Collecting 101: Carnival Glass! The History, Popularity, Patterns, Colors and Value! Episode 6

Hey what's going on? Welcome to episode 6 of Collecting 101. And today we're going to talk about carnival glass. Now I'm going to address the history, popular patterns, shapes, and colors, and also the values you can look for in your carnival glass. So let's start off today with history. Carnival glass started being produced in 1908 by Fenton. Now when they first started producing this glass it was actually called Iridel. Now Iridel was known for being fused with iridescent luster that reflected light and shown metallic highlights in the glass that were absolutely gorgeous. Now just like we talked in our past Collecting 101 video on Fenton, a lot of their early work was highly inspired by high-end glass companies like Tiffany and Steuben, and carnival glass was no different. Now the carnival glass grew in popularity from the 1910s all the way into the early 1920s, spawning other companies like Dugan, Northwood, Millersburg, and Imperial to start producing their own style of carnival glass. But throughout that time, Fenton actually maintained the top spot for being the highest or the best manufacturer of carnival glass, producing over 150 different patterns. Now that was until the late 1920s when the premium prices that these companies wanted for carnival glass the consumers weren't willing to pay. Consumers were actually calling carnival glass the poor man's Tiffany. Now when you get this kind of moniker on your name it was really a detriment to the product, so much so that they discontinued making carnival glass in the 1920s or the late 1920s. Now after it was discontinued it was actually sold off to carnivals and carnivals were giving it away as prizes when you won a game at the carnival. You know hence how we know the name today is carnival glass, where back then it was known as Iridyl. Now all of us know it today as carnival glass for that exact reason, which is just absolutely cool to me. I mean it's such a great fun fact to know about carnival glass. Now carnival glass did try to make a comeback in the 2000s with Fenton just before it started to close. They did produce a few more products but nothing too crazy you know until the Fenton went out of business in the you know I think it was 2007 or 2008 Fenton went out of business and so there wasn't a lot that came out but they did come for a small comeback in the 2000s. Now you know with such a small amount of history only from 1908 to the late 1920s about a 20-year history not a lot of talk about the history but I can't wait to tackle the pattern section of this video because there's a lot of great patterns, colors, and styles that I want to talk about. So let's get on to popular patterns, styles, and colors. All right so let's delve into the popularity of carnival glass. Now with over 2,000 different combinations in circulation today I can see how it can be tough to decide what to start collecting. So I'm going to break it down into three separate categories and hopefully that'll give you enough information to decide what's best for you. So let's start off with color. Now your Now marigold is the most popular color of carnival glass but it's also the most common so that just tells me it's probably going to end up being the least valuable. So watch putting a lot of marigold into your collection if you're looking to flip it down the line. Now after that it's the amber. Now in my opinion amber is probably the most at least collectible color. We usually have a lot of it on the shelf and it doesn't move very fast but you know if you're a collector of it I mean it's probably the best thing to buy because there's a lot of it out there and not you know we don't sell a ton of it so maybe there's a lot out there for you to buy as well. So after that it's going to be your green and your blue. Now these two are probably my favorite carnival glass colors. They look great in showcases and shining that light on them and it really highlights that reflective of the light as well as the metallic look we talked about when they were producing the the carnival glass. Now after that you have your amethyst. Now I think amethyst is probably the toughest color to come across when it comes to your common colors but man it sure does look really good and we do get a lot of calls about amethyst glass but man it's harder to come by. Usually I only see it at auctions or you know if I'm on a house pick of a collector of carnival glass. The only time I usually ever see it very often I rarely see it at garage sales and whatnot so keep that in mind if you're starting to collect it's definitely a harder one to come by. Now these last four colors I want to talk about are probably the rarest colors when it comes to carnival glass. Now this is your red, your milk glass, your aqua, and your peach. Now these four in my opinion you know are just absolutely stunning. I mean I honestly could look at them all day. I've seen them in showcases and man they just look so great under a light. So if you have these colors and you're a collector hold on to them because they're definitely going to hold on to value. Now if you're a seller and you have these colors trust me there is a buyer out there for these because these are the four most sought after colors in my opinion. So all right next we're going to talk about patterns. Now the first pattern I want to talk about is the is the poppy show. Now this is made by Northwood. Again as I show you guys these pictures here you guys will really see the uniqueness of each of these patterns. The next up is the grape and cable also made by Northwood. Again a very unique and beautiful pattern that you know a lot of collectors are out there looking for. Next up is the dragon and lotus. Now this is made by Fenton. Anything attached to Fenton's name is always going to carry a little more value in my opinion. Because Fenton was such a nice company and it definitely adds a little more luster to your to your collection when you have Fenton pieces in there. Now next up is the good luck. Now this is made by Northwood. This is probably one I get asked about more often at you know at the store. If you have a lot of these I just I don't come across it very often but I do know there's a lot of collectors out there looking for it. I just don't get a chance to come across it as much as I'd like to. So and the last one I want to talk about is the holly. Now this is also made by Fenton and like I told you with the dragon and lotus anything attached to the name Fenton is going to hold a little more value in my opinion. So you definitely want to be out there looking for it if you have it hold on to it. It's a good thing to add to your collection as well because I do think it holds value throughout the years. Now the hardest rarest patterns I've had to come across are these three right here. The strawberry scroll made by Fenton. Again you guys just look at these. I mean these are absolutely stunning and gorgeous for patterns. You know I mean they're just definitely something you want to keep looking