NetworK ezine Issue 115. December 2024

Totally Devoted to Carnival Glass

​​Welcome to the December issue of Carnival Glass NetworK.

We start with an image of mainly enamelled (decorated) tumblers that would make a splendid jigsaw puzzle to keep the player occupied for many hours! Or perhaps a Christmas Quiz called “Name the Carnival Tumbler Pattern”. Some are easy, some are not.

If you need help, you can find most of the answers in our Tumbler Galleries – we’ll give you the links at the end of this issue.

 
We have chosen to begin this issue with a special Time Travel look at enamelled or decorated Carnival. It’s going to take us back some thirty years. Our first, in-depth and frankly ground-breaking research article, was written about enamelled Carnival back in 1993. The pattern we focussed on was Enamelled Cherries, also called Enamelled Cherries and Little Flowers, made only in water sets.

In the early 1990s, there was no consensus on which factory made this water set. It was often felt to be Northwood because some of the tumblers in the pattern had the Northwood N mark on them. But Fenton was also in the mix, indeed it seemed that both makers produced Enamelled Cherries and Little Flowers water sets. So, the question we posed back then was “is there a way of distinguishing between the two makers’ water sets in this pattern?”

​Above, one of our displays of Classic Carnival tumblers, mainly enamelled (decorated)
plus a few undecorated marigold examples.

None of the published literature that we had at the time could provide a definitive answer, so we decided to figure it out for ourselves. The result of our work was an illustrated research article. We’ll dive into it below - and you can also read that original 1993 article – the link will be at the end of this section.​
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Revealing the Past: Enamelled Cherries and Little Flowers
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The first problem is what to call this pattern on the right!

Enamelled Cherries (one letter “l” or two, your choice) or perhaps Enamelled Cherries & Little Flowers, or maybe Enamelled Cherries & Blossoms – or you can even call it any one of the above and omit the word “Enamelled”. Such an abundance of names! For the purposes of consistency, we will refer to it as Enamelled Cherries and Little Flowers, which is how you will find it written elsewhere on our website.

In our early years of Carnival collecting, against all the odds, we had developed a love for enamelled / decorated Carnival (even though it was not easily found where we live). We had amassed a “collection within a collection” of these pretty items, and friends of ours who had a similar taste, visited us with their examples of the Enamelled Cherries and Little Flowers pieces so that we could compare them all.

Our joint observations and research threw up some fascinating conclusions – we felt that we were on to something – and so in February 1993, we authored an illustrated article called “Life’s a Bowl of Cherries” which was published in the Texas Carnival Glass Club Newsletter and a UK Carnival newsletter in April 1993. Later we included our conclusions in our book “Carnival Glass The Magic and The Mystery” (1997 and 2008).

Our findings, despite being based on a small sample, proved to be remarkably correct, and indeed, others copied our research findings (but without acknowledging our work) over the ensuing years.

​We’ll omit all the pages of detailed comparison and observation that can be seen in our 1993 work, and go directly to our conclusions.

Enamelled Carnival pitcher in blue, courtesy Seeck Auctions.

​Maker: NORTHWOOD (below)

​Maker: FENTON (below)

​Pitchers:  four-part mould, panelled interior (perhaps also a smooth interior version). 
Tumblers:  cherry decoration has 3 separate leaves coming
from 3 separate cherries - see above. Possible N mark.​

Pitchers:  two-part mould, drapery or smooth interior. 
Tumblers:  cherry decoration has 2 (sometimes 3) leaves coming from one single, central cherry - see above.

​​
​You can read our original, comprehensive article here on our website, and see how we came to our findings and conclusions (with a few additions to avoid confusion). The link is at the end of this section.

Let’s close this segment with a glorious full-colour ad that was in both 1912 and 1913 Lee Manufacturing Premium Catalogues, plus a monochrome version with slightly different details from 1912.​

​If you want a Christmas puzzle, here it is.

The first question might be, do these Lee Manufacturing illustrations show the Northwood or Fenton version of the pattern? Which version was the artist looking at when he or she created it? Our guess is possibly the Northwood version, but there’s a lot of artistic license and embellishment, which makes it an almost impossible task to decide. (Lee Manufacturing featured Carnival from Northwood, Fenton, Imperial and Dugan in their Premium Catalogues).

The other puzzle is to “Spot The Difference” between the two illustrations (both were included in the same 1912 catalogue). It’s all in the detail, style and placement. A nice after dinner puzzle on Christmas Day, perhaps.

Above: in wonderful colour, the illustration showing a Cherries and Little Flowers water/lemonade set in the 1912 and 1913 catalogues.
Below: a monochrome version in the 1912 catalogue.

Here are links for further reading and information on our website.

