Hello,Yes; that is an American piece of glass from the 1970s on. It was never made at any established glass company, which makes it rather hard to explain, but I will try my best.
Have you ever heard of Sooner Glass?
Here some examples.
To begin I have to admit to being a bit embarrassed for not remembering this person's name, but I do remember the details of a small human interest article written about him in the newspaper when he passed away about three years ago.
In the late 1950s an employee of the Kanawha glass company, in Dunbar, West Virginia began making and selling some glass items on his off time. He used whatever he could get his hands on from discarded company cullet to bottles and jars out of the trash. In the late 1960s he moved to Spiro, Okalahoma, where he worked for a company called Central Glass They made nothing of note, utilitarian glass items mainly.
There he formed a small group of glass making enthusiast-artist-hippie types and they all continued collecting discarded jars, bottles etc., making glass items and selling them under the "Sooner Glass" name. In case you want to know; The state of Okalahoma is known as "The Sooner State", (don't ask me why) and that is where they took their name from.
In the late 1970s this group split up, some went off and continued to make the same type of glass items, which they sold under the name "Cherokee Glass of Wagon Hill". Others went their own way, making the same type of glass items and selling them under the name "Becraft of the Ozarks".
Are you bored with this yet or am I only being full of myself, just assuming that you haven't already hit your back button and moved on to something interesting lol!
I can't say for sure if they are still making and selling their glass under those names or not, but I do know that they or someone else is still making the exact same type of glass items, in a few of the south western states and in Mexico as well. It is sold to tourists along the road sides and at gas stations.
The animated .Gif in the following link pretty much expresses how folks here feel about this type of glass.
http://www.ysartglass.com/forum/sooner.gifJust like anything else there are likely a few dedicated collectors out there, but most pick it up at garage sales or flea markets. A bit of it gets listed on ebay and a lesser bit of that does sell. I believe the main problem is the weight of these items, which make them cost more to ship it than the items are actually worth at this time. Another factor is that they are so commonplace and it's impossible to tell the older apart from the newer unless they still have their original paper labels on them, but most people don't know the history, so they also wouldn't know one label from the other either.
Last of all; This type of glass often shows up in ebay auctions said to be Murano Glass or whatever else strikes one's fancy to call it. Going by what I have seen over time, by the colors and the style of the piece posted above I would say it was made by the "Becraft of the Ozarks" group.
I wish I could say it was something really special or even just OK, but I'm assuming we all want to know the real facts about our glass right?
Mike
Topic: Enormous Glass Basket - Sooner Glass (Read 10679 times)
