Depression Glass – Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog – Back to the basics.

Depression Glass - Thanks to countrypourch.com

I often wonder if all this knowledge that I have collected over the years will ever pay off again. I have watched as items that were selling for the big bucks became almost worthless and wondered if the prices for them would ever rise again. But you know the older I get, the more I see the cycles repeat themselves over and over again as times change.

When will cookie jars, cut glass, lunch boxes and so many other things become popular again? I can't tell you the date that those pieces will come back in favor but I can guarantee that they will. This is why you should never stop learning and cataloging the rare and unusual in your mind so that you will be prepared when the prices for an out of favor item become favorable again.

Let's take Depression Glass as an example. Twenty years ago, back in Kentucky, I was asked to visit a couple that had a large collection of Depression Glass. After driving for several hours, I arrived at the couple's house and they instructed me to follow them. We pulled up in front of a very old wooden slat house that was falling down. Even the steps leading up to it had rotted away. In the back of my mind I was asking what are we doing here. But that thought didn't last long because as we entered I could see that every room was filled with Depression Glass. There were thousands of pieces. Only in the country could this happen. There were no locks on the doors. I started looking through the stacks of glass but soon became overcome by the sheer number of items. There were the rarest of the rare which included every color of depression ever made, plus all the patterns, several containing animals. I asked what the price was and they said $25,000. I asked if it would be okay to give them an answer the next day to which they said that would be okay. I thought about it overnight and called with my offer which was yes to the $25,000, but I would only give them half until I had taken the pieces to my home in Owensboro, Kentucky and looked to see how much damage there was. If there wasn't any, I would give them the other half of the money. We never made a deal but if I had those pieces today I am sure that they would easily bring over $100,000.

My other great buy of Depression glass was when Warner and I visited Baltimore to buy Rookwood pottery and returned with 500 to 1000 pieces of Depression. We were so tired after the trip that it was consigned to Bunte Auction where I am sure it didn't bring 10% of its value because the pieces were sold in box lots, but we still made great money.

The reason I chose Depression Glass was I noticed a great article in Antique Trader about Depression and the fakes that are still showing up, so be careful. It also showed some values and they looked to me to be on the up trend. If you buy “The Collector's Encyclopedia of Depression Glass” by Gene Florence you can judge for yourself. There is another book that also might help you, “Kitchen Glassware of the Depression Years.” Look for these books on Amazon or Abebooks. The year really doesn't matter.

Here are just a few examples of current prices : Pink Sharon Cabbage Rose Covered Cheese Dish $2000, American Sweet Heart , Monax, Cream Soup Bowl $490, McKee Sugar Canister Jar, Robins egg Blue $395 and two Sharon Cabbage Rose Tumblers, Green $216.51. Buying these for $2 to $10 would make me smile and I hope that it would you also.


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