Amoeba Boomerang Drinking Glasses: A Beverage Experience

The amoeba, boomerang drinking glasses by the Federal Glass Company are a must for you if you are way into vintage space-age, retro memorabilia. If this is you, then you need to get up close and personal with the mid century modern amoeba, boomerang drinking glasses tumblers by Federal Glass. The Federal Glass Company got its start in 1900 and was based in Columbus, Ohio.

The drinking glass pattern, popularly called, amoeba or boomerang, was actually called Contemporary by the Federal Glass Company. It also had the identification number of 4695. This was so the pattern was not confused with another Federal Glass pattern called Contemporary. The drinking glasses in the Contemporary pattern were marketed as - Federal's Heavy Bottomed Tumblers.

These mid century modern amoeba boomerang drinking glasses or tumblers were distinctive for three reasons: 1) they had 22 Kt gold integrated into their amoeba, boomerang designs, 2) they came in turquoise, pink, white, and black, and 3) they had great names for the different sizes and kinds of drinks they were made to hold. A good resource, if you are interested in seeing more pictures of these glasses, is a book called "The Decorated Tumbler" by Hazel Marie Weatherman -1978 Glass books Inc.

There were a number of different styles of drinking glasses offered in this pattern and each pattern had a matching pitcher that could be purchased. The names of the different kind of tumblers included: Pilsner, Heavy Bottomed Tumbler, Heavy Bottomed Double Old Fashion, Heavy Bottomed Old Fashion, Heavy Bottomed Sky Ball, and Heavy Bottomed Jigger.

There is a rumor going around, in the mid century modern amoeba, boomerang drinking glass crowd, that these glasses were given away as prizes inside laundry washing detergent boxes. This marketing strategy was quite common in the 50s and 60s. People would collect whole sets of different kinds of glass tumblers, flatware, and tableware just by buying a certain brand of clothes soap.

This pattern of amoeba, boomerang drinking glasses is found in flea markets and antique stores as well as online. It is pretty unusual to find them in mint condition as the 12 Kt gold accents washed off fairly easily. The turquoise and black colors are the most common. White is less common than turquoise and black and pink seems to be the most rare color.

Any style of amoeba, boomerang drinking glass brings a very good price if it is in good condition, but white and pink bring the highest prices. Jiggers are the most rare style to find and they too, bring a good price if they are in good condition. They bring even higher prices if they are pink or white.

Although this is not a scientifically proven fact, it seems the mid century modern amoeba, boomerang glass pattern is more frequently found in the Midwest, especially in Kansas. There are parts of the USA where it is rare to run across these amoeba, boomerang drinking glasses in flea markets and antique shops. On the other hand, it is rare to travel through Kansas and not see them (especially turquoise and black) in most of the flea markets and antique shops.

If you love to collect and decorate with mid century modern style and grace, you might want to check out this Federal Glass Contemporary pattern -better known as amoeba, boomerang drinking glasses.

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