Special Event

Pretty, delicate eye-catchers to dazzle at 29th glass show

Need some rose-colored — or green-colored — glasses? You’re likely to find them at this weekend’s Depression Era & Vintage Glass Show and Sale.
Need some rose-colored — or green-colored — glasses? You’re likely to find them at this weekend’s Depression Era & Vintage Glass Show and Sale.

It starts with an inheritance or maybe a memory. A set of colorful water glasses that were at Grandmother's house. Or the glass pie plate handed down by Great-Aunt Edna.

A little effort to find out the piece's worth or maybe to finish an incomplete set can lead to a bright, beautiful and breakable hobby.

Depression Era & Vintage Glass Show and Sale

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Hall of Industry, State Fairgrounds, Roosevelt Road and Howard Street, Little Rock

Admission: $5 (good for both days)

(501) 868-4969

"That's what started [my hobby] years ago was inheriting some glass," says Peggy Todd. "We get hooked on it."

Todd is the president of Arkansas Glasshoppers, Inc., preparing for the annual Depression Era & Vintage Glass Show and Sale, Saturday-Sunday, now in its 29th year.

What is Depression Era glass? It's pressed glass from the 1930s.

"It was called poor man's glass," Todd says. "Ten cents bought a nice piece."

Now, pieces can sell for anywhere from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars.

Vendors from all across the country will set up booths full of sparkling glass and crystal for sale and show.

"These vendors come up with some of the most beautiful glass to sell," Todd says. "Every year I see things I've never seen before."

There's usually a good variety of items, price-wise, from a nice $5 cup to a $1,000 Fiesta bowl set.

The show and sale isn't limited to the 1930s. They'll accept any glassware through 1970. And some nonglass items too: silver, linens, any kitchen-related items and pottery.

"If you love beautiful colors, art, it is just gorgeous," Todd says.

Dealers and club members will also have more than a dozen special displays, giving people ideas and suggestions on how to use their glassware.

"It's amazing how some of the glass made in the '30s and '40s is really very appropriate with today's dishes," Todd says. "It's really timeless. We show how you can mix-and-match what you have now with your grandmother's glass."

Grandmother's glass is what leads many people to come out in the first place, and what sustains the appeal for many of the club members.

"A lot of it is sentimental," Todd says. "I'm replacing some of the stuff I had growing up that my mother threw out. My sister and I laugh, 'We're replacing our childhood.' I promise anybody that comes, they're going to see something they remember or someone in their family had."

According to Todd, hundreds of people are first-timers, many with inherited pieces they want to learn more about. At the show, there will be an identification table where club members will help identify up to three pieces. Visitors usually go on from there to seek out more glass to add to their mini-collections.

Of course, that first tentative interest can easily turn into a hobby or even a full-blown obsession.

Visitors who do find themselves hooked can take the next step by joining the club. The Glasshoppers meet at 7 p.m. every third Tuesday at the Fletcher Library, 823 N. Buchanan St., Little Rock. Attendance is free, but membership is $10.

"You don't even have to have a collection to join," Todd says. "You just have to love glass."

By its very nature, the show could sound like a minefield to the klutzy -- or to the parents of energetic young children. But Todd insists that children and even well-behaved, restrained pets are welcome. Parents should be aware, though that the "You break it, you buy it" rule stands.

"We love to see children," Todd says. "Just hang on to their hand."

Weekend on 02/26/2015

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