There are nearly 1000 different shapes and forms of stretch glass that could be found by a collector. If you add color into the mix, the possibilities begin to get beyond the scope of the average collector, especially those intent on getting "one of everything"!

To the experienced collector, identification seems rather simple, but this comes from seeing and handling hundreds of pieces of glass, talking to fellow collectors and listening closely to glass researchers.

Much of our knowledge comes from the works of true glass historians. We certainly count our blessings to know Berry Wiggins, Frank M. Fenton, Dr. Jim Measell, and a host of others. We also have a very large library of glass books, but we caution the general collector to be a bit suspicious of books published before 1980 authored by general collectors. These authors rarely study company records, catalogs, period trade magazine articles, and other bonafide research materials, instead, they often repeat what they have heard from fellow collectors.

Glass by Manufacturer

We know of nine American manufacturers of iridescent stretch glass. On the linked pages, you will see examples of over 90% of the items made by each of the manufacturers. The first page of each company describes the company and its stretch glass colors. Subsequent pages (for the major companies) illustrate their full range of items.

Central Glass Works

Diamond Glass-Ware Co.

Fenton Art Glass Co.

Imperial Glass Co.

Jeannette Glass Co.

Lancaster Glass Co.

H. Northwood & Co.

United States Glass Co. / Tiffin

Vineland Flint Glass Works

Definitions:

In order to properly identify a piece of glass, we recommend that you learn some of the terms that are commonly used by the experts.

This includes but is not limited to:

FEATURES OF HAND MADE GLASS

COLORS

SHAPES AND FORMS