Home >> Collecting >> Other Collecting

Collectable Glassware for Beginners

Garage sales, flea markets and estate sales are a few of the most practical places to find collectable glassware for beginners. Arriving early at the sales will present the best opportunities to snap up potentially valuable glassware for just a few dollars. Some people collect by color, some by manufacturer and others may collect a specific glassware pattern. Whether you choose to collect a hodgepodge of pieces or specialize in a particular period or style of glassware, the hunt can be the most enjoyable aspect of collectable glassware.

History
- No one yet has been able to definitively pinpoint exactly when and where glass was invented. Glass items have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to the 4th millennium B.C. A piece of glassware is like a piece of history. Many collectable pieces have been passed down through several generations of a family. Contemporary glassware will provide the history of future generations.
Types
- There are a few more common categories of glassware to help the beginner get a collection started. Art glass was a type of handmade glass made from the late 1800s through the 1950s; no two pieces are exactly alike. The modern-day extension of art glass, produced from the 1970s to the present, is called contemporary glass. Carnival glass, once used as prizes at carnivals and fairs, is a pressed glass treated with an iridescent finish; it was manufactured as early as 1905 and is still being produced today. Depression glass was a machine-made type of glassware that was very inexpensive and came in a wide variety of colors and was produced from the 1920s up to the 1960s.
Getting Started
- Expert collectors suggest one of the best places to begin a hunt for collectable glassware is in your own home. Take a look at that old glass punch bowl set you picked up at a yard sale ten years ago or the intricately etched glass candle holders passed down from your grandmother. An effective way to start your glassware collection is to research a favorite piece you already own; setting you on the road to learning about the different types of glassware, periods of glassware and the individual manufacturers.
Identification
- Look for a maker's mark somewhere on your glassware; typically it can be found on the bottom of a piece. Websites such as Ediesglassware.com and justglass-online.com can provide help with identification of collectable glassware and maker's marks. Another helpful source for identification is Warman's Glass: Values and Identification (4th edition) by Ellen Tischbein Schroy. There are also several other Warman's identification and price guides available for specific types of glassware, such as depression glass and carnival glass.
Considerations
- You can pick up pieces of collectable glassware for a few dollars.
  
  Finding inexpensive collectable glassware for beginners may be of some concern to many would-be collectors. There are certainly some types of glassware or items from a particular glass company that will be priced beyond what the casual collector is willing or able to pay. With that said, there are always those golden yard sale opportunities when the seller is unaware of what they have and you may walk away with the steal of the century. There are ample finds out there that will only cost you a few dollars but are just as attractive as a $100 piece of glassware.

Other Collecting