What Glass was patented on June 24 1924?

Answer 1

Answer to the question of "What Glass was patented on June 24, 1924?" According to the July 31, 1924, issue of "The Pottery, Glass & Brass Salesman" (Pittsburgh, PA), the U.S. Patent Office issued two Design Patents for glass on June 24, 1924.

Design Patent No. 64,947 ("Bowl or Similar Article") was issued for a term of 14 years to B. Adams of Marion, Indiana, who assigned the patent to his employer, the D.C. Jenkins Glass Company of Kokomo, Indiana. This design patent covers the pressed glass pattern for Jenkins' No. 202 Line of Crystal (colorless clear glass) Tableware, which is commonly known to collectors as the "Arcadia Lace" pattern. A 1927 Jenkins catalog page showing the entire 26 pieces in the No. 202 Line is reproduced in Hazel Marie Weatherman, "Colored Glassware of the Depression Era 2" (meaning volume two, published 1974), at page 211. I guess Mrs. Weatherman was unaware that it was not made in colored glass, lol. See also Bill Edwards & Mike Carwile, "Standard Encyclopedia of Pressed Glass, 1860 - 1930" (5th edition, 2007), at page 22. This set was still being produced as of 1931, and Jenkins Glass went out of business in 1932, due to the Great Depression. I do NOT believe that this Jenkins Glass set is the item to which your question refers, because none of the pieces are marked with the patent date of June 24, 1924.

I believe your question refers to Design Patent No. 64,970 ("Flower Block"), which was issued for a term of 7 years to Shay W. Gooch, who assigned the patent to his employer, Co-operative Flint Glass Company of Rochester (actually nearby Beaver Falls), Pennsylvania. This is almost certainly the item to which you refer, because "PATENTED JUNE 24 - 1924" is embossed on some of the pieces covered by the patent.

The "Flower Block" set actually pictured in Design Patent No. 64,970 is Co-op Flint's No. 491 Flower Bowl and Block. See photo and discussion of this set in Bonnie Bull, "Flower Frogs for Collectors" (pub. 2001), at page 139. The dimensions are 3-1/4" tall and 5-1/4" top diameter for the bowl; and the flower block insert is 3-3/4" in diameter and 3/8" thick with 16 holes for arranging cut stem flowers. The book photo shows the set in an emerald green colored depression glass (it glows under black light due to uranium oxide content); however, I have the set in a wide array of glass colors (amber, amethyst, black, royal blue, cobalt blue, crsytal clear, pink, ruby red, canary yellow) and with numerous and varied decorations (hand-painted enameling designs, fired-on colors such as lavender, and numerous silver or gold overlays, etc). Early copies of this set are embossed "PAT. APL'D FOR" on both the bottom of the bowl and on the bottom side of the block (commonly referred to by collectors as a "flower frog"). After the patent was granted, the embossing was changed to "PATENTED JUNE 24 - 1924."

A catalog drawing of the set is reproduced in E. Earl Autenreith & JoAnne Autenreith, "The Co-operative Flint Glass Co. of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, 1879-1934" (pub. 2008), at page 273 (referring to the set as Design Patents 61133 and 61134 for the two pieces, a fact which I have not personally checked). The same book, at page 276, reproduces a trade publication advertisement (with drawing) for the set: "Our new Glass Flower Bowl and Block, patented June 24, 1924, is meeting with favor. Made in Black, Blue, Canary, Green and Crystal. All dealers selling Vases should carry it in stock. Flowers can be conveniently arranged." See also: James Measell and Berry Wiggins, "Great American Glass of The Roaring 20s & Depression Era" (pub. 1998), at page 63, figure 156 (showing a crystal glass bowl and underplate, both with fired-on lavender paint and gold paint trim, with a crystal flower block/frog).

The Autenreith book also shows two other sets covered by the same or related design patents. Catalog drawings of the large No. 506 Vase with Flower Block and the huge No. 502 Vase with Flower Block are shown on page 274. The No. 506 bowl/vase is 8" inches in diameter across the top, 4" in diameter at the base, and 3-3/8" tall, with a 5" diameter flower block/frog that has 19 stem holes of which the center hole is larger than the rest and can hold a candle or be used as a finger hole for removing or replacing the frog in the bowl/vase. The No. 502 console bowl (not actually a vase) is 12" in diameter across the top, 4-1/2 tall, with a 7" flower block/frog that has 36 stem holes and a hexagonal knob in the center for removing or replacing the frog (I have one that has 37 holes including a larger center hole for candle or finger with no knob). The flower block/frog on both sets is always embossed on the bottom side, "PATENTED JUNE 24 -1924." I have never seen the No. 506 bowl/vase with such an embossing; however, of the half dozen No. 502 console bowls which I own, one of them is marked "PATENTED JUNE 24 - 1924," an anomaly which I cannot explain. Both of those sets come in a wide array of colors and decorations. Autenreith lists Design Patent Nos. 61138 and 61139 for the huge No. 502 set, and Nos. 61141 and 61142 for the large No. 506 set. Autenreith has a photo, on page 276, of a decorated No. 502 console bowl without its block frog, but with a pair of matching no. 503 candlesticks.

Paul D. Brenner, Burke, Virginia