Posted 7 years ago
artfoot
(367 items)
Three pictures of the same pieces that show what light does for this variety of uranium glass called vaseline. The first picture is outdoors in sunlight; the second was taken within minutes of the first, in the same location, with a white backdrop. The white backdrop shows the yellowish color that distinguishes vaseline glass from other uranium-colored glass. The third picture shows the eerie glow of UV lighting.
The "Clark's Teaberry Gum" stand is a shallow rectangular tray on a pedestal measuring 7" by 4 3/4" by 3 1/4" tall. These point-of-sale display stands were made in several colors other than vaseline and originally held a matching glass lidded box which in turn held the gum. Most accounts date these to the 1920-30s but they could easily have been made for a much longer time. I do not know what company produced them.
Behind it is another point-of-sale tray for "Hoffman's Chocolates". It measures 9 1/2" by 6 1/4" by 1 1/2" deep. If this is the same Hoffman's that exists today, the company came into being in 1975. The contemporary Hoffman's has a slightly different H in its logo (logos can change). Again, since I have no idea who may have made this, I have been unable to discover whether this was made for the current Hoffman's or some earlier company with the same name. Maybe some help from Florida?
The third piece is a heavy glass bottle - 8 1/4" tall with a 5" diameter. Bottles like this were used (mostly in the first quarter of the 1900s) for the sale of radium infused water. For nearly twenty-five years radium was the rage. It was put in everything from suppositories to furniture polish. People were encouraged to drink it, sit in it, sleep with it strapped to their body. It took someone rich and famous to die a gruesome death before reason began to sink in.
Thank you, artfoot, for a very informative piece. These are gorgeous!