Yesterday’s Pink Saturday blog post featured Fortune pink depression glass. Did you know there is a very similar pattern called Old Cafe? It can be tricky to tell them apart.
Here’s the Old Cafe pink candy dish. It’s a pretty piece, low and wide with small tab handles.
Here is the Fortune bowl from yesterday.
These are alike, aren’t they.
Hocking made both Old Cafe and Fortune mainly in pink and clear, with a few pieces of Royal Ruby Old cafe. They are both small patterns, with no creamer or sugar, but Old Cafe has a few more pieces, including a dinner plate and sherbet. The candy dishes are easy to find in both pieces – unusual for vintage glass.
Even the production dates are similar. Hocking made Old Cafe from 1936 to 1940 and Fortune from 1937 to 1938.
Let’s see what we can find to tell these apart.
- One difference is Old Cafe ribs are rounded more than Fortune’s.
- The shapes are different, but if you have only one piece that doesn’t do you much good.
- Old Cafe pieces have one wide panel between two narrow ones. Fortune has one wide and one narrow.
I hope this helps you tell these two patterns apart. They are both attractive and good choices for new collectors.