Notes from Cambridge Glass Workers
compiled by Lynn
Welker
Issue #81 - January 1980
The Owl Lamp was made in crystal, azurite and ebony as well as the colors ivory and brown enamel fired over ivory that are usually seen.
Glass canes were made as whimseys by the workers at the Cambridge Glass plant. Some workers say that they were made to be carried in parades. Some have been seen that are hollow with a small hole in them in which to carry whiskey to be drunk during the parade. Others were made as good luck tokens for new brides. A bride was said to have a happy life if a glass cane was hung over the doorway.
The lady gracing the Flying Lady bowl is said to have been modeled after a particular lady who came to Cambridge as a trapeze artist and was a particular favorite of the glass workers. This sounds like one of those stories. Can anyone prove or disprove it? Let us hear. Maybe someone out there knows the name of the lady.
Cambridge Glass was shipped to South America, England and Japan during the height of its popularity.
Cambridge animal bookends and Buddhas were used by many glass workers as door stops. Some of the unusual ones seen in workers' homes are Crown Tuscan eagles and Scotties that are either half crystal and half bluebell or half crystal and half Royal Blue. One worker is still using the large 8" Buddha as a doorstop.