Revealing the Past: Enamelled Cherries and Little Flowers
Fenton Enamelled Tumblers: Gallery - Fenton Enamelled Tumblers
Northwood Enamelled Tumblers: Gallery - Northwood Enamelled Tumblers
Carnival Glass ads: Sears Roebuck Catalogue 1912
Fenton's Enamelled Windflower 1909 ad: NetworK #100

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Revealing The Past: How They Worked

During the years that Classic Carnival was produced, there were several official, government reports* into the “condition of women and child wage-earners in the United States”. They were done by industry type, and we have studied the ones that focussed on the Glass Industry. They are interesting on many levels: they show how onerous and difficult the conditions often were (and of course, it was through studies like these that vast advancements were made) but they also cast light on the processes in the glass industry, which helps us all to a greater understanding.​

So often, we look at a beautiful piece of Carnival, such as the pastel marigold Good Luck bowl, with a pie-crust edge, shown here on the right. Perhaps fondly imagine the worker taking time over its production, maybe admiring it as he gently placed it on the lehr to be cooled.

The truth was far more brutal. Working conditions were very hard for many.

Let's take a look.

​In a typical glassworks (such as those that made Carnival), there would be a broad division between the “furnace” (moulding, pressing etc) worked by men and boys, and the "finishing and decorating" in which women were more involved.

Boys, mainly aged 14 to 16 (although occasionally from as young as 6, and with a fairly large number in the 12 to 14 age group) would look after the moulds, and be involved in processes such as snapping up and carrying very hot glass from one worker to another. The heat in the furnace was almost unimaginable, the glass itself being at 2507F – 2390F, while the heat in the glory hole (where the boys would often work) being around 2200F.

A contemporary comment stated that “On a June day when the outside temperature was at 78F a series of thermometer readings taken in a given factory showed that the temperatures in which various workers were carrying out their activities ranged from 93F up to 132F.”

​It was hard to say if the intense heat was worse in summer or winter, as in winter there could be sudden changes of temperature around the factory floor near open windows and then again, a huge temperature drop when the boys left the factory and went outside, to go home.

​The temperature shock was at its worst in winter after a night shift, which often ended around 3 am.

Right: H. Northwood Glassworks, Wheeling, W. Va. in 1909. Lewis Wickes Hine.

​Source: US Library of Congress.

​And what about those night shifts?

You might think that the boys would not have done night work – but in fact they weren’t exempt in many of the glassworks. Sleeping during the day at home was often difficult, in cramped and congested conditions. Leaving the glassworks at 3 am was unpleasant.

A contemporary account noted that “in one instance, a factory is so situated that many of the boys in order to reach home must pass through a cemetery; in another, the easiest and most used approach is through a railroad tunnel. Because of these and other things many of the boys interviewed evinced a strong dislike, some a positive horror, of the early morning journey from the factory.” The working week was long at around 50 hours a week for all.

So why did the boys do it? For many it was the opportunity to learn a trade and become an apprentice and ultimately gain a journeymanship (i.e. become an accredited skilled worker who had completed an apprenticeship). They would hope to be made an apprentice before they reached the age of 18 or 19 – after that, if they failed to make the grade, they would remain a “shop boy” regardless of their actual chronological age.​​

Right: ​Boys in a glass works, midnight, 1908, Indiana.
Lewis Wickes Hine. Source: US Library of Congress.

A small proportion of glass workers were female – contemporary statistics* suggest around 8% of the total work force were women and girls. Some were employed at the lehr, where glass was cooled and annealed; their task would have been to remove any broken or defective items and place the undamaged ones in crates. Reports mention that it was a very dirty occupation, full of soot and that the women’s clothes became very soiled (there were few washing facilities at the factories). Working at the lehr was considered to have “possibly the lowest social standing of any (for women) in the glass industry”. Other roles in the glassworks for women included sorting, washing, and packing the glass, but the main occupation was in finishing, which included decorating.​

Decorating Room at the Fenton Art Glass Works, c. 1907. Courtesy Fenton Family and Fenton Art Glass Company.

The above image of Fenton’s Decorating Room is iconic and fascinating to study. Fenton themselves identified the people: far left in the bowler hat is foreman Gaspar Collins – the man on the far right is John Fenton (co-founder of Fenton Art Glass and subsequently Millersburg Glass Co). The decorators pictured include Susan Barnett, Adda Burt, Lydia Burt, Edna Collins, John Collins and Edith Patterson. Other decorators’ names, according to Fenton, were Carrie Howell, Lizzie Moore, Bertie Rhumbach, and Carrie Wood. Fenton note that Charles Fenton was in charge of the decorating shop and it’s believed that Frank Fenton and John Fenton probably designed the decorations.

We enlarged a section of the image - on the right. As we can see, all the decorators are working on water or lemonade sets comprising pitchers and tumblers. It’s unlikely these were Carnival – instead they appear to have gold band decoration. The decorator in the immediate foreground has the tumbler on a small pedestal as she paints. 