at. Next up is the farmyard. Now this is made by Dugan and now we didn't really get the chance to talk about them too much but man these guys did produce a really nice product. And then last up is the black amethyst made by Northwood. Now this is by far the thing I get asked about most often is black amethyst. I think it's just different because most people try to collect bright you know shiny colors and the amethyst is that black that black color that people try to be different on but man it sure looks good when you have a large collection of it together. So again if you have a lot of it trust me you'll uh you'll enjoy it in your collection or there'll definitely be buyers out there trying to you know trying to get it from you. So all right last up I want to talk about is the shapes. Now this is probably the most the least important part of a collection in my opinion because I think most people are looking for colors and patterns. So I'm not going to touch too much on shapes but I do want to run across what shapes you're going to come you know you're going to be out there looking for. So first we're going to start off with vases and then you have plates, bowls, pitchers, ashtrays, tumblers, and sculptures. Now that pretty much touches base on every kind of shape you're going to run across. I mean and some of them are really nice and trust me they're out there they're really cool but it's just the collectors are more looking for the pattern and the color. You know after that the the shapes are really the least important part but still you know it's obviously attached to it so you're you know you're going to have to you know be out there looking for it that's just the most popular ones I know of. So um now another thing really cool with the shapes is the variations. Now when they produce these they actually uh flared some of them or crimped them or folded them so you're going to get different styles to these vases or sculptures that you know so each one's going to be a little different. So you can have that bright blue sculpture or that bright blue vase and the vase might look different. It might have a folded top or a flared top or a crimped top so I mean it's going to give you a uh different uh different ways to add to your collection that's going to make it so you have a really unique um collection that's you know people are going to be looking for. So all right that kind of touches base on all the popularity uh things I want to talk about with Carnival Vase. I mean there's so many different combinations over 2,000 so um definitely a lot of opportunities to add some really unique pieces to your collection. All right so let's now go on to value. All right so the last thing I want to talk about today is value. Now value to me can be breaking down into five different categories. First off is condition. You want no chips and no cracks on your carnival glass. That's going to help you hold the most amount of value. Next up is age. Now age with carnival glass is so tough because most manufacturers didn't mark the bottom of their glass so it makes it really tough to determine when it was made. You know so most of the time to help decide when it was produced. Now people are most looking for the stuff made before 1940 so keep that in mind. Now after that you're looking at shape. Now these are the highest or the three highest selling shapes that we usually come across. It's your bowls, your platters, and your plates. So uh keep that in mind when you're out looking for it because these are our three highest sellers. It is not the only highest sellers guys. There's vases out there that sell high. There's you know tumblers that sell high but these are just the ones we sell the most of. So definitely one I wanted to let you guys know about. The next up is the three highest selling colors for us. Now we sell black, red, and green very well. So the black amethyst, the cherry red, and the ice green. Again three super popular colors. A lot of people collect it because it looks so well when you get some light on them. So again those ones to me hold the most value so keep that in mind as well. Now past that I really want to touch base on this as well because you know there's multiple companies that still produce carnival glass into the 21st century. I mean just because Fenton ended in the late 20s like I talked about in the history section, there's definitely other companies that produce carnival glass past that and you know past them. So uh keep that in mind that there's such a large quantity of this out there that determining value on these guys is very tough. So like I'm going to tell you and I've told you in past videos, always go by your eBay listings. eBay sold listings I'm sorry. Because that's going to give you the market. That is what always gives you the market. People are paying this price for them. So always use that as your marker to find out what is a good price to pay for your carnival glass. Now I'm going to pop up you know some of the highest eBay listings I've seen sold for carnival glass just because I like showing you guys the crazy numbers out there that some of these guys can get for carnival glass. But most of the time guys you're going to be able to get your stuff for you know a couple bucks to 20 to 30 bucks for carnival glass. I mean those are your most common pieces. I mean the rare rare stuff you're going to be paying you know 75 to 150 dollars. Yes you can pay a lot more for that for some pieces that are super super rare. But I did want to give you a base of you know what you know most likely you're going to pay in the you know 5 to 20 bucks for your most common pieces. So don't get too scared with these crazy prices I'm putting out there. But I do like showing you guys some of the crazy stuff that's out there nowadays. So all right guys that's all I got to say on carnival glass. I mean if I go further on this I could break it down by certain companies if you guys really want me to. But that's just really the umbrella of carnival glass. I mean very beautiful pieces of glass that I hope you guys got some information on and maybe should you know get you guys into starting a collection for. So thank you guys so much for watching. If you guys want to give this video a thumbs up. Comment below your you know your uh your ideas with carnival glass. Do you guys collect it? Do you guys want to start collecting it? You know do you know anybody that collects it? Do you guys what kind of patterns do you have? What kind of colors do you have out there? So you know let me know in the comment section. I always love interacting with you guys. So you know keep them coming down there. And of course last but not least subscribe to the channel. I mean we got an auction coming up. We got auction comes up this Saturday actually. We got collecting 101 videos coming out every Tuesday. Tons of new content coming out for you guys. So stay tuned for episode 7 when next week we delve into the world of stamps. Thank you guys all so much for watching and when you guys start collecting it's always about your memories over money. See you guys later.