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Rare Stained rim, Fostoria American ? INDIANA

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butchiedog:
itsalison2,

From the 1950s on (the time period their "Whitehall" line was made) the Indiana Glass Company was not a very sophisticated operation, they made many of their lines using the oddest and cheapest methods possible. They made utilitarian glassware to be sold wherever they could possibly get someone to carry it and their main concern was sales, not producing high quality wares. Color flashing glassware would be too expensive a process for them, since they sold their wares in bulk, so cheaply that it would not have been cost effective.  

I emailed you picture to a friend who knows a good deal about this company and he told me that Indiana did produce some amber stained items in their "Whitehall" line, but discontinued it for lack of public interest. My friend agrees with me that yours looks as if the color has faded a good bit, which is common on all of their stained items, depending on how they were cared for or cleaned. Their staining treatments are not the same as you find on other glass companies items, the materials used are totally different and tend to fade in color from being washed in strong detergents and over time the staining will simply wear away. This wear is usually even all over, rather than the flaking and scratching you might see on other glass maker's stained items or items that were cold painted and the color not fired on.

While "Whitehall" items done in an amber stain are not as common as those done in a ruby or cranberry colored stain;  they are not necessarily considered to be "rare", at least not where the potential resale value is concerned, because they just aren't popular with glass collectors, who even snub the Indiana ruby or cranberry colored stained "Whitehall" items.

The fact is;  the name "Indiana Whitehall" is cursed with a bit of a stigma in the collecting market. The name is synonymous with cheap and people see it as an attempt by a lower end glass company to compete with a higher end glass company.  What does sell to some glass collectors (in the "Whitehall" line) is that which they mistakenly purchase believing it is Fostoria's "American" line.

I wish I had better news to share with you on this, but sometimes things that look or seem to be pretty nice or rare turn out to be things that there is very little interest in for one reason or another. Supply and Demand are what drive the market and sometimes Demand can trump Supply when it comes to rare items.

Mike

Frank:
Perhaps a 'good' collection of Indiana glass would be easier to build :!:

butchiedog:
Hi Frank,

Yes;  Indiana has on occasion done some pretty interesting things, like their production of items made using the old Bischoff shape molds, but these all seem to be short lived and sooner or later will become more important in the area of collectible glass, once people become more aware of them. Most of their glass before 1950 does well and later items they made for Tiara also does well too.

They do have a number of pattern lines which nobody seems to care a good deal about and that is mainly because they mass-produced so much and the commonness makes it less interesting. "Whitehall" and their "Diamondpoint" patterns are just two examples. Every garage and rummage sale in America has at least one piece, which has to be taken back in the house or packed away at the end of the sale for lack of interest in it.

We have a nice Ice tea set (pitcher & glasses) and some other serving pieces in the "Whitehall" pattern, which we purchased because we liked the look of it and they were much cheaper than buying brand new items for the same use. We use these items for everyday purposes, without caring about them getting broken, because they are so easily and cheaply replaceable.

Sooner or later there will be a collectible market for everything, it just depends on people's tastes changing or on whatever fad happens to come along and stir things up. In the early days of ebay and TV shows like "Antiques Road Show" it was a fad for people of a certain age to start collecting or just buying a few things that they remembered their parents and grandparents having when they were young, but that fad has gone by the wayside pretty much and now those same folks are into all of the home decorating TV shows and are spending their money on that fad, until the next big thing comes along.

As far as Indiana glass collecting goes;  one could browse ebay's completed auctions and take notes on which items made by that company do better than others and start from there to build a collection of it. It takes someone to begin collecting something for it to become a popular collectible and increase in value. Knowing this;   I don't want to discourage anyone from collecting anything they like, because I may have the same thing and their collecting it will drive up the value of what I have, but at the same time I don't want to give anyone the false impression that something is more important at the moment than it is.

Mike

Frank:

--- Quote from: "butchiedog" ---As far as Indiana glass collecting goes;  one could browse ebay's completed auctions and take notes on which items made by that company do better than others and start from there to build a collection of it.
--- End quote ---


Using eBay as a guideline should result in an interesting collection :twisted:  or do the Indiana pieces get properly ID'd?

Of course, some good pieces and a lot of yuk, applies to just about any glass works - even Monart produced a high percentage of poor pieces amongst the real gems.

butchiedog:
Frank,

Yes;  Indiana glass is usually listed on ebay correctly, by those who are honest enough to not try and list it as being something better when the pattern is similar to another glass maker..

Sometimes a few look-a-like patterns, by better glass makers get listed as Indiana glass and the people who collect the better glass always check and snap it up cheap when they find it.

The good thing about Indiana glass is; there is enough of it listed on ebay to check other Indiana glass auctions and see that many other sellers are listing it as the same thing.

Sometimes ebay sellers have the original packaging in their photos, which helps to back the ID up. One could build a nice, reliable reference file by copying and saving the photos that show the original packaging.

Mike

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