When you get a bowl of soup at a restaurant it’s usually served in a wide, shallow bowl. Interestingly, soup bowl shapes haven’t changed that much in the 80+ years since the Depression era. Soup bowls back then also were wide, shallow flat bowls.
Here’s the soup bowl in American Sweetheart. It is deeper than the similar-sized lunch plate (which also is recessed in the center) although it doesn’t look much different in the photo.
American Sweetheart Monax Depression Glass Soup Bowl
The soup bowl in Cameo, by Hocking, is very similar. It’s wide, flat, shallow with a rim, but deeper and more bowl-like than American Sweetheart. You might remember the Cameo cereal bowl we showed in the last post that has no rim and is about 6 inches across. This soup bowl is much larger, about 9 inches wide including the rim.
Cameo Green Depression Glass Soup Bowl
Here’s a pattern you may not be as familiar with, Pretzel from Indiana. It’s actually from the 1940s, a little late to be called depression glass. The soup bowl is rimless and a little deeper. To my eyes this looks more like a soup bowl than some of the others.
Pretzel Crystal Soup Bowl
Sharon soup bowls are similar to Cameo, deeper and more capacious than some, but the same wide rim. This particular bowl was chipped but it still sold fairly fast. That speaks to how difficult it can be to find these older soup bowls. In fact, all my soups sold quickly and profitably.
Sharon Pink Depression Glass Soup Bowl
Last one is Petalware. I showed the Petalware cereal bowl in the last post, which is a little under 6 inches across. The soup bowl is deeper and wider, similar to the Petalware bowl.
Petalware Monax Soup Bowl
Next time we’ll continue the bowl theme with cream soup and bouillon cups.