Mayonnaise pieces in stretch-Part 1
BugDoc Dave here, Stretch Tuesday….again! Did anyone notice that Russell & Kitty, Cal and I have now been doing Stretch Tuesdays for a year! It’s been really fun reading and seeing the different writing styles and topics that each collector has taken. More importantly, we have felt very welcomed by our fellow iridized glass collectors. Frankly, we really weren’t sure how all of you would accept the junior sibling of carnival glass. I was also fearful that we would quickly run out of topics, but we have just begun to stretch the topic! LOL! Tonight, I thought I’d cover a group of items that are not common in carnival glass – mayonnaise dishes. When stretch glass arrived, the companies were obviously thinking of the glass as being every-day items, not just for show. All manner of plates, bowls, and serving items were made. Plates, especially were made in large numbers. Many stretch glass collectors who want only one item in each color usually roll their
eyes when faced with a stack of six identical plates at a show or auction! In the serving items, I’ve covered the handled servers (both sandwich and fruit trays), but cheese dish and cracker plate sets are very common in stretch as are mayonnaise servers and sets. The mayonnaise servers were often accompanied by a specific dish, but there are some mayonnaise servers with no dish identified. Most mayonnaise dishes have a stemmed base, but some are merely small, fairly straight-sided bowls. Even more interesting is that Fenton, Lancaster and U.S. Glass made glass ladles and many of these are also iridized! Because there are so many mayos, I’ll only cover those made by Fenton and Northwood tonight.
Fenton’s primary mayo is their #923 item. This mayo is about 5 ½-inches wide and 3 ¾-inchs tall. It has a nicely flared and flattened top. I mention this because the same item comes with a flared top which would make it the master nut dish! The mayos come in all the normal Fenton stretch colors – Celeste Blue, Florentine Green, Wistaria (sic), Persian Pearl, Velva Rose, and Topaz. Aquamarine pieces are much less common and Tangerine, while not really rare, commands high prices. I have seen the item in plain Ruby and plain Royal Blue (where was the Dope Fairy?!), but stretch ones in these colors haven’t shown up yet. A few also have the Laurel Leaf (a repeating band of leaves, joined together along the outer rim) design and these are highly prized because of the design. There is also an oval variant of the mayo which is very difficult to find. And I have seen one of the pieces with straight sides in Topaz.
Northwood had two mayos, one a small dish and plate set and the other a footed comport-type. The bowl type includes the #621 bowl (has a ground marie base that is 2 7/8-inch wide) and the #674 plate (also has a ground marie, but has a 3 ½-inch base). The set is a bit difficult to find and many stretch collectors have to marry the two items purchased individually. This set is most common in Blue, Topaz and Russet, but I have yet to find the set in Jade Blue (the opaque, robin’s egg blue color).
The #704 mayonnaise comes in two forms, one gently flared and the other with a rolled rim. Both are designated #704 in their catalog pages. This item has a 3 ½-inch base. Neither of the Northwood items have ladles. Again, these are most common in Blue, Topaz and Russet and Jade Blue ones are known. (I apologize for not having this in several colors, but Renee and I specialize in Russet!)