- Posts about Manhattan
- Basic Information about Manhattan
- Manhattan Pieces Hocking Made
- Availability, Damage Concerns and Reproductions
Posts about Manhattan Depression Glass
Fun and Special! Tilt Pitchers from Hocking and Cambridge
Depression Glass Candle Holders from Hocking – Queen Mary, Manhattan, Oyster and Pearl
How to Select Vintage Glass for the Perfect Gift
Depression Glass Pitchers – Eye Candy
Depression Glass Coasters
Posts that cover patterns with design motifs that may confuse with Manhattan
Circle Depression Glass from Hocking
Soreno and Milano – Antiquing with 1960s Glass from Anchor Hocking
Lesser Known Depression Glass from Imperial – Reeded or Spun, #701
Basic Information about Manhattan Depression Glass
Hocking made Manhattan from 1938 to 1943 in crystal plus most pieces in light pink and a couple in Royal Ruby.
Manhattan has wide, rounded ribs that run horizontally, very different from other ribbed patterns that either have narrow ribs, as with Banded Rib from Hocking, Reeded from Imperial, or vertical ribs such as Hocking’s Queen Mary and Pillar Optic or Jeannette’s Old Café, Fortune or Homespun.
The piece shapes are round, no square or square-ish shapes except for the ash tray and candle holder. Note the candle holder ribs are more angular than the ribs in other pieces.
Plates and bowls have a small circle in the center.
The vase, sherbet and tumbler have large round balls around the foot.
Manhattan Pieces Hocking Made
Manhattan is a dinnerware pattern with quite a few serving and accessory/decorative pieces. You can get a full range of glassware in crystal but pink has fewer pieces and today is more scarce. The comments below refer to crystal.
For dinner table use, there are three plates, a 6 inch sherbet liner, 8 1/2 inch salad or luncheon, and a 10 1/4 inch dinner plate. You’ll notice the salad and dinner plates are both larger than we see in many other depression glass patterns where salads are usually 7 or 7 1/2 inches and dinners 9 or 9 1/2 inches.
There are both a sauce dish and a small berry bowl, both with closed vertical handles. Hocking made a cereal bowl without handles too, but it is quite scarce. Look for a cup, but Manhattan has no separate saucer and one must use the sherbet liner as a saucer. I’ve never seen the sherbet but there is one, it looks more like a footed small bowl and has no stem. Hocking made one tumbler which holds 10 ounces.
Serving pieces include a large, circular 14 inch sandwich plate, four serving bowls with and without handles, creamer and sugar, two pitchers, large and the smaller one shown above and two relish trays. One relish tray uses dividers to separate into 5 sections while the other uses triangular sections around a circular section in the center. Sometimes you’ll see these with Royal Ruby inserts and a crystal base plate. You can substitute the sherbet for the same sized circular center insert, the insert has ridges instead of balls on the base.
The true Manhattan candy dish is low, open and has three little rounded feet. Hocking made this piece only in pink, not crystal. I believe this is the only piece that came in pink alone. The comport looks like a big cocktail glass, wide, on a stem.
Hocking made two ashtrays. The square one looks just like the candle holder shown above, except without the candle cup and with indented corner cigarette rests. The round one is slightly smaller. Salt and pepper shakers are square and have more angular ribs similar to the candle holders.
Be aware there are several go-with pieces that can augment the true Manhattan pieces. This 9 inch plate is an example. Other than the size I don’t see a difference.
Availability, Damage Concerns, Reproductions
I saw very few Manhattan pieces at estate sales or antique malls when we bought glass. The cute tilt pitcher was the only piece we had two of, and I believe we got one at an auction and the other at an estate sale.
If you enjoy Manhattan you may want to go to a glass show or look online if you don’t find pieces when shopping antique stores or sales. Just now (February 2024) Replacements have many pieces in stock and I see a decent selection on eBay.
We didn’t have much problem with damaged Manhattan. Of course you want to check for nicks or cracks on any glassware you buy. Probably the main concern for plates would be surface scratches although the busy pattern on the plate underside would tend to distract your eye from light wear.
I have read that the bowls – as is true for almost all depression glass patterns – tend to nick easily around the rim. This is because people stack them and the glass is rather soft. If you have bowls and want to keep them nice while stacking, I recommend using a big coffee filter or paper towel between each one.
Hocking made a separate pattern, Park Avenue, in the 1970s in crystal, light blue and green, that is similar with wide, rounded horizontal ribs. Most pieces are easy to distinguish from Manhattan. For example, the Park Avenue vase has a different shape and lacks the little balls on the foot. Plates are different widths and tumblers and stemware have different shapes. You can see many Park Avenue pieces in the Replacements.com website and in Gene Florence’s book on Fire King glass.
To the best of my knowledge, the only Manhattan piece that has been reproduced is the small tilt pitcher which was made in Jadeite and red.
Manhattan is quite a nice pattern with good looks that meld nicely with mid century or retro styles. Look for it in crystal and pink and as always, enjoy your glass!