Remembering Kitchen Glassware

Think back to a favorite cook's kitchen. What do you remember?

Maybe it's a pair of heavy shakers with metal lids grandma always kept handy at the top of the stove. Or, perhaps a colorful glass mixing bowl mom used to whip up family favorites comes to mind.

More than likely, anyone willing to show their age will recall some type of depression era kitchenware.

The recollections might not be quite as specific as the examples above, but when you see the item sitting in a collectibles shop or shown in a movie, something immediately takes you back in time to that beloved kitchen. For many people, it's remembrances like these that make up some very special kitchen glassware collections.

Other collectors don't recall specific individuals. Still, drawn to the glassware by it's functionality and cheerful colors, they enjoy decorating with these varied items.

Often labeled with familiar staple terms such as flour and sugar, many canister sets included jars for rice, cereal and coffee as well. There were also special jars for drippings, spices, tea and even bicarbonate soda, all carefully labeled and smartly coordinated into sets.

Frigidaire capitalized on the popularity and produced a line of glassware in a pretty frosted depression green color with their crest logo molded into the bottom. These kitchen accessories came along with the purchase of a new refrigerator as a buyer's premium.

Long before Tupperware became a household word, glass refrigerator dishes in coordinating sets stacked neatly in the ice box. Alongside them were water containers with matching lids and/or metal spigots, and butter dishes in various shapes, sizes and colors.

Basically, if it was used anywhere in the kitchen it was made from depression glass, right down to the drawer pulls and rolling pins.

All the popular depression glass dishware colors of pink, green, cobalt and light amber found their way into the kitchen. And, other colors such as minty green jadite, sky blue delphite and deep forest green also graced the shelves of industrious depression era cooks.

Within the last five years or so, collectors have cleaned antique shop shelves causing kitchen glassware prices to rise dramatically, even for once commonly found pieces in crystal. Other items have moved from the hard-to-find category into the rare classification simply because collectors don't often part with them once they garner a piece for a collection.

Many of these dedicated accumulators buy according to color filling a room with green or blue. Others enjoy nostalgic decorating and continue the depression era theme into a cleverly designed kitchen. Some like to gather multi-colored groupings of napkin holders, syrup pitchers or sugar shakers for a unique presentation.

No matter how they hunt them down or use the pieces, they're all paying more to get them these days.

Prices range from $5-10 for a single green furniture "foot rest" to $1,000 or more for a rare reamer, also known as a juicer. Of course, a piece is only worth as much as a buyer is willing to pay for it at any given time. It's up to the buyer and seller to come to an agreement that pleases both parties.

Condition remains an important consideration with kitchen glassware in determining how much to pay. Some wear may be acceptable, since these items functioned in kitchens for many years.

Luckily these pieces are generally heavy so they wore quite well, but some scratching or a little roughness may be present. Discoloration or removal of lettering on labels is a common problem too, since repeated washing over the years ultimately took its toll.

A little wear actually adds some ambiance to many of these commodities, so don't completely rule out a piece due to minor flaws. Just remember that top values should only be paid (or asked) for items in perfect, unused condition.

More Depression glass info:

A wonderful display of kitchen glassware that would make any Depression glass enthusiast drool.

A reamer collection comes alive in this photo exhibit.

Take "A Closer Look at Depression Glass" through a feature article from your guide.

Depression glass information at your fingertips with links to related sites.

Shop for Depression glass with links provided by your guide.

Visit the Antiques Bookstore for recommendations on glassware books for collectors.

Get the scoop on Heisey Glassware with another article by your guide.

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