What is Carnival Glass?

Are you wondering What is Carnival Glass? It is one of the most popular vintage collectibles for people who love glassware. By definition carnival glass was produced in the United States starting early in the 20th century. It's characterized by pressed glass in an iridescent finish. The shimmering effect in the glass came from metallic salts that were applied during the firing process (a process technically called “doping”).

Carnival Glass was first produced on a large scale by the newly-established Fenton Art Glass Company, of Williamstown, West Virginia, in 1908.

John W. Fenton (President) and his brother Frank L. Fenton (General Manager and Secretary) had (with their team) developed a relatively stable and safe method of mass producing iridized glass. They named their first lines "Iridill" and "Rubi-glass" and described it as "a metallic lustre much like the Tiffany favrile glass". Glass workers at the time called it "dope glass" because the hot glass was treated (or doped) with metallic sprays and vapors. It was instantly popular with the public, and they sold as much as they could make.

What is Carnival Glass? Where it all Began:

We have the Fenton Glass Company to thank for the very first carnival glass line, which was called Iridill. Iridill appeared in 1907 and it wasn't expensive to produce, so people didn't think of it as quality glassware. Consequently this line ended up highly discounted and sold to various companies for promotional purposes (including carnival prizes). The use of the term “carnival glass” wouldn't come into collector's vocabulary until the 1950s.

What started out as a failure turned into a very profitable effort for Fenton. As the defining company in terms of “what is carnival glass” they became a favored firm for specialty pieces by many companies, and developed some 150 different items in all by the 1920s. They were also unique among carnival glass producers in that they offered a red colored line, which was rare.

The majority of carnival glass was produced from the turn of the century until 1925. However, you can find some pieces being produced right through 1940.

Color me Carnival!

One of the greatest appeals of carnival glass is the beautiful colors that were produced. No matter your taste, you're likely to find a hue that appeals to either your eyes, or that matches your home décor marvelously. The translucent hues include cobalt, marigold yellow, green, amethyst purple, and red. Carnival glass also came in opaque white (milk glass).

Of course as it is with any popularly selling item, Fenton would not be the only company to produce carnival glass. Other firms who entered the sales arena include Imperial, Westmoreland, Dugan, Cambridge, Millersburg and Northwood.

Collecting Carnival Glass

It's not hard to find carnival glass in places as diverse as the flea market and eBay! But if you're not sure as to what to look for and What is Carnival Glass you may end up with a modern reproduction.

First, carnival glass MUST be iridescent or it simply is not carnival glass. Ok, that part is easy to spot. Unfortunately a lot of manufactures of Carnival glass never marked the products, meaning you need to have a little education on the different manufacturers and how they made their carnival glass pieces (what colors, patterns, etc.). It also helps to know that Fenton started producing more carnival glass in the 1950s, which is still collectible but no where near as valuable as older pieces.

While learning about What is Carnival Glass?, there are well over 2,000 patterns of carnival glass, making the collector's job even more difficult!

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