God and Home - The Story Behind The Glass


Dugan-Diamond’s Classic Carnival God and Home water set is arguably the only Carnival pattern to have an entire book written about it. The book is a self-published, 71-page paperback penned in 1976 by O. Joe Olson. In the Foreword to the book, Olson claims that the God and Home Carnival water set “was a major factor in the hobby’s emergence as a popular area among glass collectibles”. He also promised the “first documented account of the man who drafted the design . . . tells why the set was made and where it was distributed.”  The book also details an intriguing war of words between two Carnival personalities of the day - Olson himself and Jabe Tarter (which includes an Antique Trader ad that may surprise you!)
A Classic God and Home water set in blue, courtesy Seeck Auctions.
Above: a Classic God and Home tumbler in blue. Note the slight "lean" at the top. It was caused by setting the tumbler to cool whilst the glass was still too hot from the mould.

​​We’ll peek inside Olson’s fascinating book later, but first let’s set out the known facts about this pattern. God and Home is known in Classic Carnival in the form of blue water pitchers and tumblers (a marigold tumbler is recorded). The pattern is on two sides and features a rising sun partially encircled by a wreath, with the words “IN GOD WE TRUST” on one side and “GOD BLESS OUR HOME” on the other. An elaborate scroll motif separates the two main rising sun cameos. 

The pattern was given the name God and Home by Marion Hartung (which stuck) while Rose Presznick’s suggestion, Constitution, fell by the wayside. More of this later. The pattern concept was likely influenced by the wreath and the wording seen on the old American silver dollar; in fact, Marion Hartung suggested it could even have been called the "Coin" tumbler, so closely did the design resemble the dollar coin. 
Reproductions in Revival (Contemporary) Carnival.

A number of old Dugan-Diamond moulds, including the God and Home water set, were purchased by Si Wright in 1939.

​They were unused for almost forty years until, in 1975, L. G. Wright Glass Co. revived them for reproductions of the old water set in purple, shown in the catalogue extract below and in the photo on the right. The glass was poured by Westmoreland who, at the time were starting to make Contemporary Carnival.

Shown below is a wonderful extract from L. G. Wright's 1975 catalogue, courtesy of Glass Paper Fanatics.

Note how the set was marketed as “A Rare and Treasured Pattern in Carnival Glass Once Again Produced From the Recently Discovered Original Old Moulds.”, despite the fact that the moulds had actually been  “discovered” in the late 1930s.

​1975 L.G. Wright catalogue extract. Courtesy Glass Paper Fanatics.
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​Later other Contemporary Carnival colours were made for Wright by Westmoreland and by Mosser: ice green, red and aurora blue. Ice blue water sets were also made for Levay, using Wright’s moulds. The reproduction glass is mostly trademarked with either a W in a circle or the so-called “wonky N”.

Why an "N"? Marion Hartung did not attribute a maker to this pattern, and at the time Olson was writing, the Dugan-Diamond works was not known about. Olson (incorrectly as it turned out) attributed it to Northwood, and of course Northwood marked a lot of their glass with the famous N mark.
Above: a reproduction God and Home water set in purple, made for
​L. G. Wright by Westmoreland. Courtesy Seeck Auctions.
Reproduction God and Home water sets in red (above) and ice blue (below). Both courtesy of Seeck Auctions.
​​The Dorsey Story.

​Olson’s book traces the story of a young St. Louis couple called Maxton who went on a quest to discover the truth behind the origins of the God and Home water set. They “narrowed the distribution point or source to a small general store in Dorsey, Madison County, about 35 miles north east of St. Louis". The theory is that the pattern was designed by the general store manager, a Lutheran called William Kuethe, who wanted a merchandising premium for his customers. Olson suggests that Kuethe ordered the moulds based on his design from a St. Louis firm who went to Hipkins Novelty Mould Company. The Dorsey store is reported to have given free tumblers to folk who made large orders—and those who acquired six tumblers were invited to buy a matching pitcher for 75 cents. This turned into a very public argument.​
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O. Joe Olson versus Jabe Tarter.

Olson was at loggerheads with Jabe Tarter who had written a totally different story in The Antique Trader. Tarter’s theory was that in around 1913, the sets had been made for the Gladiola Flour Co. of Dallas, Texas, and that they were hidden away inside sacks of flour to be found by lucky purchasers.

Writing in a club newsletter in 1967 (and later re-published in the Antique Trader in July, 1975), Tarter claimed that the God and Home moulds were made in top secret conditions. He postulated that the glass was made in Greentown, Indiana, and subsequently, Millersburg slowly re-heated the pieces until they were hot enough to be iridised. Of course, Millersburg had gone out of business in late 1912, so the curious theory has yet another quirk in it. Tarter’s article suggested that there would have been more examples of the glass had it not been for a run of bad luck: mouldy flour, weevils, a fire at the mill and the demise of Millersburg Glass!

​In typical colourful fashion, Olson poured (freezing) cold water on Tarter’s theories and to show he meant business, he took an ad out in The Antique Trader (see right) in which he challenged Tarter to prove his theories. No response came from Tarter. Olson’s “Dorsey” story is the one generally accepted today, underlined by further contemporary accounts.
​Miniature Revival Carnival versions of the God and Home pattern.

The God and Home design was used again with the creation of new moulds for a series of miniature items for Dorothy Taylor’s Encore club.  The club commissioned and owned the moulds, which were made by Al Botson of Botson Machine and Mould Company, Cambridge, Ohio. They were marked with a small letter "t" inside a letter "D" which stood for Dorothy Taylor. ​The first to be commissioned was a miniature tankard water set; it was made by Mosser in cobalt blue in 1979. The plan was for 500 - 600 but only around 450 were made. Here is the announcement (below, left).
Encore magazine, Volume 5, Number 2, April 1979.
A cobalt blue miniature God and Home water set.
Courtesy Seeck Auctions.
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Dorothy Taylor's announcement said that the miniature water set would not be made again for "at least 2 years", and she was as good as her word. In late 1981, she announced that the sets were to be made - by Fenton this time - in "Red Bermuda" Carnival as a Limited Edition of 400 sets. They are marked with the Fenton logo.

​In 1980-81, Encore's God and Home range was extended to include a miniature table set (sugar, creamer and butter dishes), and also a miniature cup, saucer and plate set. They were all made by Mosser. Dorothy Taylor recorded that fewer than 200 complete sets were made, further noting that more plates, cups and saucers were produced.
Above: Encore announcement in February 1980, and right, the Encore cover of October 1980 illustrating the God and Home miniature cup and plate.

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The miniature table sets were made again in 1981, in green and turquoise, this time by Wetzel Glass of Zanesville, Ohio, for Dorothy (who noted that "probably not more than 50 sets in all" were made then).

​​There are also souvenir mugs that use a God and Home design, made in ultra blue Carnival by Imperial in 1968-69 for ACGA club conventions.

Miniature water sets were also made by Fenton for Encore, as this splendid ad on the right shows. Here we see that Fenton made a Limited Edition of 500 sets in red Carnival - the colour was described as "Red Bermuda Sunset (ruby iridised)". They were marked with Dorothy Taylor’s mark as well as Fenton.
Read more of The Stories Behind The Glass in Carnival Glass Times