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How to Tell the Difference Between Regular & Depression Glass

In order to tell the difference between regular glass and depression glass, you have to acquaint yourself with the history of depression glass. Made in the 1920s and 1930s, the glass was inexpensive and came in a variety of colors, such as pink, green, red, amber, yellow, blue, cobalt, white and crystal. It's often found in flea markets and antique stores and can be best identified through sources online and by using reference materials on the subject. By learning how to identifiy depression glass, you can distinguish it from regular glass quite readily.

Things You'll Need

Reference Publications
Online Sources

Instructions

- 1
  Obtain reference materials so you can distinguish between natural glass products and depression glass. Some excellent reference books, available on Amazon.com, are "Mauzy's Depression Glass: A Photographic Reference with Prices" by Barbara Mauzy and "The Collector's Encyclopedia of Depression Glass (19th Edition)" by Gene Florence. Because 92 depression glass patterns were made by seven major producers of depression glass between the years of 1923 to 1939, it's best to familiarize yourself with the patterns and colors in order to make the right identification.
- 2
  Familiarize yourself with the manufacturers of depression glass. Major manufacturers of the glass products included Federal Glass, Hocking Glass, Imperial Glass, Indiana Glass, Jeanette Glass, MacBeth Evans Glass and U.S. Glass among others. Look on the back of pieces for identifying marks of manufacturers and refer to reference materials if you're unsure about the source.
- 3
  Review the patterns used in the making of depression glass as a large variety were manufactured. Some of the popular patterns included American Pioneer, Beaded, Block, Bubble, Cube, Cupid, Diamond Quilted, English Hobnail, Floral, Cherry Blossom, Cloverleaf and Circle.
- 4
  Survey the colors that were used in the making of depression glass. Because color was the rage when depression glass was made in the 1920s, color is a significant identifier of whether you have a regular piece of glass or depression glass. The major colors included amber, crystal, red, amethyst, green, white, black, iridescent, yellow, blue, jade, blue-green and pink.
- 5
  Ensure your identification by checking online to see if the glass piece is regular or depression glass. A good reference is the Glass Pattern Identification Library Index of Patterns located at http://www.depression-glass.net/patterns/identification_library.shtml.

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