Vintage Barware and Mid Century Glassware Specialists



List of Vintage Glassware & Barware Brands

                                         
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We've compiled a list of various Mid Century glassware brands (such as Culver, Cera, Georges Briard, and many others) and various vintage barware brands (such as Napier, Chase, Gorham, and many others). Cheers!
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Anchor Hocking
Anchor Hocking started its operations in 1905 in Lancaster, Ohio. Their glassware has a distinguished hallmark of a capital H overlaying the outline of an anchor. During the Great Depression, Anchor Hocking created a revolutionary machine that raised production rates from 1 item per minute to over 30 items per minute. This allowed the company to sell tumblers "two for a nickel" and survive the depression when so many other companies vanished. Their hallmark was a H superimposed over an anchor symbol. Known for many popular glassware patterns including Arrows and Spires and a number of Atomic style patterns, Anchor Hocking is still creating glassware in the U.S. today.
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Bartlett Collins
Bartlett-Collins was started in 1914 in Oklahoma when Bartlett, an Oklahoma oil man, teamed up with Collins, an East Coast glass man. Together they formed Bartlett -Collins. They did not hallmark their glasses. The company was noted for its hand-pressed and blown tableware, stemware, and kitchenware and some of their most popular Mid Century glasses include the North Star pattern and their "Under The Sea" seahorses pattern.
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Blendo
Blendo glassware was manufactured by West Virginia Glass Co. and was very popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Their glasses did not bare a hallmark. Known for their vibrant neon colors (bold orange, green, yellow, purple) that "fades" as it goes up toward the top of the glass (the rims were accented in gold), Their glassware wasn't hallmarked but their signature colors are typically used as an identifier. Blendo remains a popular glassware brand to collect today. 
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Cera
Cera Glass was made in Hackensack, NJ, USA, in the 1950s & 60s.  They created elegant cocktail glasses, barware and other specialty pieces, which were sold in high end department stores of the era.  Anthony Velonis, who was already a famous WPA silkscreener and artist, started the Cera Glass Company which pioneered methods of silkscreen printing on glass. Their glassware bares the signature "Cera". Similar to other Mid Century glassware makers, his designs were trimmed in 22K gold. 
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Chase
Chase’s history began with the Waterbury Manufacturing Company, incorporated in 1876 when a group of industrialists bought the assets of the bankrupt U.S. Button Company. In 1910 Chase Rolling Mill Company and Chase Metal Works, Inc. were merged into the Chase Companies, Incorporated. The Chase Companies expanded rapidly during the 1920s and began making high quality art deco products for the home. Following WW11, Chase ceased its barware line. Their chrome-plated pieces have a hallmark of a centaur shooting a bow and arrow. To this day, one of their most well-known Art Deco cocktail shakers is the Chase Gaiety chrome shaker.
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Christofle
Christofle was founded in Paris in 1830 by the Christofle family and is still in operation today. They began producing jewelry in Paris in the late 1800s, but gained worldwide fame when Charles Christofle took over as the head of the company and began to produce luxury table service items. This maker is known for some of the most collectible barware pieces today, most notably their twisted handle bar spoon (that has a muddler finial) and their cocktail shakers. They are still in operation today.
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Continental Can Company (CCC)
Continental Can Company (CCC) was an American producer of metal containers and packaging, that was based in Stamford, CT. The Continental Can Company was founded by Edwin Norton T.G. Cranwell in 1904. During the 1920s Continental expanded rapidly, purchasing almost 20 competing companies. In 1940 the company built plants in Canada. Continental expanded during the following decade through acquisitions, and the company entered the fields of paper and fiber containers, bottle caps. In 1956 Continental Can acquired Hazel-Atlas Glass Co., the third-largest U.S. manufacturer of glass containers, and thus became the first company with a full line of containers in metal, paper, and glass. Their hallmark design was an embossing of 3 small C's interlocked or nested together on the bottom of the glass. To this day, one of their most well-known glassware patterns is a gold and teal blue medallion/starburst pattern that is often mistaken for Georges Briard. Continental Can Co. became Continental Group in the 1970s and was sold off, piece by piece, in the 1980s.

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Couroc
The Couroc Company, known for their trays, barware, and glassware, was founded by Guthrie Courvoisier and his wife Moira Wallace in 1948.  Prior to creating the company, Courvoisier ran the Courvoisier Galleries in San Francisco, which he inherited from his father in 1934. In 1937, when Walt Disney premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Courvoisier saw a chance to represent a unique line of art - a desire of his that would grow in scope and vision, ultimately leading to the creation of the Couroc Company. During the Mid Century era, Couroc is known for creating some of the most popular Mid Century patterns today including this owl pattern, roadrunners, and many others. Their glasses bare the signature "Couroc".
