Author: Beth Ward / Source: Atlas Obscura
Imagine wandering into the kitchen for breakfast, opening a package of Quaker Oats, and finding a glass teacup inside. That’s what happened during the 1920s and 1930s, when ubiquitous household goods, such as bags of flour and canisters of tea, included unusual trinkets.
During the Depression era, companies in the United States would tuck away beautifully-patterned dinnerware—including teacups, saucers, and bowls—into their products’ packages. Depression glass, as it was known, was so cheap to produce that heavy-hitting companies of the time, such as Phillips’ Toothpaste and Wheaties, gave them away in their products. It wasn’t just relegated to home goods, either. Back then, moviegoers could take home glassware on “dish nights.” Folks received dinnerware pieces while getting their tanks topped off at the gas station, too.
More than a marketing gimmick, Depression glass brought much-needed joy into kitchens during a particularly bleak time in American history. In just the first year after the stock market crash of 1929, the number of unemployed adults in the U.S. doubled, from roughly 1.6 million to 3.2 million. By 1933, that number had climbed to 13 million. The staggering economic downturn took an emotional and psychological toll as well, with suicide rates and alcoholism levels rising astronomically. Millions of people had little hope for the future.
Prior to the crash, most glass dinnerware was often clear, and handmade from cut crystal. It cost too much, for even a typical middle class family budget. After Black Tuesday, such extravagances were all but forgotten, as scores of Americans stood in lines waiting for bread.
But a revolutionary machine that used new processes such as mold etching—a method that utilized acid to etch patterns into an iron mold rather than directly onto the glass—made manufacturing glassware quicker and cheaper. The molds themselves were costly, but each one could produce thousands of dishes. Thanks to mechanization, one Depression glass manufacturer, Anchor Hocking, increased glass production from one piece per minute to over 90 pieces per minute. This allowed companies to sell individual dishes, such as tumblers, for a nickel or less.
“Depression glass was the first glassware in American history to be produced by a completely automated method without need for skilled glass…
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