CARNIVAL GLASS
Carnival Glass is an inexpensive pressed glass which has an iridized surface treatment. It is always iridescent and found in a wide spectrum of colors. Carnival glass gets its iridescent sheen from the application of metallic salts while the glass is still hot from the pressing, then re-firing the glass. Glass workers sometimes refer to carnival glass as “dope glass” because the process of applying the iridescent coloring to the surface is called “doping”.
This process form a lustrous coating at the surface of the glass, which looks as if it has rainbows on it, like the colored patterns sometimes seen when oil or gas floats on water, or like the rainbow colors on the surface of a soap bubble. What you are actually seeing are light intereference patterns produced by constantly shifting wavelengths.
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Carnival Glass was first produced on a large scale by the Fenton Art Glass Company, of Williamstown, West Virginia, in 1908. John W. Fenton and his brother Frank L. Fenton developed a relatively stable and safe method of mass producing iridized glass. They named their first lines “Iridill” and “Rubi-glass” and described it as having a metallic luster much like Tiffany favrile glass. It was instantly popular with the public, and they sold as much as they could make. The popularity was due, in part to the expensive iridized glass made by Tiffany and Steuben around the turn of the century, and was often called “Poor man’s Tiffany.”
In the same year (1908) the Northwood Glass Company, founded by Harry Northwood in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1902, produced a similar line of iridized glass. They called their fist lines “Golden Iris,” from the Greek word for rainbow. In its heydays (1908 to 1925) Carnival Glass was also made by Imperial Glass in Ohio, Westmoreland from Pennsylvania, Dugan in Indiana, Pennsylvania; and Millersburg, in Ohio.
Carnival glass was made in many translucent colors, primarily amethyst, marigold, cobalt, green, and red. It is also made in opaque white, called milk glass, and before the hazards of radiation were well known, it was made in semi-transparent or translucent pale green, called vaseline or uranium glass. Vaseline glass and uranium glass actually contain traces of uranium salts (uranium dioxide) within the glass, and can luminese a faint green in reaction to UV light (blacklight). Other colors of uranium glass were produced in lesser quantities.
The rage for Carnival Glass in the United States continued for ten years (1908 to about 1918), and the last of the original US producers, Dugan Glass Company (later Diamond Glass Ware) of Indiana, Pennsylvania, continued production right through to their closure from a fire in 1931. It continued to be made in Europe through the 1920’s and 1930’s; it was made in Australia in the 1930’s; and in South America (Argentina) in the 1930’s.
Iridill pieces were frequently used as carnival prizes and as promotional giveaway items, and in the 1950’s, glass collectors began calling it all “Carnival Glass.” During the 1950’s collectors became interested in Carnival Glass, so much so that it became economically worthwhile for glass manufacturers to start making it again, specifically for collectors. Fenton and Imperial, re-introduced Carnival Glass in the 1960’s using both the original designs and new designs. Since it was collectors who were interested, they carefully ensured that this new carnival glass could easily be distinguised from the originals, by putting distinct trade marks on the glass. Some manufacturers have not been so helpful, and there is reproduction carnival glass around, sometimes being made from the same molds, which is difficult to distinguish from the originals.
Carnival glass is highly collectible. Prices vary widely, with some pieces worth very little, while other, rare items command thousands of dollars. Examples of carnival glass can be easily found in antique stores, shops and on-line sites. Identification of carnival glass is frequently difficult. Many manufacturers did not include a maker’s mark in their product, and some did for only part of the time they produced the glass. Identifying carnival glass involves matching patterns, colors, sheen, edges, thickness, and other factors from old manufacturer’s trade catalogs, other known examples, or other reference material. Since many manufacturers produced close copies of their rivals’ popular patterns, carnival glass identification can be challenging even for an expert.
April 17th, 2009 at 5:02 am
[...] CARNIVAL GLASSCarnival glass gets its iridescent sheen from the application of metallic salts while the glass is still hot from the pressing, then re-firing the glass. Glass workers sometimes refer to carnival glass as dope glass because the … [...]