McKee Jades

by Uni and Keith Marbutt
Glass Review - October 1985

1853 - one hundred and thirty-two years ago! It was during that year that the McKee & Brothers Glass Co. was founded in Pittsburgh, PA. Then in 1888, thirty five years later, the company moved to a smaller McKee Ad town which took its name from the wife of McKee's founder, Jeannette, PA. In 1903 they reorganized and became known as The McKee Glass Co. By the 1930's our country was in the midst of the Depression. These were the years that the majority of McKee's wares were made.

There were two shades of Green Opaque. "Jade Green" was first in 1930 and followed by "Skokie Green" in 1931, the latter being slightly darker in appearance. Both types are very opaque and often firey around the edges. Nearly every item bears the company trade mark, a capital M, small C, capital K, inside a circle.

Our jades had a production span of approximately ten years and hundreds of handmade wares were produced. McKee delved into several glassware fields, i.e. dinnerware, kitchenware, occasional pieces, specialty items, etc. It is McKee's kitchenware that we'll list:

As you can see McKee offered a wide variety of kitchen accessories. They really catered to the 1930's modern woman! This glass, and their other pastel opaque wares were the rage of the country then. Its popularity helped McKee survive the lean years during the depression.

Keep in mind that this is not a complete listing. McKee was known for being a "specialty company" and produced many special items for others. We'll cover that subject in a future article.