Contemporary and Modern Carnival Glass

In January 1952, an American magazine called “The Spinning Wheel” ran an article by Gertrude Conboy entitled “The Glass of Many Names”. It had the distinction of being what we believe is the first article ever written about Carnival Glass as a collectable and it detailed not only Mrs Conboy’s experiences in searching for it, but also (as suggested by the title) it set out the multitude of names that Carnival was known by back in the early 1950s. Many more names have since been used along the way.

The article was a milestone for Carnival Glass as it helped it to acquire an identity as something to look for and collect. The increasing popularity of the glass had another, very significant effect; it prompted glassmakers to begin making it again! The Imperial Glass Company in Ohio and Joe St. Clair in Ellwood, Indiana, were two of the first manufacturers to produce new (“Contemporary”) Carnival Glass in the 1960s; Fenton then introduced their own Carnival re-issues in 1970, and in fact, Fenton is the "big survivor", being the only one of the original Classic Carnival Glass producers that is still in business.

Other companies followed suit. The Indiana Glass Company, Mosser, Boyd, Westmoreland, Viking, Smith, Summit and more, all brought out their own contemporary Carnival Glass products, such that there is a phenomenal range of contemporary and modern Carnival Glass, and it is still being made today, by such artisan craftsmen as John Cook Studios, as shown above - also see Links.

A Century of Carnival Glass has very extensive information and illustrations on Contemporary and Modern Carnival Glass.

An interesting, but overlooked category of contemporary Carnival - items with a political theme. We will be developing this over time, but a few unusual items are shown here.

Similarly, we will be developing a section on "Weird and yet... Wonderful" and we have made a start here. 

A particular aspect of this revival in making Carnival Glass has been the production of commemoratives and souvenirs for the many Carnival Glass clubs. Almost all the clubs (in America, the UK and Australia) have issued commemoratives and often whimsies, unique pieces (some hand decorated) that are highly sought after. Several glass makers have produced club commemoratives since the first ones back in the 1960s. Fenton, Imperial, Indiana – to name just a few. The wwwcga commemorative shown above has a facinating history, being designed for the club by Glen Thistlewood. Read the full story of how it was designed and made, here. 

Contemporary and Modern Carnival should not be confused with fakes. Fakes are modern production of old patterns that are intended to deceive - there a some good fakes, and some very bad ones! Some are reasonably well documented, but new fakes continue to emerge to trap the unwary collector - on our News page we will endeavour to alert visitors to newly reported fakes, and if visitors come across fakes that need to be brought to collectors' attention, please contact us.

Read more about

- fake Northwood pieces - Grape and Cable, Good Luck and Peacocks

- fake Australian pieces

There are other Articles on Contemporary Carnival elsewhere on our website - go here for an Index and Summary of them all.