Month: October 2017

Here’s some fun facts about PEZ dispensers

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

One of the things that I remember having around during my childhood is a PEZ dispenser.  The Hulk, Garfield and even Spiderman were some of the dispensers that I had, and nothing could beat that cherry flavored candy.

PEZ candy was first produced in Vienna, Austria in 1927.  The candy was first advertised as a compressed peppermint sweet, and PEZ is actually an abbreviation for PfeffErminZ (that’s German for peppermint).  These candies came in a tin that looks like what Altoids come in today.

When the dispensers came about, they were not always called that.  They were called “regulars”, and they looked a lot like a cigarette lighter.  They dispensed an adult breath mint that were marketed as an alternative to smoking.

When 1955 rolled around, the dispensers started to have character heads on them, and this happened after PEZ was introduced in the United States.  One example of these character heads is this POLICEMAN dispenser.

pez man

As you can see, the dispenser should have a police hat on it, but has been lost over time.  Over the years, PEZ has made dispensers with and without feet.

pez feet

As you can tell from the picture above this great example has no feet, and you can see this dispenser in my Etsy store here.

What kind of PEZ dispensers have you had?

Fun Fenton items that you may not know they made!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Fenton, Glassware, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

When it comes to Fenton, I always think of certain pieces or patterns—it could be a silvercrest vase, any piece with the hobnail pattern, and even a Fenton lamp.

There are fun pieces that I have run across that I wouldn’t think of being produced by Fenton.  The first one is this terrific paperweight.

clown

It has a clown motif and it sports the Iridescent Rose finish. It dates to the 1970’s, you can tell by the paper label that’s on it.  You can see this paperweight in my Etsy shop here.  Another fun item is this terrific vase.

blue oddesy

This FENTON INTERNATIONAL vase is from the  Blue Odyssey Collection, and it has the DECO CIRCLES pattern on it.  I love the shape of it—it’s a design that you don’t see everyday!  You can see this vase in my Etsy shop here.

Another fun item that you may not think of is this great ginger jar.

ginger jar

This great Fenton Blue Opalescent Coin Dot Three Piece Ginger Jar (it has the lid, jar and stand) is big—it’s 8 ¼ inches tall!  What threw me off from this being a Fenton piece was the fact that it is a ginger jar.

You can see this terrific ginger jar in my Etsy shop here.  As a matter of fact, you can see all of the Fenton items I have for sale on Etsy here.  Head on over and check them out!

You can also see another Fenton blog post that I have here.

What kinds of fun Fenton items have you run across?

 

 

Look at all the assorted colors that glass has been produced with!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Glassware, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

When you look at the area of glassware, you will see many different colors and finishes that the glass was made with.  There are as many distinct color combinations as there are manufacturing techniques.  Here’s a few of them that you will most likely run across:

Cased Glass—this is glass of one color that has been covered with one or more layers of assorted colors. The outer layers are then acid-etched, carved, cut, or even engraved to produce a design.  This design will stand out from the background, and will have a kind of raised motif when done. The first cameo glasses were made by the Romans in ancient times, and the genre was revived in England and America (to a lesser amount) in the late 19th century.

Flashed Glass—this is glass that has one color with a very thin applied color on the outside (like crystal glass that has a cranberry color applied to it).  This technique is accomplished by applying a chemical compound to the glass and then re-firing the piece to bring out the desired color.  Flashed glass is often used for etched glass (the flashing will be applied after the etching is completed).

Gilding—this is the process of decorating glass using gold leaf, gold paint, or even gold dust. There are examples that have the gilding applied with mercury (it’s called Mercury Gilding.  It’s rarely done today due to its toxicity).  The gilding is then usually attached to the glass by heat.

Peachblow—this is a type of Art Glass made by quite a few American factories in the late 1800’s.  Most Peachblow glass has a coloring that shaded from an opaque cream to pink (or even red), sometimes even over an opaque white.  There was a similar glass that was made in England (it was by Thomas Webb & Sons and even Stevens & Williams).

This is only a small sampling of what has been made.  What kinds of colored glass have you run across?