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Culver
Culver was famous for their stunning decorative glassware in 22-karat gold – think lavish and opulent cocktailware of the 1950s and 60s. In the late 1950’s, Culver started the application of the 22-karat gold to their glassware. Fun fact: the super-heated, roll-on process of gold remains a secret today. Culver comes in a variety of patterns including gilded mushrooms, owls, cats, wildlife, Egyptian or Asian inspired design themes, holiday designs, sports motifs and many others. Their glassware bares several signatures (depending on the era) including "Culver Ltd" (Ltd = Limited), "Culver", and "Culver with a C inside a circle" (a copyright symbol). During the 1970s, many of Culver's glasses moved from the applied signature to a small gold foil sticker (that read: 22k Gold Culver Made in USA) that was often removed by the original buyer upon purchase. Culver stopped producing its gold overlay pieces in the 1980s. In 1996 Culver Industries was purchased by Moderne Glass Company, Inc., also a long- standing drinkware decorator with an extensive retail background.
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Dorothy Thorpe
Dorothy Thorpe was a mid-century American artist who designed beautiful glassware and ceramic pieces out of her Los Angeles studio. She purchased simple blank glassware, mostly crystal, from U.S. and European manufacturers and decorated them with her personal designs. She created these breathtaking designs by using a sandblasting technique. She was also known for her silver overlay, which is now her most popular and collected pattern.  While some of Thorpe’s glassware pieces are signed with a large “T” and a smaller “D”, many of her pieces found today do not carry her signature or her original logo sticker on them. Since Thorpe designed on “blanks”, the only known silver pieces that can be attributed to Thorpe are her timeless and modern, wide-band sterling overlay glass pieces. If you’re a minimalist, then Dorothy Thorpe is your go-to for fine cocktailware.
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Federal Glass Company
The Federal Glass Company, founded in Columbus, OH in 1900, started its operations making pressed glass with mold-etched patterns. The company was a leader in producing what is commonly referred to as Depression glass. By the 1920s, Federal Glass was well known for its glassware. Its hallmark is an F inside a shield. By the Mid Century, Federal Glass Co. was a popular choice for Atomic style patterns including the Inca pattern and the Amoeba Boomerang pattern.
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Fostoria
The Fostoria Glass Company was a manufacturer of pressed, blown and hand-molded glassware and tableware. It began operations in Fostoria, OH on December 15, 1887. Fuel shortages caused the company to move to Moundsville, WV in 1891. Fostoria originally produced hand crafted stemware often etched with beautiful detailed patterns.  They began creating colored glass in 1924, mainly pastels, but switched to deeper colors starting in the 1930s. Fostoria was considered one of the top producers of elegant glass. It had over 1,000 patterns, including one (American) that was produced for over 75 years. Fostoria continued manufacturing glassware until they closed their plant permanently in 1986. Most Fostoria pieces are not marked and must be identified by the pattern.
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Fred Press
Mid-Century designer Fred Press was known for creating  unique and stunning cocktail glassware (sold at places like New York’s Fifth Avenue and other upscale Mid Century retailers).  As with many Mid Century glassware makers, real 22k gold was used in the paint. Fred Press glassware typically bares the signature "Fred Press". Best known for their Gold Starburst series, their patterns are unmistakable.
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Gay Fad
Gay Fad Studios started in Lancaster, OH in the mid 1940s. Gay Fad's founder, Fran Taylor, who worked out of her home before opening the studio, designed a variety of patterns onto "blank" glassware purchased from Anchor Hocking, Hazel Atlas and Federal Glass and others. Gay Fad Studios closed in the early 1960s but is known for some of the most popular Mid Century glassware patterns today.
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Georges Briard
Georges Briard was the go-to for decorative housewares in the 1950s and 60s and was carried at upscale retails like Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus.  Briard’s success and notoriety came with the use of 22-karat gold as screened decoration for bent glassware. His design hallmarks are repetitive patterns, most often featuring geometric shapes or nature based images. This glassware typically (but not always) bares the signature "Georges Briard" (which varies in style, depending on the year it was created). Georges Briard is known for creating some of the most stunning Mid Century Modern glassware as well as Atomic and Kitsch designs in the later 1970s and is the essence of MCM glassware excellence.
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Gorham
The Gorham Company was founded by Jabez Gorham. Gorham opened his own business as a jeweler, but the business struggled until he and his craftsmen began making coin silver spoons. Because of the spoons’ popularity, Gorham’s business flourished and became a very popular American silver company from the late 1800's into the 20th century. Attracting some of the world’s best designers and silver artisans, the company’s reputation led them to create one-of-a-kind pieces beyond silverware, including wonderful barware items such as jiggers, cocktail shakers, Julep Cups, and more whimsical items such as a "Vermouth Spike" and enameled stoplight jigger. Gorham items are always hallmarked with "Gorham" along with a series of other hallmarks (i.e. "silver-plated" or "pewter"), depending on the piece. Still in business today, Gorham is known for making unparalleled, beautifully crafted pieces.
