| The good thing about collecting Fostoria glassware | | | | in Washington. In fact, all presidents from |
| is that there's a lot of it, and you can find great | | | | Eisenhower through Regan ordered their official |
| bargains even on eBay. There was a period when | | | | glassware from Fostoria. |
| it was the thing for a bride to choose a Fostoria | | | | Fostoria became the largest handmade glassware |
| pattern to go with the Lenox china pattern she | | | | maker in the US, at one time having a workforce |
| had chosen. In fact, you can build an entire set of | | | | of 1,000. Its output peaked in 1950 with over 8 |
| Fostoria without spending a fortune. It's as | | | | million pieces. Lancaster Colony bought the |
| beautiful as it ever was, and you can obtain a set | | | | company in 1983. It continues to make the most |
| for much less money than if you choose a | | | | popular pattern in the history of glass making, |
| pattern from a contemporary maker. | | | | American, a 1915 Fostoria pressed-glass pattern. |
| History | | | | You can build a set of American on eBay if you're |
| The Fostoria Glass Company was established on | | | | persistent. Examples of Fostoria glass can be |
| December 15, 1887, in Fostoria, Ohio. A newly | | | | viewed at the Fostoria Glass Society of America |
| opened gas field made low-cost fuel available | | | | museum in Moundsville. |
| there and many new industries were moving in. | | | | Collecting |
| However, the field played out in 1891, bringing | | | | I have a full set of the Reflection pattern with a |
| about a move of the company to Moundsville, | | | | platinum rim, which I've obtained piece-by-piece on |
| West Virginia. Not only were materials needed for | | | | eBay. It sets a beautiful formal table along with |
| making fine glass nearby, there was plenty of gas | | | | my Lenox china, which also has a platinum rim. |
| and coal. | | | | Reflection comes plain, with a gold rim, and with a |
| Early on, Fostoria joined all the other glass | | | | leaf etching. I have a set of beautiful little cordials |
| companies in producing pressed glass. Before long, | | | | with the leaf etch. The plain version is called |
| the shift was made to high quality stemware that | | | | Mademoiselle. All of the varieties have a graceful, |
| was blown. The glass made from the years 1910 | | | | Greek-column stem. These blown crystal pieces |
| to 1924 is high quality and if you can find some of | | | | are very delicate, hardly thicker than paper. |
| those early pieces, they are valuable. It was in | | | | I have a friend who has a full set of the |
| 1924 that the company began to advertise | | | | heavily-etched Navarre-pattern glassware, and it's |
| seriously. They also went national at that time. At | | | | beautiful in quite a different way, but it also sets a |
| this time, they were offering blown glass patterns | | | | beautiful formal table. Formal tables have all but |
| as well as etched and even some pressed | | | | passed away, but it's satisfying sometimes to |
| patterns. They were also producing custom pieces | | | | invite friends over and reach back to a former |
| such as some with government seals for officials | | | | period and serve a formal meal formally. |