Hocking Colonial Knife & Fork Clear Depression Glass Wine
We’ve looked at a lot of colored glass – blue, pink, green depression and elegant etched Fostoria – and I thought it would be a fun change to see some clear depression glass.
One conundrum is what to call this stuff. My depression glass reference books by Gene Florence call colorless glass “crystal” but as a dealer I found that confused my customers. Some see the word “crystal” and visualize the gorgeous quality lead crystal. Ummm, nope, sorry. This is depression glass so it’s decent quality but very far from high end lead crystal. (Let’s not even talk about the confusion with the clear Waterford Waffle pattern.)
So I’ve taken to calling it “clear”. This is what Replacements.com does too so I’m in good company.
The small stem you see here is the Colonial pattern from Hocking Glass. It’s typical depression glass with a molded pattern and ordinary glass. You may recognize the nickname Knife and Fork, which refers to the ridged design between the scallops. Hocking made this pattern in green and pink, some yellow, some opaque white, a little blue and of course in clear.
The clear is not as enticing as the colored glass but it has its own charm. For one thing it plays well with other colors and helps if you want to merge multiple colors. Putting a few pieces of clear along with green and pink really helps. For another the clear is much less expensive – true for almost all patterns – and you can add a few pieces to use every day without breaking the bank. For another, colored depression stemware is getting harder to find. Naturally stemware and tumblers took a beating over the past 80 years so when you can find clear stems to augment your depression set, go for it.
Buying information: All glass shown is available at Cat Lady Kate’s Elegant and Depression Glass.