Glass
Reflections - by Matt Light(Reprinted with permission from the NFGS)
Glass
Reflections - by Matt Light
(Reprinted
with permission from the NFGS)
I have associated
Fenton glass with holidays for some time. I got my first piece of Fenton one
Christmas when I was eight years old. It was a Colonial Blue hobnail bell. My
grandparents would always give me Fenton for Christmas, and their gifts represent
at least half of my two hundred piece collection.
Christmas is special for the Fenton line also. Very often, the Company
will introduce a special color, pattern or glass treatment for the holidays.
In this article, I'll highlight a few of my favorite 1970's Christmas patterns
in the regular line; next time I'll write about the limited edition Christmas
patterns.
The
earliest Christmas pattern that I know of appeared in the July 1971 supplement.
Considering the popularity of milk glass in the 1970's, it is not surprising
that the pattern was milk glass decorated with holly; or, as the catalog calls
it, "Holly Hobnail".
Holly Hobnail was made in two different sizes of candleholders,
a bell, a fairy light, and a 9-1/2" bowl. Additional pieces were introduced
in later holiday seasons in standard hobnail shapes. The bell and fairy light
were in the line the longest, making their final appearance in 1976.
Comparing different catalogs shows that there were some variants
in the Holly Hobnail pattern. Earlier pieces had plain holly and a gold stripe.
Later production eliminated the gold stripe but added frosting to the holly.
Finally, I see some pieces in the 1975 supplement with neither gold stripes
or frosting. In spite of these variations, the color code DH was used consistently
throughout the entire production.
I tend to see more bells, candy boxes, and fairy lights in Holly
Hobnail than other pieces. I think the hardest ones to find are the 9-1/2"
bowls and the 6" handkerchief vases. It's a beautiful, timeless pattern
and still matches any Christmas table wonderfully. You can see some Holly Hobnail
pieces on page 154 in the new Whitmyer book.
Other
Christmas patterns replaced Holly Hobnail in 1976. The catalog supplement from
that year lists "Holly Ruby" and "Holly Custard". Holly
Custard is exactly what is sounds like - custard glass decorated with holly.
It was made in a medallion bell, bud vase, happiness bird, fairy light, and
candy box. I picked up the bell for my collection during the Convention this
past July. I paid $15 for it, probably a little less than what it's worth. On
the whole, though, I don't see much Custard Holly. I'd been collecting bells
for a long time, after all, and still didn't have it until only this year. I
see more fairy lights in this pattern than anything else.
Ruby
Holly also is exactly what it sounds like - white holly leaves painted on red
glass. The holly leaves are frosted. The pattern included a bud vase, candy
box, 7 inch basket, medallion bell and fairy light. I don't see much Ruby Holly
either.
No
article on the 1970's Christmas patterns would be complete without mention of
the Santa Claus fairy lights. You can lift off the top of Santa's head and insert
a candle. There is a hole in Santa's hat for the heat to escape. As near as
I can tell, the lights were made in Ruby, Colonial Green, Lime Sherbet (green
satin), and Milk Glass. They date from the early to mid-seventies.
Keep your eyes open for these Christmas patterns! They were only
marketed during the second half of their years' of production. They are great
collectors' items and are very functional also. Next time, we'll take a look
at some of Fenton's limited edition Christmas productions from the 1970's and
1980's.
(Editors Note: Matt is a regular contributor of articles for the NFGS. They are lucky to have him, and I'm happy that he was willing to let me reprint his article. Matt can be reached via Email at lightm@wlu.edu. I would also like to thank Richard and Laurie Karman, editors of the NFGS newsletter, "The Fenton Flyer".)