NetworK ezine Issue 112. September 2024
Totally Devoted to Carnival Glass
Welcome to your September issue of NetworK, which is a bit different to normal. Over the last 12 months or so, we have been adding extensively to the (already massive) amount of information that is on our website: information that embraces all aspects of Carnival Glass all around the world, from Classic to Revival. Our website - carnivalglassworldwide.com - is the key part of three inter-related channels that we actively use to connect with Carnival Glass enthusiasts and collectors worldwide: this NetworK ezine, our popular and hugely active NetworK Group on Facebook, and here on our website.
|
We started our website so many (many!) years ago, since when it has gone through several major upgrades with the addition of new features and new material being added on a weekly basis. As well as publishing our own work and research over the years, we are very grateful for the contribution and support of many wonderful Carnival enthusiasts who willingly gave us permission to use their material on our website, all of which is full recognised and referenced. The website layout On the right is a list of the main sections of the website, and the general contents of each section. Unless you are already familiar with the layout of the website, the Homepage is a natural place to start to explore everything. There you will find explanations of, and links to, the full website contents. Alternatively, use the powerful "Search Function" which is at the top right of every page on the website. Here is an image of how the page header shows the Search Function box on the top right (this is the view on a PC). 
|
|
Below is a screenshot of the current Homepage. If you click on the image, you will go to this page (or click "HOME" on the menu at the top of this page)
Carnival Glass Makers
These makers’ pages provide a focal point for all the content and information on the website for that maker.
Click on the the image above to go to the Makers page.
Click on the the image above to go to the Makers page.
If for example your interest is Classic Fenton Carnival, the Fenton thumbnail in the USA (Classic) on the makers' page will link you to all the information on the website about Fenton – its patterns, catalogues, history and many fascinating stories about it. Here is just a small selection of what we have about Fenton on the website - each thumbnail there will link you to the information.
Click on the the image above to go to the Fenton page.
Picture Galleries
These Galleries are a great way to look at the range of the patterns, shapes and colours from each maker. They are also a massive help in identifying patterns! These Gallery pages also provide some wonderful "eye candy" for the output of each maker. So, if you are a Northwood fan – the Northwood Gallery is the place to go to see the wonderful range of Carnival that Harry Northwood produced.
Here is a selection - each thumbnail in a Gallery opens up into a full sized image.
These Galleries are a great way to look at the range of the patterns, shapes and colours from each maker. They are also a massive help in identifying patterns! These Gallery pages also provide some wonderful "eye candy" for the output of each maker. So, if you are a Northwood fan – the Northwood Gallery is the place to go to see the wonderful range of Carnival that Harry Northwood produced.
Here is a selection - each thumbnail in a Gallery opens up into a full sized image.
Click on the image to go to the Galleries pages, arranged by maker.
|
|
Collectors Facts.
We have curated this unique feature over many years of travelling, collecting and researching Carnival Glass. Here we explore the essential facts about some 200 patterns. Some are fairly well-known, but many are the “hard to find information about” category.
We have curated this unique feature over many years of travelling, collecting and researching Carnival Glass. Here we explore the essential facts about some 200 patterns. Some are fairly well-known, but many are the “hard to find information about” category.
Click on the image to go to our Collectors Facts page. Each thumbnail links to the information for that pattern.
It is an ideal place to check out those difficult to identify patterns, their known colours and shapes!
It is an ideal place to check out those difficult to identify patterns, their known colours and shapes!
|
A full A to Z index of every pattern on the website.
There are an incredible one thousand nine hundred and thirty two patterns shown on the site (many of them with several individual pattern references), and many more are added regularly. To make it easier to find a specific pattern, they are cross-referenced into categories and motifs: animals, berries / grapes, birds, buildings, butterflies/insects, decorated, fish, flowers, foliage, fruit, lettered, people, vases … and Revival Carnival. Click on the image to go
to the main Pattern Index. |
|
Carnival Glass Times is another major development of our website, this combines a newspaper, a features magazine, an educational journal, a coffee shop, and a breaking news bulletin. We feature articles on “The Stories Behind the Glass”, and on the specific themes of "Blast from the Past", Read All About It!" and "Sell It To Me!" 
