cut.
Is vaseline glass dangerous to have around the house? No! In June, 2001, the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) did a study and published an 835-page document stating “uranium glass emits less radiation than most household appliances.” For example, think about your microwave oven.
What’s more, a test was done by Frank Fenton in which 700 pieces of vaseline glass were measured for one hour from 10 feet away. The reading reached .15 micro-Sieverts (µSv). This is a fraction of the radiation you receive each day from ALL sources, which is 10 micro-Sieverts (µSv.)