Collectors buy ruby stain glass for a number of reasons. Some collect it for its bright red and other colors, some for the obscure destinations commemorated on the glass, and still others for its festiveness, especially at holiday time.

Produced in the United States from the 1880s to well into the 20^th century, there were eventually thousands of patterns that flooded the market. Makers produced many of the more popular ones in a variety of forms, combining different colors of glass and different decorating techniques to produce hundreds of thousands of pieces of glass. In the 1890s, a middle-class woman could buy a complete table setting of ruby stain glass for pennies and use it everyday.

Pattern glassmakers figured out a way to make their pressed glass look like costly cased and cut glass. Prior to the 1880s, to make a piece of glass with two colors, manufacturers had to dip a hot piece of just-formed clear glass into a contrasting batch of colored glass, usually ruby– a process called flashing. When the piece had cooled and annealed, a skilled craftsman cut a pattern through the thin colored layer to the clear glass beneath. Though less expensive than producing the glass in a solid color, it was still an expensive technique. The New England and Sandwich Glass Companies both used this process on their earlier pieces.

Staining, on the other hand, involved painting an already-pressed piece of clear pattern glass with copper salts whose true color–such as ruby, amber, green, blue and purple – developed by reheating it. Stained pattern glass could be decorated by engraving or etching ferns, flowers, ivy, and birds, among other motifs, through the stain, a technique that was more easily performed on stained than flashed glass. Craftsman sometimes added enamel decoration on top of the stain. However, many of these pieces had the name of a loved one, a World's Fair, or a city incised on the ruby-stained surface, creating delightful souvenirs for traveling Victorians.

By 1885, amber staining using silver nitrate had become available in the U.S. According to the late Bill Heacock in his book The Encyclopedia of Victorian Colored Pattern Glass, Book 7, Ruby-Stained Glass from A to Z, one of the master engravers at the Duncan Miller factory in Pittsburgh, who emigrated from Bohemia, developed Duncan's amber stain. Heacock theorizes that Bohemian glassmakers, who also produced a lot of flashed glass in their home country, first used staining there before emigrating to America.

The way to create profits was to cut costs, so manufacturers, in an effort to offset rising labor costs, took shortcuts. Originally, ruby and amber-stained pieces had delicate incised patterns applied, but later makers of ruby stained only the broad top section of a piece.

By 1890, glass manufacturers introduced two new patterns each January at the Glass Show at the Monongohela Hotel in Pittsburgh – one complex imitating cut glass, the other plain and ready for decoration – according to Kleppinger. The latter often ended up as ruby stained glass souvenirs.

Although glass makers introduced a larger number of patterns during the 1890s, most were geometric and abstract designs, with a growing number made to emulate the flashy, expensive brilliance of cut glass, the de rigeur gift for weddings and important occasions. Four out of five pieces of ruby stain glass show the name of a loved one or a place, and often a date, engraved into the stain. Manufacturers claimed that the color applied to the glass wouldn’t fade or wash off. And while they originally produced ruby stain glass to imitate the more expensive flashed glass, it eventually took on an importance of its own.

One of the most popular ruby stained patterns was King’s Crown, originally issued by Adams & Co. as its X.L.C.R., a crypted spelling of its other early name, Excelsior. This is a handsome pattern featuring a band of large thumbprints around the base of pieces, flanked by narrow serrated bands. Collectors named it King’s Crown, apparently because the thumbprints and serrated bands reminded them of a king’s crown. A variation called Ruby Thumbprint became the most widely used with ruby staining on the upper, plain portion. Only these ruby stained pieces are called Ruby Thumbprint. Glassmakers produced this pattern in over a 100 pieces from about 1890 to 1914.

Another popular ruby stained pattern, Button Arches, introduced originally around 1898, continued in production until the 1960s and 1970s. The design consisted of slightly overlapping pointed arches around the bottom edges and covers of pieces, each arch containing tightly packed "buttons." Made in clear, clear with ruby staining and gold-stained bands, collectors can find this pattern highlighted with souvenir inscriptions. Small pieces, such as the toothpick holder, became favored giveaways or souvenirs from fairs, carnivals, and tourist spots.

Ruby staining also found its way into the Esther pattern, originally introduced as Esther Ware, which features a band of design around the bases of pieces. A curved row of small circles with starburst centers mixed with short ribs and a curved, fan-like device in the pattern band, leaving the upper portions of pieces plain and clear for ruby staining and inscribing.

Ruby rosettes, also known as the Hero pattern, featured a band of circles around the bases and covers of pieces and within each small circle a large diamond with curved sides. A related pattern, Pillow Encircled, had a straight dividing line above the row of circles, forming an obvious barrier between them and the smooth sides above. Otherwise, the patterns appear identical. Manufacturers produced both patterns in a wide range of items, which can often be found with ruby staining and engraved souvenir inscriptions.

In the late 1890s, the U.S. Glass Co., a consortium of smaller companies, came up with the idea of marketing a series of glass patterns named after the various states. Though a few of these patterns were new to the series, some were reissues of earlier lines reintroduced as part of this line. The state series continued through the turn of the century. Most of the state patterns featured geometric or imitation cut-glass designs, but a few had a plant and flower motif that added to their appeal.

A very popular states pattern, the full, rounded-bodied pieces of the Colorado pattern, are plain but rest on three flattened and pointed tab feet, each foot embossed with a lacy scroll design. A close cousin to Colorado is Lacy Medallion, which has arched lacy panels around the bases of the pieces but no feet. Both patterns often show up with souvenir markings, especially small cups and toothpick holders.

Glassmakers created thousands of small articles for the large expositions, such as the Chicago Fair in 1893, at which the first ruby stain souvenir glass appeared, according to Kleppinger. What makes souvenir glass so unique is that many pieces have a date and, often the name of the owner, clearly inscribed.

Ruby stained glass production reached its peak between 1891 and 1920. During this period, the rapidly growing American middle class wanted fine things like the upper class. Pattern glass, especially that which makers stained and decorated, filled this need. It could be purchased cheaply from the Montgomery Ward and Sears & Roebuck Catalogs, along with many other items for the home. 

TOP Right:  This is a ruby flashed souvenir small pitcher or creamer in the Early American Pattern Glass pattern Button Arches. It was made by Duncan Miller and stands 3.75 inches tall. It is marked M.A. Jenkins, Cedar Point 1908. $35.00 (Courtesy of Centennial Glass)

TOP Left:  Tumbler sets graced many a Victorian table. This one from the States series by Ripley & Co. (later U.S. Glass Co), circa 1888, shows the inscription "Souvenir of Atlantic City, 1897" and is priced at $75. (Photo courtesy of Carole’s Classy Glass)

BOTTOM Right: Salt and pepper shakers by Heisey in Bead Swag pattern, souvenired "Pearl A. Greene, 1908" and priced at $75. A good example of Heisey glass that had been stained by another company and most likely souvenired by a third party. (Photo courtesy of Carole’s Classy Glass)

BOTTOM Left: A tankard-style water pitcher in the Diamond with Peg pattern by Jefferson Glass Co., W. Va., circa 1915, is 11in high and priced at $125. (Photo courtesy of Carole’s Classy Glass)

As an avid collector of a variety of antiques and collectibles for the last 20 years, Bob Brooke knows what he’s writing about. Besides writing about antiques, Brooke has also sold at flea markets and worked in an antique shop, so he knows the business side too. His articles have appeared in many antiques and consumer publications, including British Heritage, Antique Week, Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine, www.OldandSold.com, and many others. To read more of his work, visit his main website at www.bobbrooke.com or his specialty antiques site at www.theantiquesalmanac.com