All of the above sections of our website are accessed from the Homepage, or from the Carnival Glass Times page.
Compiled over many years, our aim has been to explore and explain how Carnival Glass was originally made, sold and marketed using pictorial images, catalogues, wholesale distributors and newspapers adverts and more - all happening in a very different world to today. |
The screenshot shows just a small selection of the articles in
Carnival Glass Times. Each thumbnail links to the full article! Click on the image to go to Carnival Glass Times. |
We write about the people, their lifestyles and the factories where they worked, the Carnival pioneers and their influence on Carnival Glass from its early days to modern times. We also explore the design inspirations behind the patterns, the world events that shaped how Classic Carnival Glass developed, prospered, and how it was Revived from the 1960s onwards ... and much more!
Not Forgetting our NetworK ezine.
Readers who receive our free NetworK ezine by email get to see its contents first. Subsequently, Back Issues are posted on our website a month or so later.
Readers who receive our free NetworK ezine by email get to see its contents first. Subsequently, Back Issues are posted on our website a month or so later.
Here are short introductions to two selected articles on our website. Each one has a link to the full article - they are interesting reads!
|
Westmoreland's Carnival Glass Westmoreland is one of the less well known makers of Classic Carnival, although it advertised its Classic Carnival as early as 1908. 
Above: a 1908 Butler Brothers ad for Westmoreland's Classic Carnival, showing Orphan Annie sugar and creamer (top, centre) and a range of shapes in the Estate pattern
However Westmoreland did have a significant part to play as a maker of Revival Carnival in the 1970s and 80s, and it had important arrangements with two glass sales and distribution businesses in particular: Levay Glass and L.G. Wright. Revival Carnival pieces made for these two businesses were often produced in limited editions, in special colours, and with short production runs, to enhance the appeal to collectors. 
Levay's price list and limited edition numbers for these pieces.
Images courtesy of the Glass Paper Fanatics. |
Above: an ad for items made by Westmoreland for Levay in "Aurora Blue Carnival" - a "deep blue with heavy rainbow iridescent finish". Note they were made from "antique Westmoreland moulds from the turn of the [20th.] century".
|
Westmoreland eventually closed in 1984, and auctions were held to sell off its stock and equipment. After their closure, Westmoreland's moulds were acquired by other makers. Moulded Westmoreland marks were not always removed immediately, so definitive attribution to Westmoreland can be difficult.
Here is the fully illustrated story: Westmoreland Glass
" To RD or not to RD, that is the question" (with apologies to William Shakespeare and Prince Hamlet!)
|
Crown Crystal Glass in Australia made some stunning Carnival Glass, uniquely designed with Australian flora and fauna (excepting their Kiwi design using a bird native to New Zealand). The Registered Design Number ("RD") is prominently displayed on the front of some designs, such as "RD 4697" on the 5 inch marigold Swan dish shown below and on the detailed image on the left, but there is no RD on many other pieces. 
|
Why did Crown Crystal do this?
It’s a complex, yet compelling story, and like many other aspects of Carnival Glass, it reflects some of the key social and economic events of the time, as we revealed in an article written in 2015. It was all a matter law, plus a strong and natural desire by Crown Crystal to protect themselves from cheap imports. Read the full story here: Protect My Design! |
Privacy and the use of your information: we only use your name and email address to send you your Carnival Glass NetworK ezine. We will not share your name or email address with anyone else, or use it for any other purpose. You can change your mind about receiving your NetworK ezine at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the foot of every issue, or by emailing us at [email protected]
Join us on Facebook
We invite you and your friends to join us all on NetworK's fast growing and very active Facebook Group (link is below), and if you have missed any of the previous issues of NetworK and NetworK Specials, they are all here: Back Issues.
We invite you and your friends to join us all on NetworK's fast growing and very active Facebook Group (link is below), and if you have missed any of the previous issues of NetworK and NetworK Specials, they are all here: Back Issues.
