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How to Identify Sandwich Glass by Anchor Hocking

According to the Sandwich Glass Museum, Sandwich glass was originally made by the Boston &Sandwich Glass Co. in Boston in the 1800s. It was a new type of glass, made not by hand-blowing each piece but by pouring liquid glass into molds. This new process changed the production of glassware completely, since glass could now be mass-produced. While original Sandwich glass from Boston &Sandwich is now very rare, many other companies, including Anchor Hocking, adopted the production method and began making similar types of glassware. The glassware patterns were similar to the original Sandwich glass patterns and came to be known as Sandwich glass as well.

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the flowers in your glassware. While several companies made Sandwich glass during the Depression era, including Duncan and Miller, Indiana Glass and Westmoreland Glass, only Anchor Hocking Sandwich glass has double lines around the flowers in its Sandwich patterns. The flowers should be round, with curved sides to the petals. Flowers without a double outline are likely to have been made by Indiana Glass.
- 2
  Check the flowers on your glassware for any three-dimensional aspect. Flowers on Duncan and Miller or Westmoreland Glass Sandwich glassware are more finely realized than on Anchor Hocking glassware. Duncan and Miller and Westmoreland Glass flowers will be raised in relief, and the Duncan and Miller flowers will have a line running down the middle of every other petal. These fine details don't appear on Anchor Hocking glassware.
- 3
  Look at the scrolls on the glassware. Anchor Hocking's scrolls tend to be more scrunched that other makers of Sandwich glass. If the scrolls are connected by a horizontal diamond or an oval, the glassware is not by Anchor Hocking; a diamond connection indicates a Duncan &Miller piece, and a oval indicates a Princess Feather piece by Westmoreland Glass.
- 4
  Check the color of the glassware. Anchor Hocking made Sandwich glass primarily in ruby red and forest green, with some pieces also produced in amber, pink, white and clear glass. Forest green Anchor Hocking Sandwich glass is the most collectible because it is the most rare.
- 5
  Look at the bottom of the glassware. Older Sandwich glass, because it was not considered to be fine glassware, saw a lot of use, and the bottoms of glasses and plates tend to be rubbed down and smooth. Modern reproductions of Sandwich glass will not be rubbed down at the bottom in this way.

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