The painting technique on decorated, old Classic Carnival was bold “broad brush” rather than delicate and intricate. This was intended to be fast work aimed at mass production. Though it was hand done, the artist would have had a template model design to work from and copy. The decorator would have worked quickly, reproducing the same pattern on piece after piece. It was reported* that “the pay is by piece, and the rate is so low that a worker must attain an almost incredible speed in order to make $1 to $1.50 per day.” ​

The enamel used in this type of decoration is usually mixed with ground glass and applied by free-hand painting to the surface of the glass item. When the piece is then re-heated, the mixture melts and fuses to the surface of the glass for a longer-lasting decoration: “decorations burnt in, will not wash off” (according to Butler Bros 1910).

​Double Daisy (left) and Dotted Diamond and Daisy (right).
Both were made by Fenton.

Left: decorated Carnival glass water sets shown in two extracts from Butler Brothers wholesale catalogues. 1911 / 1912.

The pieces are:

Top (1911), left to right: Forget-Me-Not tankard, Prism Band & Scroll; Zig Zag pitcher with Enamelled Columbine;
Banded Drape pitcher with Enamelled Iris.
All Fenton and all with matching tumblers. Note that the Butler Bros ad referred to the flowers as iris, apple blossom and carnations.

Bottom (1912), left to right: Dianthus tankard pitcher; Zig Zag pitcher with Shasta Daisy; Enamelled Crocus bulbous pitcher.
All Fenton and all with matching tumblers. Note that they were all ice green or white Carnival and had “fired wide mat gold edges”.

And here are some actual examples!

Left: Zig Zag pitcher with Shasta Daisy in Florentine green ("pearl-green" as per Butler Brothers).
Right: Banded Drape pitchers with Enamelled Iris in marigold and scarce green.

* Refs: Various U.S. Senate reports on “Condition of Woman and Child Wage-Earners in the United States” – c. 1908-1911.

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​Mosser Glass

​In the previous issue of NetworK we included a section about Mosser’s Revival Era Cherry (and Lattice) pattern. At the end of the piece, we gave a link to a new feature that we were working up on our website that might be interesting to collectors of newer Carnival, as well as those with an enquiring mind.

The feature is our Mosser Homepage.

It brings together all the information that we have about Mosser, including a look at the background history of the glassworks and its involvement in Carnival over the years. We also have an overview of many popular Mosser patterns, some of which have connections with old Classic Carnival, such as Dahlia, Floral and Grape, File and Fan, and others.

There are also links to more detailed pages on our website, covering specific patterns such as “The Pony Revival” and “God & Home”.
​
​Click on the image above, or go here: Mosser Revival Carnival​

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​A  New Pace for Carnival NetworK

From the start of 2025 we will be initiating a new pace for issuing our NetworK ezine, in part to become more flexible rather than following a regimented monthly regime. This will mean that we can be more responsive to breaking news on the Carnival Glass scene. Future NetworKs will be named only by a publishing number. So, the first one for 2025 will be simply, NetworK 116. (Goodness, have we really published 115 issues of our ezine? I wonder how many hours of research and writing we’ve done for them all).

Meanwhile, how about a trip down Memory Lane. Our very first NetworK (sent out in printed format) was published in 1994. Our first electronic issue of NetworK was released in 2015. Read our 2019 feature “Look Behind the Scenes” that describes how it all began ... and some of it wasn’t especially pretty!​

Here is the link: Our NetworK Story

In September 2023, we released our 100th issue of our free NetworK ezine. It was a Bumper, celebratory issue, packed full of info and always under the banner of “Bringing the Past to Life”. We also took a look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of our many years of NetworK, as we divulged some secrets and home-truths.  Here’s a link to read issue 100. We hope you will enjoy not only the past, but also what’s to come …

Click on the image below or go here: NetworK #100

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​Many thanks to everyone who has purchased our latest eBook:
Part Two Carnival Glass From Europe.

Your support is so important to us – it helps and encourages our continuing research into Carnival Glass all around the world, and keeps our free Carnival NetworK ezines and our website going.

When we embarked upon our NetworK journey all those years ago, we made a vow that we would continue to research and report on new finds and developments in our NetworK publications and on our website. We have kept our vow faithfully.

​We published the First Edition of Carnival Glass From Europe in 2019 as it was increasingly clear to us that more and more collectors were becoming aware of the beauty of European Carnival, as we discovered a growing number of new patterns, shapes, colours and makers.​

​In Part Two – just released – we feature new information and illustrations of around 150 European patterns.

Astonishingly, 50 of those are patterns that had not been recorded or seen previously and we back up these discoveries with archive and catalogue information and illustration. The entire eBook is fully cross-referenced and indexed, with the latest news and info, as well as the new “finds” and reports. An important new section is the Sowerby Carnival Supplement. This will surprise many with the revelations and detail on how Carnival was re-introduced at Sowerby’s. The late Adam Dodds (a third generation “name” at Sowerby’s) revealed details, processes and insights that are astonishing. All glass collectors will learn from it – and form a greater appreciation for the past. 

Here is our website link to read all about it and to purchase (a downloaded PDF): Carnival Glass from Europe Part Two

Thank you for supporting us and our work.

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