Research - Magazine Ads

by Phyllis Smith
Issue No. 70 February 1979

Webmaster's Note: The graphics for this article consist of a number of Cambridge advertisements from magazines dating from 1937 through 1953. These ads, even though reduced in size, still take up a lot of transmission bandwidth and computer time and are not suitable for dial-up connections. They are therefore located on a separate page, available for anyone who has a high-speed link to the internet or has the patience to wait for the pictures to load on a slow link.

Researching Cambridge Glass can be fun, as well as a most rewarding way to spend part of our spare time. Several of our members have been spending time at this worthwhile endeavor during the past several months and have been kind enough to share the fruits of their labors with us.

The next few pages contain some of the advertisements they have clipped from old magazines.

Research of any type takes a certain amount of time and planning. Should some of you be interested in looking up advertisements in old magazines, you are first going to have to locate the magazines. We suggest you try yard and garage sales, flea markets, and old book and magazine stores.

Look for such titles as Ladies Home Journal, House & Garden, Better Homes & Gardens, American Home, House Beautiful, China, Glass & Lamps, etc. As you can see by the dates listed here, this type of advertising started in the early 1930's and continued until 1958.

One word of caution! Be sure to leaf through any magazine you find before buying it. The Cambridge Glass Company did not advertise in all issues, so it would be best to check before investing your money.

Whatever you do, don't overlook your local Library when giving consideration to research. It is always the fondest hope of each of us that we will be the lucky one to walk in and find an old Cambridge Glass Catalog that was stuck on a back shelf and forgotten long ago. Of course, it would be even more wonderful if it could turn out to be one of the catalogs that we, as a Club, have yet to find!

Our most sincere appreciation and "THANKS" are hereby extended to those who have shared their research material with us this month. They are: Joseph Andrejcok, Ohio; Doris and Roy Isaacs, California; Steve Poskochil, Nebraska; Lillian Robinson, New York; and Gwen and Billy Shumpert, Mississippi.