CAL HACKEMAN, SGS PRESIDENT, AS GUEST EDITOR –HOOKED ON CARNIVAL

JANUARY 14, 2016 PRESENTATION:  STRETCH GLASS – Shapes and Sizes


Cal here. Last night we talked about who made stretch glass.  Tonight I’d like to share some photos and comments about what types of items were made during the stretch glass era.  The nine companies making stretch glass all made bowls.  These range in size from a couple of inches in diameter to very large punch bowls.  There are 2 known bowls which resemble wash basins but no large pitchers have ever been found, so these may have been intended to be punch bowls as well.  Most companies produced candlesticks, plates, candy jars, comports, handled servers and vases.  They appear in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors and can be found more easily than more specialized items.  Several companies sold beverage sets consisting of a pitcher (some with covers) and tumblers or handled mugs as well as sugar and creamer sets.  Occasionally nearly identical items were made by more than one company – for example, Diamond, Fenton and Northwood all made a covered bon bon.  At first glance they look the same, but if you look carefully there are slight differences.  And if the bon bon is made in a color only made by one company, then ID’ing it is easy.

In addition to these items, there are a host of items made for very specific purposes.  These include punch bowls and cups, smoking items, colognes, pin trays, pencil holders, nut cups, lemon servers, butterball trays and more – even stemmed goblets.  These are more difficult to find; while we do not have production records to tell us how many of each item was made, I think it is safe to say that relatively fewer of this last group of items was made when compared to the more common items.  Let’s take a look at some of these more unusual items.

Do you have some of these in your collections?  We would love to see what is hiding in your cabinets, please share a comment or a photo of your most unusual stretch glass item or items.