page 14
daily nebraskan
friday, april 3, 1981
T? H TT
Czechoslovakia!! bath set is hand-blown with enameled painting. It would cost about $125 and was made about 1919.
Book represents years of collecting black glass
Many people like to collect different little items. Some
like stamps, others like matchbook covers, coins or beer
cans. But Margaret James collects black glass.
And she has become so knowledgeable about glass that
she has written a book about the 775 pieces she owns.
James started t he collection at i7 when she bought
four pieces in her hometown of Plattsmouth, Neb. About
27 years later, she found another piece at a garage sale and
her interest piqued.
She was told she could find more pieces at garage sales
and Ilea markets.
"Little by little, I began to build up my collection,'"
she said.
Although she frequents garage sales. James said she gets
many pieces when other collectors find them and mail her
information so she can buy the items later.
She said she has invested a lot of money in the collec
tion, but it would only be valuable to another collector.
Her book. The Black Glass Book, represents 13 or 14
years of collecting and researching. She said the 182 page
book would be useful to other collectors to identify their
pieces.
She said many companies made black glass in the '30s
and '40s when it and other colored glassvare was popular
with the public. She said it was phased into production
after the art deco styles ot the '20s faded, but it didn't
stay popular too long.
"I guess it was just too depressing for people," she said.
"This was in the midst of the economic depression and
the people probably just tired of it."
James said the majority of the pieces in her collection
come from the '20s, '30s and '40s. but some pieces go
back to the 1800s.
Black glass first appeared in the United States in the
form of medicine bottles, but about I860 other black
' 7
1 Sr. '
ft
glass items were manufactured.
She said most of the glasshouses were located in the
upper Midwest -Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania-be-cause
they had an abundant source of fuel to fire the
plants. Because of this, it is easier to find pieces there than
in other regions of the country.
Black glass is unique because if held to the light, one
can see through it, as opposed to the opaqueness of
pottery or porcelain. James said the chemicals used to give
it its color include manganese, which gives it a purple hue
when held to the light, and iron or cobalt which gives it a
blue tone.
Many of the companies which manufactured black and
colored glass are now defunct, which makes the pieces
rarer. Many collectors concentrate on just one or two
companies, but James collects pieces made by any firm.
She expects her book to be out in six or seven months.
The book contains about 400 photographs with ex
planations about the pieces.
"It's not like a book that you would read or anything
unless you were real interested in this." she said. "But
I'm proud of it."
zzzs Easa i f f r
S2X I I i f It II
A pair of unidentified candlesticks. In James's book, she named
sticks.
the set on the right "Licorice lifesaver" candle-
1
Story by Kim Hachiya
Photographs by
Mark Billingsley
Fostoria glass candlestick with clear prisms is a
copy of a turn-of-the century fireplace mantel
decoration.
An 80-ounce Cambridge bail jug. An example of good
glassware made in the mid -1 930 's.
