Cambridge Glass went out of business in 1958 and we can see the company released fewer new glass lines in the years just prior to closure. Festoon is one pattern they began producing in 1955 and continued until the end. Festoon is a simple cut design of arching leaf sprays.
The curvy lines of the leaf stems give this design life and movement, so appealing. Cambridge gave this cut number 1071 and used it on plain rounded plates and their #3790 stem line. This stemware has a bulbous stem with a thin wafer just above the foot, and rounded, bell-shaped bowl. It goes well with the simple cutting. From what I can tell Festoon is a crystal-only pattern with no pieces made in colored glass.
Cambridge used stem line #3790 on a few other cuttings and one etched pattern (Magnolia), and decorated with a thin platinum band on the top. They sold the plain stem line as Simplicity, made 1950-1958.
We had a couple plates, no stemware, and I saw this pattern only once when we glass shopped in mid-Michigan. I suspect it was not as successful for Cambridge as their earlier etched designs, although the simple shape and cutting would have fit the design trends of the time.
I’m sorry my photo is so bad, we purchased the plate before we got decent photo lighting and backdrop so I took it on my dining room table.
If you like this simple, flowing design, Cambridge’s Lynbrook cutting is very similar. I took a look at eBay just now and found several pieces of Lynbrook and none of Festoon. Both are pretty and would go well with today’s styles.
Plates like this are good for lunch use and make superb dessert plates. Serve your favorite specialty dessert on these and wait for the oohs and aahs!