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Posted 2 years ago
Alfredo
(351 items)
In the 1900 BB catalog there appears an advertisement for a pair of strangely shaped Bohemian thorn vases (pic 1). I soon had several examples of the first shape. The second proved almost impossible to find. I found a photo of a similar but not identical one in a book of Victorian British design: it has a single opening, not two (picture 2). I finally found a single opening vase, combining elements of two shapes (pic.3). It consists of a single piece of glass, twisted in the characteristic "frog legs" shape, one end leading to the opening, and the second twisting into a graceful wrap-around tail, as it appears in the pink vase, the first I find with a spiral shape AND NO THORNS! (Pic. 4). By the way, this line also appears in 12" and even 13".
I'm still looking for a double opening frog legs vase. Please, help if you can!
Bohemian Art GlassBohemian art glass was made in and around the present-day Czech Republic du…
Al,
What's the "BB catalog"? Very interesting vases! I'm pretty sure many thorns didn't survive the years.
Sorry, I use the term so much, I tend to think everyone knows what I mean! Butler Brothers, whose 1900-1930's wholesale glass catalogs document quite a bit of Bohemian/Czecho-Slovakia/Tango imports being sold in that period.
There wasn't much profit in these vases if sold at the suggested price (i.e., 18 cents ea.), though I wonder what 18 cents actually bought back in 1900. Maybe a couple of hamburgers?
It is a 50% mark up, so not bad!
I was curious too and found a site that had the average weekly income of the 1910s (decade) at about $15.
I also found the first minimum wage was set at 25 cents in 1938!
Obviously, the dollar went a lot farther in those times.
Scott
It says so clearly: to retail at half a dollar. That was more than many people could afford in 1900. At the price could go up from there, I assume. Basically, this is the poor man's luxury glass.
$.18 reflected the profit on the 50 cent sale-- actually closer to $.17.