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Gregory Duncan
There is little information on this glassware maker. It appears they were American based and made/sold glassware during the Mid Century. Similar to Culver, their patterns were highly textured/raised and featured real 22k gold in the design. Their most notable patterns include Dandelions and Thistles. This glassware always bared the signature "Gregory Duncan". We are unable to find any data as to when they stopped producing glassware.
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Hazel Atlas
The Hazel-Atlas Glass Company was a large producer of machine-molded glass containers headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was founded in 1902 in Washington, Pennsylvania. Hazel Atlas became industrious in formulating unique colors into design. One of the hallmarks of Hazel-Atlas glass after World War II is the prevalence of fired-on patterns and designs, many created by Gay Fad Decorating Company. Glasses, especially whiskey and highball tumblers, as well as cocktail shakers to match, were decorated with dancing sailors, hats, windmills, maple leaves, daisies, musical instruments, and flying geese. Hazel Atlas glassware typically (but not always, depending on the piece or glass size) bares a raised "A" that was nested inside of an "H". Some of their most notable design collections include pink elephants and a red and black pheasant pattern. We should note that Hazel Atlas became a subsidiary of the Continental Can Company in 1957. 
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Holt Howard
In 1949, three college friends (Robert Howard, John Howard, and Grant Holt) launched the Holt-Howard Company with a family loan of $9,000 to import and sell kitschy decorative objects. Holt Howard decided to lower its manufacturing costs by taking its production overseas. Holt Howard flourished in 1958 when it began producing its Pixieware and Cozy Cat lines. These lines included elfin-like faces that topped crocks for cherries, olives, onions and even liquor decanters, among other items.The Holt-Howard Company was purchased by General Housewares Corporation in 1968 and by the mid 70s, all three of the founders had moved on from the company. In 1990, the name was sold to Kay Dee Designs, which no longer produces any Holt-Howard branded products.
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Imperial Glass Company
The Imperial Glass Company was founded in 1901 by Edward Muhleman, with production beginning in 1904. Their handmade glasswares were sold worldwide and were typically made of pressed glass patterns. Their "Shoji" line, which was manufactured from 1965 to 1974, gilded with real 22k gold and is the quintessential style of the Hollywood Regency Era. This line bares a raised "IG" (for Imperial Glass) on the bottom of the glass. Some of the patterns including the Bambu pattern did not bare this hallmark but came with a small gold "foil sticker" that was typically removed by the buyer after purchasing the glasses.
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Jeannette Glass Company
Jeannette Glass Co. was founded in the late 1800s and in the early 1900s became known for their Depression glass, milk glass, and high end collectible glassware. In the Mid Century, Jeanette created a huge number of glassware patterns throughout the 50s, 60s, and 70s.They ceased production and closed their factory in 1983. Their hallmark is a "J" in a square mark that is reversed so it can be viewed through the bottom of the glass when looking inside.
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Libbey
The Libbey Glass Company has been manufacturing glassware since the 20th Century and is still producing high quality glassware today. Certain vintage Libbey glassware pieces (but not all of them, depending on the size and type of piece) is signed with a cursive “L” within a circle or ring.  The mark actually appears backwards if viewed from outside of the glass, but it appears correctly when looking down through the inside. The Libbey Kit Kat Cool Cat glasses remains one of their most sought after patterns.
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Morgan & Company, Inc.
Little can be found on this vintage glassware manufacturer. They were based in Boston, MA and made glassware predominently in the 1960s and 1970s. They offered a wide variety of vintage glassware and barware including low ball glasses, highball glasses, cocktail napkins, martini pitchers and ice buckets (they had an ice bucket line called "Bucket Brigade" that offered a wide variety of ice bucket styles). Some of their most popular patterns included "Numbered" rocks glasses and tall tumblers (which came in both gold as well as enamel), "19th Hole" golf glasses, a Tennis Racket pattern, a "Poison" pattern that came in bold enameled red accompanied with a skull and crossbones pattern, a cheeky/ironic pattern that featured "Tall Drink" (for a tall drink glass) -- and a wide variety of many other whimsical patterns. Their glasses were often signed "Morgan" in a thin, cursive font. Some of their other pieces were signed "Morgan Designs". For their being so little history on this vintage glassware and barware maker, they crafted an incredibly large variety of items and patterns during their time.
