Carnival Glass 101  |     home       Quick Reference to Carnival Glass Patterns
Great Carnival Glass Articles
Introduction   ·   How Carnival Was Made   ·   Glass Process   ·   Early Makers   ·   Finding Carnival   ·   Colors   ·   Carnival Glass Edges   ·   Buying Carnival   ·   Carnival Terms   ·   Glass Terms   ·   Reference Books   ·   What is This?   ·   FAQ   ·   Sharing Carnival   ·   Links   ·   Closing
Reference Books
Reference Books
Carnival Glass Reference Material

Let me take this opportunity to say that ANY of the price guides you may encounter in your search for study and reference, are NO MORE than that…….simply a guide. Prices at auction, in rooms at Conventions, or from individuals vary greatly, and are inclined to change with time.  Condition of the Glass dictates price, in most cases. Good advice is: BUY THE VERY BEST PIECE YOU CAN AFFORD! Your return will be better WHEN you are ready to sell.   It is not wise to allow any individual to tell you what price to pay for a piece of Glass.

Each of many Books about Carnival Glass will offer different prices for any given pattern. Least expensive nor most expensive can be said to be the better choice. YOU must decide first of all, WHAT you want your Glass to look like. That usually governs price! Please be aware that conventional “price guides” do NOT reflect damage, poor color and iridescence. Therefore, they cannot be taken for gospel!

There are a great many books on the subject of Carnival Glass, making it difficult to recommend one over another. In more than twenty years of following this “trail”, I have decided that for picture identification, and simplification of fact, A FIELD GUIDE TO CARNIVAL GLASS by Dave Doty is good to have on hand. It is 384 pages, 1700 photos with 200 in full color, each accompanied by a caption and price range. It has examples of hatpins, lampshades, some contemporary glass, vases, novelties, miniatures, along with the “standards” from the major manufacturers.

David Doty's Field Guide is out of print and is no longer available for purchase from the author. From time to time, one becomes available over Ebay, along with Carnival Glass books written by Bill Edwards and Glenn & Steve Thistlewood. For a reference publication to carry along with you from place to place in your search, any of these would suit the purpose for pattern identification.

David Doty has a great Carnival Glass Site.  MANY beneficial hours can be spent there, with SO much to see, learn and do.   We recommend visiting his site.

D A V I D D O T Y'S C A R N I V A L G L A S S W E B S I T E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CD Book with EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about the Indiana Glass carnival glass.  It is available at the link below.
Indiana Glass Information and Price Guide CD Book

Indiana Glass Pattern Identification Guide covers about 200 Indiana Glass Patterns.  Everything from EAPG, Depression Glass. Classic Glass, Contemporary Glass and Tiara.  It is available at the link below:

Indiana Glass Pattern Identification Guide

And if you are looking for original glassware catalogs, we have some available at the link below.  Original manufacturer's catalogs can be a GREAT source of information and a wonderful resource to help identify glassware items.
Glassware Catalog Download Site

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three other Fine Publications:
(by Carl Burns)

THE COLLECTORS GUIDE TO NORTHWOOD’S  CARNIVAL GLASS

DUGAN & DIAMOND CARNIVAL GLASS IDENTIFICATION AND VALUE GUIDE

IMPERIAL CARNIVAL GLASS IDENTIFICATION AND VALUE GUIDE


The Northwood book contains 250 items in full color and all known shapes within a pattern are listed in every color known.   Has a price guide.

 The Imperial book contains 100 items of known reproductions, in addition to complete line of old Carnival Glass patterns, shapes, colors.  Has a price guide.

Update concerning the above Carl Burns Books:
These are sold out and out of print.  There may be some copies available on Ebay.


A HISTORICAL NOTE:

 In the early 1900’s when packet boats plied the rivers delivering manufactured goods to all the major cities from the eastern seaboard to St. Louis, Carnival Glass was laid in sawdust, then packed in barrels for the trip. There are photographs illustrating the method shown in Fenton files.

