Carnival Glass: Who Invented It?

Maybe your Grandmother has an entire collection. Maybe you've never seen a piece before in your life. What are we talking about? It's carnival glass! Carnival glass is that beautiful pressed glass with an iridescent color to it ranging from iridized tan to something akin to mother-of-pearl. It's said by expert collectors and traders that if the color isn't iridescent it isn't carnival.

Carnival glass is known to take the shape of a lady sitting with a parasol in the sun or it's known for being a horse's head serving as a lamp base. The blues, greens, and pink shades and tints sparkle at us all alluringly.

The name "carnival glass" wasn't normally used until collectors coined the term in the 1950's. Until that time it was simply called "Iridil," the name given it by the Fenton Glassworks Company. The invention of Iridil was Fenton Glasswork's effort to grab a chunk of the artistic glassworks market. But sales were so bad the company decided to let the pieces go as prizes in carnivals. So, were it not for its initial failure, carnival glassware may not be as big today with so many. One of the most appealing aspects for collectors is how what made it so big in carnivals...was it's failure as art.

To look at a piece of carnival glass, one might miss the history involved with the making of such a work. Yet, the history of carnival glass and that of America itself, is one and the same. Seeing as some of the most valuable collectible pieces came from the Great Depression era, these baubles show us again that even in the worst of times we Americans find beauty from nothing.

What is carnival glass made from? Is it the same as regular glass trinkets?

Carnival glass is made from the same substances as any other types of glassware around the home. The two major differences being that it's made via the 'pressed' method which means it was forced into a mold while still molten.

Once removed from the mold, it's sprayed with metallic salts for that "oil-on-water" appearance that it's famous for.

Approximately how big is the market for carnival glass?

There are millions of collectors of carnival glass, to one degree or another, around the world. Though it's not made as much as in times past, the market looking for this form of art is growing daily.

Is carnival glasswork uniquely American?

Not by any means at all. From the earlier parts of the 20th century, to date, carnival glass has been manufactured in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, several European countries, and Asia. Asia has seen a sharply increased demand as of late.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_glass
http://www.ddoty.com/
http://www.glass.co.nz/links.htm