Aunt Jan's Attic

Fenton Art Glass Company was the largest manufacturer of handmade colored glass in the United States. The Company announced in August of 2007 that it would be closing its doors after 102 years of manufacturing glass products. The Williamstown, West Virginia company stopped taking orders at the end of August and closed its doors at the end of October, 2007.

The Fenton Art Glass Company was founded in 1905 by Frank L. Fenton and his brother John W. Fenton in an old glass factory building in Martins Ferry, Ohio. They began by painting decorations on glass that was made by other glass manufacturers. Soon, being unable to get the glass they needed to fill all of their orders, they decided to produce their own glass. The first glass from the new Fenton factory in Williamstown, West Virginia, was made on January 2, 1907.

Fenton's desire to develop new and unusual colors helped to keep the company in the forefront of the handmade art glass industry. During the years from 1905 to the 1920's, Fenton design was heavily influenced by the artists at Tiffany and Steuben. In late 1907, Fenton introduced "Iridescent" glass. This glass, now known as "Carnival" glass, is extremely popular as a collectible today.

During the 1930's and 1940's, Fenton produced practical items, such as mixing bowls and tableware to get through the depression and WWII shortages. They continued working on developing a wide array of new colors. In the late 1940's, the top three members of the Fenton management team died, leaving Frank M. Fenton, age 33, and Wilmer C. (Bill) Fenton, age 25, to step in and take over as President and Vice President. In spite of other glass factories closing at a rapid rate, Frank and Bill led the Fenton factory through significant American growth for the next 30 years.

In 1986, the leadership of the company passed on to the third generation, with George W. Fenton, Frank M's son, taking over as President. Today nine Fenton family members work together along with over 150 employees to create handmade glass artistry that is loved by collectors around the world. Fenton is known for its beautiful colors and patterns colors as well as hand-painted decorations on pressed and blown glassware.

Each piece of glass is an artistic creation by skilled glassworkers and decorators, and they will likely remain collectible for as long as antique glass is popular.

This is an example of a beautiful Limoge trinket or dresser dish. It was originally acquired at an estate auction in the Midwest.

The lidded dish is in excellent condition with no chips, nicks, or cracks that I can find. The bottom of the dish is scalloped and trimmed in gold with one gold band around the widest part of the base, against the deep blue coloring of this piece. This is a very nice contrast that gives this antique great personality.

The lid is gorgeous, with a deep blue band trimmed and scrolled in gold, next a dark gold band with a delightful lighter gold leaf-like scrolling. In addition to this, there is a romance scene against the white porcelain.

The inside of the dish and lid are white porcelain while the bottom is marked Limoges, France, and the trademark symbol. This is why it is definitely a Limoge piece.

Glass hens are popular collectibles among antique collectors and these glass hens come in a wide variety of shapes and colors.

This is a blue glass hen, they also come in white, amber, yellow, red, and about any color you can imagine. There are several in my mom's antique store, as they have long been one of her favorite collectibles.

When most people think of antique books they think of authors like John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, and Sinclair Lewis. While all of these authors certainly qualify, not all valuable antique books are from American literary giants. In fact, some of the most popular antique books are in niche markets.

For example, old books dating from the 1930s and earlier in the fields of physics, engineering, biology, or history are all extremely popular. There are several factors in what makes an old book collectible or not. Condition is an obvious one. Is the binding tight and pages clean, or are the page holding by a thread with mold growing on the cover?

Pictures and types of pictures tend to be a major factor. Old medical books full of hundreds of illustrations tend to be highly sought after, while a book on basic Latin still has its market, but not as strong of one.

History is especially interesting, since even the way writing and reporting history is done has changed dramatically over the past century. While I can see the advantage of a more "factual, scientific" approach and concentration, I personally prefer the old histories, since they give a better sense of the people and day to day life and feelings.

It's amazing how many niches there are for old books, from history to old physics lessons. Like books that used words such as "aeroplane" or "moving pictures show," the sense of the time is what makes me truly treasure these old antique books.

These types of antique dishes always interest me because you just don't see pieces like this made or manufactured any more. This has the elegance of fine glass with the sturdy respectability that comes from finely crafted metal work.

This combination is always neat, just because it is so different. Is it metal? Is it glass? It's a beautiful antique, and for people who love decorations around the house that are unique and have personality, this is the type of antique you look for.

Fenton glass is an extremely popular collectible antique glass because of its remarkable and easy to recognize patterns, as well as its beautiful milk white color.

Fenton pieces tend to be very unique and easy to recognize. Fenton glass is often highly prized, and a great pick up for any room in a house that needs a little something extra in character.

If you're interested in this piece of Fenton milk glass shown, or anything similar, click HERE, to see more.

Not everything has to be pretty glass or delicate brush strokes. There are many interesting antiques that are tools, and in fact can still be useful today.

For example, here's an antique cast iron apple peeler. This tool was used for taking the peels off of apples, leaving more of the fruit behind.

It's really neat (okay, like Mom, maybe I'm just easily amused) to be able to turn the handle and watch the cogs move and spin. Pieces like this are not only antiques, but they are useful and bring a great sense of living history to the user.

What if I told you there was a such thing as a radioactive antique? Would you think I was pulling your leg? Would you believe me?

Welcome to vaseline glass! Vaseline glass is a great antique glass that displays a very unique yellow or green color. The reason for this color is a result of using uranium to get that special tint. Yes, the same uranium that can be processed into plutonium.

While vaseline glass has enough radiation to register on a Geigher counter, it doesn't have enough to be harmful. No more than a regular microwave or cell phone. The only way this could hurt you is if you were grinding the glass to dust, and then breathing in the particles...which seems like a really silly thing to do!

Vaseline glass enjoys immense popularity among antique collectors because of its beauty and rarity. These are wonderful pieces that can help brighten up any house...no puns intended!

Royal Staffordshire glass is a highly valued collectible collection of glass. Large complete sets are hard to find, and can fetch considerable money.

These wonderful collections often come with a large number of pieces, and the best way to find an affordable collection is to find it in a small town shop antique store, such as Aunt Jan's Attic, which tend to have much cheaper prices than their big city counter parts.

A good set like pictured is hard to find, and definitely conveys a sense of deep appreciation when given as a gift.