During the mid to late 1920's, household items made of
colored glass - from lampshades to candlesticks, powder
boxes to tableware - came into vogue. After the Great
Depression hit, this colored glassware was even more desirable
because it was inexpensive to purchase. Machine made,
it was simply molten glass pressed in a pattern mold, some-
times etched with acid, sometimes just a plain pressed design.
Now referred to as Depression Glass, it's the delight of
many collectors.
   With its myriad patterns and dazzling colors, it is sought
by nostalgia buffs from East to West. But like Cinderella and
her glass slipper, some patterns, colors and pieces of this pop-
ular collectible can be quite elusive. The pretty American
Sweetheart is one of those. Never reproduced, it's available
but not easy to find in a particular piece or color. Still for
many, finding that first piece may be like eating potato
chips - they can't stop with just one.
   Says Pennsylvania dealer and collector Edie Putanko:"De-
pression Glass is addictive. I started with just a few pieces and
now I have five closets full." In fact, as a collectible, this ware
is so popular today that Edie discusses it on television in Pitts-
burgh and sells not only through her shop in Bethel Park but
also at shows around the country and on her website.
   "For me it's both unique and a connection to the past," says
Edie. "It's so different from any glass you can pick up today.
these pieces have stories connected to them, your own family
or the family of someone else. People are amazed at what an
attractive setting it can make and how inexpensive it can be."
   And inexpensive it was, especially compared to today's
prices. Distributed through dime stores, a lucky homeowner
could eventually afford to buy a complete set for her table.
The overall patterns covered up the lesser quality of the
glass itself and many mistakes of the glassmaker, plus the
rainbow of colors brightened both people's lives and tables
during the Depression years. Pieces of the glassware were
sometimes giveaways, premiums in rolled oats, in 20-pound
sacks of flour or in boxes of soap powder. On a slow night at
the movie theater, it might be a prize on dish night. If you
had enough money to buy a dining room set at your local
furniture store, they might throw in a whole set of dishes.
   "You could buy service for eight for $2.98," Edie adds.
"Today, if you could find the complete set, it would be a
steal at $298." Not highly regarded in it's time, Depression
Glass was inexpensive enough to be treated just like the
disposable paper and plastic products of today.
   A word of advice to those just beginning to collect: Buy
from a reputable dealer. "Try all avenues, garage sales,
resale shops, auctions, antique shops, antique malls, major
shows and glass clubs around the country plus sales on the
Internet and through specialty publications," says collector
Greg Evans. Another collector comments: "American
Sweetheart can easily be found at antique shows that
specialize in glass. Luncheon and salad plates as well as
cups and saucers are not too expensive ($10 to $15), but
I've heard of rarer pieces like the lid to the sugar bowl priced
at $455. Tumblers are almost $200." Still, author Gene
Florence encourages, "Keep looking - you never know what
will turn up."
   Now complete sets, if possible to assemble at all, may
take years of patient searching. The more collectors turn up
for their own tables and shelves, the fewer bowls and plates,
cups and platters are available for sale. Supply and demand
in collectibles is the key to how much something may be
worth. For rare pieces, the sky's the limit.
   "The vast majority of Depression Glass was probably
bought over the counter or from the catalog at Sears or
Wards," surmises Ken Grubenhoff, owner of an antique glass
shop in Denver. "And American Sweetheart may have been
a slightly more expensive, machine-made glass because there's
no item in that pattern that you see tons of."
   The mold-etched pattern of American Sweetheart is a
particularly pretty pattern manufactured from 1930 to 1936
by the MacBeth -Evans Glass Company, now owned by
Corning Glass Works. In her book, The Collector's Guide to
Depression Glass, Marian Klamkin describes it as "a neat
arrangement of a center motif of festoons, ribbons and
scroll designs with smaller similar motifs surrounding the
scalloped rim. Between the border motifs...are short radial
lines which give the border a ruffled effect."
   "It tugs at the back of my mind," Edie comments, "that
the pattern of Depression glassware called American
Sweetheart was named after 'America's Sweetheart,' movie
star Mary Pickford. Whether folklore or fact, American
Sweetheart glassware is as much a darling of collectors today
as Mary was the darling of the silver screen."
   This pattern in light pink and also in translucent white
with a slight bluish tint know as Monax was popular for
complete table settings. Cherry red and cobalt blue were
produced as dessert sets and serving pieces. Other variations
were called "Smoke," a Monax with a smoke-shaded
rim, and Cremax, an ivory opaque color. For fanciers of
American Sweetheart today, blue is the most elusive; red is
the next most difficult to find.
   American Sweetheart collector Greg Evans of Chicago
fell head over heals in love with these wonderful colors when
he was just out of high school. Twenty years later he not
only has a house spilling over with favored pieces but also
has made the buying and selling of it his life's work. "I never
buy anything I don't personally like since I never how
long I'm going to own the item," Greg says. "I change my
dishes for the season and for special occasions. The colors
lend an eclectic look to any table, formal or informal."
   As graduate students, Ken Grubenhoff and his wife,
Marti, were hooked on Depression Glass while trying to
find household items within their budget. Ken assures us
that most Depression Glass, even American Sweetheart, is
still fairly affordable. Perhaps a dinner plate sold in the '30s
for 4 cents might now sell for $25, but "it starts adding up if
you wish to find service for eight with all the serving pieces."
   In Collector's Encyclopedia of Depression Glass, writer
Gene Florence concedes that American Sweetheart, as well as
many other patterns, "can still be collected with patience."
He adds, "Collect what you truly like. Eventually, you will
be able to accumulate a set even if it is only a small one."
   Sometimes the rarer the treasure, the more exciting the
hunt, as Wisconsin dealer J.R. Schonscheck attests. "Some
pieces of American Sweetheart are very hard to find, espe-
cially sugar lids, salt and pepper shakers, iced tea tumblers
and cream soup bowls. The rarest are 'lunch-box pieces',
one-of-a-kind pieces glassworkers made on their lunch
hours and took home in their lunch boxes to their wives."
   For some, like Edie's mother, who actually set her table
with this inexpensive glassware during the 1930's, it may
not have had that much appeal. She once asked Edie at a
special occasion, "You're not going to use those old dishes?"
But to Edie, American Sweetheart is magnificent on a
table. "Red or cobalt on a white cloth or Monax on a dark
cloth is just gorgeous," she says. For today's avid collectors,
to know Depression Glass is to love it.