L. E. Smith Glass Co. - 1988 Catalogue Offerings
In our article on the Story of L. E. Smith Glass Company, we explained that in the course of their development, in addition to having their own distinctive patterns and moulds, they had acquired moulds from other glass companies that had closed. This included moulds from McKee and Imperial. Imperial was of particular interest to Carnival collectors because when Smith stared making Revival / Contemporary Carnival (from the 1960s and later) there was concern that Imperial had actually used some of those moulds for Classic and Revival / Contemporary Carnival, which could be confused with Smith's production. Hank Opperman, president of L. E. Smith gave an undertaking that the glass they made from Imperial moulds would be marked, but there is some doubt about whether all of the earliest Smith-made items were marked (with an "S", or "SGC"). This Smith's 1988 catalogue shows us how some of the moulds acquired from Imperial and from McKee were repurposed by Smith.
L stands for Crystal Lustre and W stands for a colour Smith called Woodrose Lustre (a pinkish iridescence on clear glass)
The patterns we see here are:
#431 - Diamond Lace (mould acquired from Imperial) #177 - Feather, aka Fern Basket #335 - Heritage Series / Quintec (an old McKee pattern) #506 - Whirling Star, aka Galaxy (original McKee name Wiltec) #402 - Fashion (mould acquired from Imperial) |
#520 - Heritage Series, often called Buzz Star #212 - sometimes called Diamond with Fans or Thonged Star (mould acquired from Imperial - it was their No. 212 NUCUT pattern) #1515 - Comet in the Stars, aka Pinwheel (old US Glass pattern #15150, from c. 1915) #3551 - Heritage Series, often called Buzz Star. |
C stands for Cobalt Carnival and R stands for Ruby Carnival
The patterns we see here are:
#1515 - Comet in the Stars, aka Pinwheel (an old US Glass pattern #15150, from c. 1915) #3551 - Heritage Series, often called Buzz Star. #335 - Heritage Series / Quintec (an old McKee pattern) #3182 - Heritage Series / Quintec (an old McKee pattern) #385 - Scroll Embossed (mould acquired from Imperial) #212 - sometimes called Diamond with Fans or Thonged Star (mould acquired from Imperial - it was their No. 212 NUCUT pattern) #7001 - Lustre Rose (mould acquired from Imperial) |
#478 - Pansy (mould acquired from Imperial) #390 - Windmill bowl (mould acquired from Imperial) #1581 - Windmill oval relish (mould acquired from Imperial) #4630 - Heritage Heart bonbon / Carltec (an old McKee pattern) #331 - Heritage Series / Quintec (an old McKee pattern) #312 - Heritage Series / Quintec (an old McKee pattern) #434 - Diamond Lace basket (mould acquired from Imperial) #402 - Fashion (mould acquired from Imperial) #520 - Heritage Series, often called Buzz Star |