by Glen and Stephen Thistlewood

website: Carnival Glass Worldwide

Welcome to the latest issue of Carnival Glass NetworK. Also, welcome to the very many new readers who signed up recently! If you missed any previous issue of Carnival Glass NetworK, they are all on the Back Issues page of our website: NetworK Back Issues.

 

Heard it through the Grapevine! (*)

 

No, it’s not an optical illusion!

 

The “decanter” in the1912 Butler Brothers ad above is what we know as a Northwood’s Grape and Cable cologne bottle. And yet here it is described as a “blown decanter … grape cluster and leaf embossed” surrounded by six Grape and Cable shot glasses and marketed as a “Whiskey Set”. It’s very clever marketing, a brilliant multi-purpose promotion (as long as you didn’t get them mixed up and swallow a mouthful of Chanel Number 5 or dab Wild Turkey behind your ears). And it wasn’t just aimed at the US market because Grape and Cable cologne bottles have actually been found with matching sets of the shot glasses in the UK too.

 

Here is the perfect re-creation, including Northwood's "Holiday" pattern tray, courtesy of Michael O'Brien. 

 

And to complete the picture, here’s a 1912 Butler Brothers ad for the dressing table set, with the same bottles, here intended for cologne!

 

As we said earlier, the shot glasses were offered with a decanter as a "whiskey set". But with an eye to multiple "mix and match" usage, the same shot glasses accompanied a uniquely shaped Grape and Cable whiskey decanter, and thanks to Michael O'Brien we can see the full set here, below, left.

It is interesting to see that one of the very popular USA Carnival Glass clubs - the Heart of America Carnival Glass Association (HOACGA) - used the whiskey decanter and shot glass shapes for one of their earliest club souvenirs, in 1976. The pieces were designed with the Good Luck motto around a horseshoe, and made by Fenton in red Carnival Glass, as shown above right.

 

* “I heard it through the grapevine” was made famous in the 1960s by the Motown hit sung by Gladys Knight & the Pips and by Marvin Gaye. But the expression is much older than that, originating over 100 years earlier with the invention of the telegraph (in 1844 in the USA): the term “grapevine telegraph” was used, and was first recorded in a dictionary in 1852.

 

Meanwhile ... in Canada

 

In August 1910, The Winnipeg Tribune ran the following promotion:

"Another Lot of Beautiful Iridescent Glassware. Many who read this will have everyday reminders of the previous offering in the shape of the beautiful pieces they have secured. Others were disappointed owing to the quantities in some pieces being insufficient to go around. For Monday’s selling we have another assortment – even more attractive than the first – and values will be such as to throng the third floor with an eager buying crowd."

 

The iridescent glassware on special offer was Northwood’s Grape and Cable, in full water sets, table sets and 7-piece berry sets. The prices for the MONDAY SPECIAL were (sit down before you read it):

Full water set 95 cents
Table set 85 cents (see below)
7 piece berry set 75 cents

 

Below right is one of the sets you might have been lucky enough to buy - the Grape and Cable table set (covered sugar, covered butter, creamer and spooner) - this one is in purple, courtesy of Seeck Auctions. 

Warning: Northwood's Grape and Cable was one of their most popular lines, being made in an amazing array of shapes and colours, so unsurprisingly, the pattern was reproduced in contemporary Carnival Glass. However, it was also faked, and unwary collectors have been taken in by fake Grape and Cable items - pie crust edge bowls, covered butters and hatpin holders.

 

Fakes are found in most antiques and collectibles, and the best answer is to identify the fakes and educate collectors about them - we have a (growing) section on our website about Carnival Glass Fakes.

 

In Memory of Rose Presznick

The late Nigel Gamble researched this item, which had been produced in several experimental colours for Eileen Von Myers (Rose's granddaughter) and her husband. It would appear that the Von Myers had a strong preference for the red Carnival Glass lamp, and this led to a decision to produce 600 of them.

 

According to Nigel, less than 200 were actually made, at least four of which were broken early on and a significant number of others that didn’t sell immediately were left in a cold barn (following which they broke or cracked). The surviving perfect lamps are now few and far between.

 

The lamps have the Fenton script logo moulded under the base. This is particularly fitting, as it was Rose and husband Joe who had been instrumental in persuading the late Frank Fenton to guarantee that all Fenton's contemporary Carnival Glass would be marked Fenton, to distinguish it from their old, Classic production. 

 

The experimental colours that were made were plum opal (just three examples were produced), marigold on milk glass with a light iridescence, white, pale marigold on clear and lemon yellow. All have a milk glass base.

 

Rose and Joe Presznick set up "The Carnival Glass Museum" in Lodi, Ohio. In honour of Rose's huge contribution to the world of Carnival Glass, we have a feature about it on our website: The Presznick Carnival Glass Museum.

 

Tumbler time!

Six European beauties! Top row, left to right: Drapery, Nola and Jacobean (all from Inwald). Bottom row: Fir Cones (Riihimaki), Gardestern (Brockwitz) and Starburst (Riihimaki).

 

Update 2: Clayton Mayers and Jacobean

In the last issue of NetworK we featured Inwald’s Jacobean and we mentioned that the pattern was registered and marketed in the UK by the importer and wholesaler, Clayton Mayers, who carried out an advertising and marketing campaign for the Jacobean range of glass over at least two decades.

 

Their press advertising was backed up by merchandising displays and brochures, with customised Jacobean shop window features. Photos of magnificent displays were illustrated in the brochures while Jacobean show cards and special display stands were distributed to their stockists.

 

 

Feedback

 

We hope you have enjoyed this issue of our NetworK ezine. If you missed any earlier issues, they are on our website back issues page. Meanwhile, we would love to hear from you, and maybe you would like to "chat" with us on our Carnival Glass facebook pages.