Nothing Depressing About Depression Glass

Depression Glass, $10 - $75

Laura Cousineau picks and chooses carefully when she does her estate sale shopping, but she almost always buys any Depression Glass pieces that she sees.

"These are from everywhere,” she said of her collection, which takes up most of the case just to the right of the entrance at . “Any time I see this stuff I just grab it. It’s a win-win situation since we can sell it affordably and it’s become so collectible.”

And she’s not kidding; since the 1960’s, Depression Glass has become nearly as frequently traded as Fiesta ware, another popular type of table ware—albeit ceramic—that began production around the same time. The style of glass got its name from the Great Depression, and part of what makes it so collectible is the novelty angle: pieces were included as purchase incentives in boxes of food by numerous brands and distributers, including the Quaker Oats Company. Pieces were often given away as tokens of appreciation for entering a retail establishment or attending an event – businesses were desperate to attract customers during this fragile economic period.  

Another large part of the appeal is its simplicity, since the glass is one color and is usually quite transparent. This makes it “casual enough for any home, whether on display or regularly used,” according to Cousineau.

Although of marginal quality in the big picture, Depression Glass was manufactured at a time when the necessary materials were relatively cheap, especially in the Midwest, where most of it came from. There were over twenty manufacturers and one-hundred-some-odd patterns, some of which were available as entire dinner sets.