Americana or El Dorado

Americana and El Dorado were two patterns of Hazelware manufactured during the time when Avocado and Gold were the stylish and popular color choices for decorating in American homes.  Americana appears to have been released first, but El Dorado had a larger selection of pieces in it’s product line.  The only know pieces of Americana are a pitcher, and tumblers of various size.  The El Dorado line had those items as well as candle holders, two types of bowls, and a covered candy dish.

The most distinguishing feature of both product lines is the large round dots of nearly equal size.  However the Americana dots are felt as concave indentations on the outside of the glass with a smooth inner surface, and El Dorado dots are felt as convex bumps on the inside of the glass with a smooth outer surface.  There is also a line around the top of the dots on all Americana pieces that is not on any El Dorado piece.

The four items on the left in the photo are Americana, and the four items on the right are El Dorado.

Because of the common color and similar design, these pieces are often found now in mixed sets.  These mixed sets are frequently referred to as El Dorado, as that name seems to be more widely know among dealers and collectors than is Americana.  It is not unusual to find an Americana pitcher with El Dorado glasses being sold as a “set” whether it is specifically named as one thing or the other.

Obviously these pieces work well together and your friends who aren’t glass collectors probably wont notice the difference if you have a mixed set.  As far as rarity goes, the Americana pieces seem to be more rare than El Dorado at this point, and Avocado pieces of Americana seems to be more rare than the Gold pieces.

The Brockway Years

Brockway Glass Company took over ownership and operation of the Hazelware factory in 1973 and continued to produce at this location until 1978.  Brockway continued to market the Hazelware name and many of the existing product lines, while at the same time introducing new products under the Glassware by Brockway name.  The first catalog issued by Brockway in 1973 prominently displayed the Hazelware name and logo on the cover and on nearly every page.  However, Brockway soon after issued a new catalog called the Regency Gift Collection that did not mention Hazelware at all.  All remaining Hazelware pieces thereafter were moved to a separate catalog called the Hazelware Line.

Pictured are the 1973 and 1978 product catalogs.  By 1978 nearly all references to Hazelware were gone.  Even the Williamsport punch set, which had been in production long before Brockway took over was now pictured with new packaging under the Glassware by Brockway brand.

The most well known original product lines created by Brockway during this time were Concord, Nouveau, and Monterey.  Brockway also flooded the market with decorated theme tumblers such as the 12 Days of Christmas, Endangered Species, Zodiac, and Flower of the Month, just to name a few of the many collections.  A new section of this website will cover the items that were introduced during the Brockway years.  These items are not technically Hazelware, simply because Brockway chose not to label them as such.  But they were produced in the same facility during the same time.

The Mistaken Identity of Hazelware Patterns

Over the years, there have been many books produced for glass collectors.  These books attempt to aid glass collectors by verifying information about collectible glass.  You would assume that the creators of these books would do diligent research before publishing their books.  Because once something is printed in these books, collectors and dealers alike trust it to be fact.  But it appears that some of these writers are guessing when it comes to some of their information.  The piece of information that seems to be the most critical, but is often listed incorrectly, is the pattern name.

When the proper company designated pattern name is not known to the author, some authors simply make up a name based on the color or shape of the piece.  Some books provide names that the author has heard used in collecting circles without confirming them.  Sometimes the proper information is unavailable and no amount of research will uncover it.  Other times, a quick trip to a glass museum, or a simple internet search, would provide many of the missing details.  When the correct information cannot be determined, these authors would do well to list the pattern as name unknown.

When it comes to Hazelware, the most obvious misapplication of a pattern name has to be in the case of Simplicity.  For many years, in many editions of glass collecting books, Simplicity has been listed as Colony.  The author claimed to have seen this name on label stickers, but this is inconsistent with names printed in Hazelware catalogs and on boxes that are being found with Simplicty printed on them.  See the 1966 catalog page above.  Once bad information has been printed so many times, no amount of printing the truth will reverse the damage done.  Even avid collectors of Hazelware now often refer to Simplicity as Colony.  Many have no idea that they were misled.

A search of Hazelware products offered for sale at ebay proves this.  Only five listings at the time of this writing properly identified the pattern name as Simplicity.  At the same time, there are dozens of Simplicity items offered for sale which are listed as Colony or Colonial.

Another often misidentified product line of Hazelware is Gothic.  Though the years, the same series of glass collecting books have reprinted a photo in which a set of Big Top tumblers have been placed into an original Hazelware Gothic box.  The box itself contradicts the product inside to the point where the author (or his editor) should have know this was an obvious mistake.  Written on the box are the words “13 oz Ice Tea”, as well as “Platinum Banded.”  But the Big Top glasses being displayed in this box are a 10 oz size according to the author, and have no platinum band.  The photo above, taken from the 1966 Hazelware catalog, shows actual platinum banded Gothic tumblers and the box they came with.

If you care to conduct your own research, try an internet search for Gothic tumblers.  You will probably get a few correct hits, (including a link back here).  But many of the results will point you to Big Top peanut butter glass.

Another example of mistaken identity is mixing Hazelware Daisy with Indiana Glass Daisy, but we have already written about that in another post.  The list could go on and on.

At this website, we are attempting to verify every piece of information that we present.  We are researching old news articles, company records, and catalogs for accurate information.  We would rather list a pattern name, or any other piece of information as unknown, than to guess or make it up.  If we have not listed a pattern on this site yet, it may be because we do not have enough facts to present yet.  If you find any type of mistake here, please let us know so that we can correct it immediately.

Is This Daisy Plate Hazelware?

The two plates on the left are from the Hazelware pattern known as Daisy.  The plate on the right is from the Indiana Glass Snack Set which was also called Daisy.  While this may seem confusing at first, there are ways to distinguish between the two manufacturers.

The Hazelware plates measure approximately 9.5 inches in diameter and are more evenly round, while the Indiana plate is wider, up to 10.25 inches at certain points, with uneven points on the outer edge.  The hobnails on the underside feel smoother, are larger, and have an empty space in the center on Hazelware Daisy.  The Indiana plate has a built-in ashtray section next to the cup holder that is not found on the Hazelware snack plate.

In addition to plates, Hazelware also produced cups, saucers, and bowls with the matching daisy shape.  Cups found with the Indiana snack plate do not have a matching flower shape.  Indiana cups are round and smooth.

Free Hazelware with Fuel Purchase

 

A common marketing tool in the American glass industry, was to give away a single piece of glass for free, when the consumer bought an unrelated product. In this newspaper advertisement from August 1971, Ashland service stations were offering a free piece of Hazelware with each $3.00 gasoline purchase.

The piece of Hazelware being offered for this promotion was the 16 oz Ice Tea Cooler in avocado, from the El Dorado pattern. Notice the words Hazelware and El Dorado do not appear in the advertisement. However by this point, El Dorado had been produced for at least four years so it was probably very well known.