Fragile and Fanciful

Glass has existed for more than 4,000 years, although it was not mass produced until the 1830s, when pressing machines that produced glass shapes were introduced. As mechanization improved, decorated glassware began to be produced relatively quickly and affordably. By the 1889s, glass was most commonly used for bottles, lamp chimneys, and lantern globes. At the same time, moulded and pressed glass was being manufactured in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New England, and, surprisingly, in Nova Scotia. In this beautifully illustrated book, featuring photographs of the highly collectable patterned tableware produced between 1881 and 1892, Deborah Trask examines the history of the glass industry in Nova Scotia during the golden age of pressed-glass production. Employing her skills as an historian and detective of sorts, she tells the story of the glass factories -- the Nova Scotia Glass Company, the Humphrey Glass Company, and the Lamont Glass Company, as well as the modern NovaScotian Crystal -- offering a bevy of information on their distinctive glass patterns and products.