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Ned Harris
Ned Harris was a designer for Cera during the Mid Century and his most notable patterns included an abstract pattern (that mimics stained glass) as well as a pineapple hexagonal pattern. His glassware was signed "Ned Harris". For more about Cera glassware, see above.
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Napier Barware
The Napier Company was named after its president, James H. Napier, who led the company from 1920 to 1960. But the company's history can be tracked back to 1875 when it was founded as Whitney and Rice in Attleboro, Mass., manufacturing silver products. The firm changed hands and name in 1882 and became Carpenter and Bliss and shortly thereafter, E.A. Bliss and Co., Inc. After rapid expansion in the late 1880s the company moved to Meriden, CT in 1890. After WWI, the firm shifted emphasis from silver products to production of modern jewelry. James Napier became president in 1920 and the company adopted the name Napier - Bliss Co. In 1922, the name was changed to Napier Company.  Like many jewelry companies Napier got into lines of art objects and other utilitarian objects like serving utensils and barware and is considered one of the pinnacles for vintage silver and silver-plated pieces.
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Pasinski
Washington Pasinski, a popular Mid-Century cocktail glassware designer, was known for their filigree/textured patterns. Similar to Culver and other MCM glassware makers, Pasinski used real 22k gold in their paint/patterns. Some of his most notable patterns include "The Silent Woman" and "Kashmir" patterns. This glassware was typically signed "Pasinski" or "Washington Pasinski" (depending on the year it was made).
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Reed & Barton
Established in 1824 Reed & Barton Corporation is one of the oldest silversmiths in the United States. Known for their silver and silver-plated mastery throughout each era, the Reed & Barton Silversmiths division continues to produce a wide range of upper end items today including flatware, serveware, and barware. Their most popular an sought-after barware pieces include their figural silver-plated jiggers and their twisted handle bar spoons that have figural motifs (including a rooster, Leprechaun, Santa Clause, and a pineapple). Reed & Barton pieces always bare the hallmark "Reed & Barton" or "R&B".
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Russel Wright
Mid-Century cocktail glassware designer Russel Wright created some of the most popular glassware patterns today, most notably the "Eclipse" pattern (that features vibrant polka dots with gold overlaid polka dots) and the "Asrterisk" pattern (a retro Atomic pattern that resembles an asterick symbol). He teamed up with Oklahoma based Bartlett-Collins in the late 1950s to create these two patterns and they still remain wildly popular today. These glasses do not bare a hallmark of any kind.
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Starlyte
Starlyte glassware was popular during the Mid Century. Our research indicates there were multiple Mid Century glassware makers that made "Starlyte" glasses. Some glassware signed "Starlyte" was a part of Continental Can Company and was a "group" of patterns they made including a bold Cobalt blue pattern that has an acanthus motif in 22k gold (that resembles seashells). Hallmarks include "Starlyte" in cursive on the glasses and 3 interlocked embossed "C's" (for Continental Can Company or CCC) on the bottom of the glass. 
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There was also a glassware company called Starlyte Inc. (we are unable to verify if they were part of Continental Can Co. or if they were a separate company that was possibly acquired by CCC). 
There is very little history on Starlyte Inc. and many attribute their patterns to Libbey or Culver but that is not correct. According to public records (New York Department of State), Starlyte Inc. was formed in September 1970 in New York City. They operated for approximately 20 years and closed their doors in December 1992. According to the Museum of American Glass, Anchor Hocking made "blanks" (non-hallmarked glasses, meaning they didn't bare the Anchor Hocking hallmark on the bottom of the glass) for Starlyte Inc. Some of Starlyte Inc.'s most popular patterns include a bold green enameled pattern with wide gold textured rings and their "What's Your Pleasure" poison glassware pattern, which is extremely popular to this day. Their tagline was "Decorative glassware for gracious living", which was on the box each glassware set came in. We've included a photo of the authenticity card they enclosed in each box:


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West Virginia Glass Company
West Virginia Glass Specialty Company (WVGS) was based in Weston, West Virginia and created some of the most stunning glassware from 1929-1987 and was especially well-known for their hand-blown glass. In the 1950s and 60s, WVGS created a number of heavily embossed and/or Hollywood Regency style patterns that, similar to Culver, contained real 22k gold in the paint. These glasses do not bare a permanent hallmark but came with a gold foil sticker that said "West Virginia Glass Company" that was typically removed by the buyer after purchase.
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William A. Meier Glass Company
We can find little on this vintage glassware company as they were smaller and more obscure than many larger makers during this era. William A. Meier stared the William A. Meier Glass Co. on Vermont Ave. Extension in North Rochester, PA in 1946. Meier, who was the acting President, employed 50 people who manufactured their glassware for home use. We are unable to confirm exactly how long the Meier Glassware Company manufactured glassware but can confirm they created and sold their glassware during the late 1940s and 1950s.