 In that same time frame, Carnival Glass made by Dugan, Fenton, Northwood, and Millersburg was advertised and distributed through wholesale catalogues. BUTLER BROTHERS NEW YORK and ROUSSE CO.,  combined etchings and printed information, along with prices (per dozen). These catalogues were  altered with new designs offered, and accordingly with the changing seasons of the year. Imperial Glass in Bellaire, OH produced many of their own catalogues for advertising purposes.

IMPERIAL GLASS COMPANY, BELLAIRE, OHIO. USA.
JANUARY 1909
GENERAL CATALOG
TABLE GLASSWARE, LAMPS AND TUMBLERS

This catalog was found in a New Orleans antique shop, disassembled, with each page hung on the wall with thumb-tacks. Each page carried a price tag of $2.00. Fortunately, none of the pages had sold individually. The gentleman who discovered it and recognized its value for research purposes is to be congratulated!
His persuasive bargaining abilities convinced the shop owner to sell all pages for a reasonable enough amount that he, in turn, offered the Book to John & Lucile Britt, of Kansas, for use in their ongoing research into Old Carnival Glass.
CREDIT
The generosity of John & Lucile in loaning this valuable resource to Dean & Diane Fry for the purpose of reprint, is a kindness known to many dedicated Carnival Glass enthusiasts who are more than willing to share resources of information which will benefit others with like interests. John & Lucile Britt have always been leaders in the promotion of Carnival Glass. We owe them a debt of gratitude for allowing us to reprint this old Imperial Glass Book. (John & Lucile are no longer with us, and will be forever remembered for their willing help in the promotion of Carnival Glass.)
You will find several Carnival Glass patterns which we have names for today, although few of the shapes seen here, were carried over in the Carnival Glass era.
Four hours of labor intensive work were involved in printing and binding that first edition copy, having been completed in August, 1995. We printed some 200 of them, and they sold for $25 each.
The catalog must have been in Mexico. A stamp on the Book Cover relates this.

HISTORY
Imperial Glass Co. of Bellaire, Ohio was formed in 1901 by a local group of investors.
Its location was just across the Ohio River from Wheeling, W.V. where the Northwood plant was already operating.
On January 13, 1904 the first piece of glass was made by Imperial. The market at that time was for lamp shades and pressed ware of all types, including tableware, tumblers, pitchers, condiment bottles, oil cruets; as well as jelly jars and lamp chinneys.
In 1909, apparently after this catalog was published, the first Carnival Glass as we know it was made from the existing moulds which had previously been used for making crystal pieces.
(NOTE): The NATIONAL IMPERIAL GLASS MUSEUM is conducting an Open House/Dedication June 5, 2003. It is located: 3200 Belmont Street, Bellaire, Ohio
(740) 671-3971 for more info.

BUTLER BROTHERS REPRINT CATALOGUES

 As you search for reference materials in your learning process, you may want to look for one of the 250 Limited Editions dated April 1994, correlated from 42 of the Old Butler Catalogues loaned by Frank M. Fenton and Charlotte Williams. Yours truly spent the better part of a year gleaning all the Carnival Glass information for insertion into these copies which sold for $25 ea. They have sold since, for as much as $165.00 at auction. Your source today, would likely be from an individual who has retained an original copy.  These reprints are WELL worth owning if you are lucky enough to find one.  There are hours and hours of totally fascinating reading and viewing.

Written by
Diane Fry
2003


back to Carnival Glass 101


Should you care to contact the Frys, their email address is:

dndn74@embarqmail.com



Search Carnival Glass 101




Our other sites you may enjoy:

Indiana Glass
Everything you EVER wanted to know about Indiana Glass
Contemporary Carnival Glass Catalogs
Great Reference for Newer Carnival Glass.
Complete Glassware Catalogs Available to Download
Carnival Heaven

Questions?  Comments?  Suggestions?  Broken Links?  Corrections?
Your Friendly Webmaster is here to help!

Donna@carnivalheaven.com