Do you ever wonder how the different depression glass patterns got their nick names? Most of them are descriptive: Spoke describes the center wheel design in Patrician; Dancing Girl is the lady with a scarf in Cameo; Poppy is the flower in Florentine. How did Mayfar get called Open Rose?
You can see the big poofy flowers in the center. They don’t look much like roses, unless they are the old fashioned climbers with wide open centers, but we get glass for the memories, not the botanical precision. The flowers are roses, the flowers are wide open (very wide open), thus “Open Rose”.
When people first started collecting depression glass in the late 1960s there were no books and few knew the real pattern names. It was a lot easier to settle on a name like “Open Rose” than try to describe the design. I can imagine the conversation: “You know that glass patten that has a big group of flowers in the center and panels around it”. Yes, much easier to say “Open Rose”.
Hocking used the Mayfair name to capitalize on the cachet that England – especially the aristocratic end of London – had for Americans during the depression. Federal Glass released a pattern about the same time also called Mayfair. The story goes that when Federal realized Hocking had beaten them out, they adjusted the design and re-released it as Rosemary, nicknamed Dutch Rose. Federal Glass also made a Mayfair pattern during the 1930s.
Hocking’s Mayfair is one of the top depression glass patterns. Can you see why? The colors are great, the design attractive, the pattern comes in lots of neat pieces so you can put together everything from a dessert set to dinner set to decorations. It’s surprisingly affordable, too. Sure, some pieces are pricey like the pink cordial ($950 !) and even stratospheric like the super rare 3-legged console bowl ($5000 !!!) but most of the pieces are moderately priced, certainly in line with any of the better-known colored patterns. You can put together a set for lunch or dessert without too much difficulty, or you could start with an accessory piece like the pitcher shown and have a fun item to use every day or just for special meals.
Thanks for visiting our Pink Saturday pink depression glass post this week, and as always a big thank you to Beverly of How Sweet the Sound for organizing this fun event. Please be sure to visit the other bloggers to see how pink we can be.