National Depression Glass Association

    Preserving America's Glass Manufacturing Heritage

NDGA Display at Historical Glass Museum

by Linda and David Adams

The Historical Glass Museum is a small museum located in Redlands, California. It is situated in an historical 1903 Victorian house, a few blocks north of Interstate 10 on Orange Street (CA 38). The museum was founded by (among others) Dixie Huckabee, one of the pioneers of Depression Glass collecting. It is an all-volunteer effort, supported by donations, and it opened in July 1985.

We discovered the museum and were impressed by the efforts of the volunteers who maintain and staff the place. Over the years, many people have donated impressive glass collections which are now available for everyone to see and enjoy. The museum houses a number of "American Brilliant Cut" pieces from the collection of Liberace. There's a whole case of beautiful Steuben pieces, and a collection of over 2,000 cruets by many different companies. There are two or three cases of Fenton glass, both contemporary and historical, a case full of automobile flower vases (yes, people used to put fresh flowers in their cars) and a whole room of depression-era glassware also on display. There's lots more, too. For more photos, visit their web site, HistoricalGlassMuseum.com.

We originally approached the Museum to see if they might allow us to feature a display for the NDGA. They were quite happy to do so, and we arranged to bring a collection of amber "Madrid" from the National Glass Collection to Redlands, and set up the display. After a few months, we replaced that display with another, this one featuring many different vases from various American glass companies. Some were made as early as the 1920s, and some were quite contemporary (i.e. Fenton). The display's variety made for an extremely attractive eye-catcher, as the case is located in the center of the first room you encounter when you enter the museum.

We eventually replaced the vase display with another, consisting of 43 different goblets, from 11 different manufacturers, all from the 1920s to 1940s. Each was identified as to manufacturer, pattern and approximate date of manufacture. This display was also credited to the NDGA, and we were able to place NDGA brochures in their literature rack.

We had planned to swap out the display for another, but for various reasons, we were unable to get back to do so until recently. The photographs show several shots of the stemware display (each was numbered, and there was a page detailing the information for each). The museum folks were quite happy to have the display remain there for a long time, as it was one of the most popular displays that they offered to visitors.

In June 2009, we managed a trip to the museum to swap out the display for a new one, featuring the many different opaque colors made by the Cambridge Glass Company. The photo at left shows Linda next to the case. The Cambridge glass pieces came from our own collection and that of our friends Cindy and Rick Jones. We provided at least one example of each of the colors, along with a card that explained the date the color was introduced and some comments regarding the pieces produced in that color. Since there were 14 different colors represented, this proved to be a most attractive and attention-getting display.

We plan to leave the display in place until the fall, at which time we will replace it with another (yet to be determined). In the meantime, visitors can enjoy this display, and note the connection with the National Depression Glass Association. By displaying our glass we hope to gain supporters for the NDGA's efforts to create our own museum.

Below are some photographs from the Historical Glass Museum, showing the vase display, stemware display and the display of Cambridge opaques. Apologies for the quality of the photos, but it is very difficult to take pictures of items that are inside of glass cases. Click on the small photo to see a larger version.

2007 Vase Display	2007 Vase Display	2008 Stemware Display	2008 Stemware Display
2008 Stemware Display	2008 Stemware Display	2009 Cambridge Opaques Display	2009 Cambridge Opaques Display
2009 Cambridge Opaques Display	2009 Cambridge Opaques Display	2009 Cambridge Opaques Display	2009 Cambridge Opaques Display