When the Nazis tried to break the spirit of an American, it was in vain. Not only did her prisoner make it back to U.S. soil, he came bac...
When the Nazis tried to break the spirit of an American, it was in vain. Not only did her prisoner make it back to U.S. soil, he came back as a war hero. At 6'4 years old and less than 90 pounds, he returned to Ohio to heal.
Soon it was said that the Army Air Corpsman had survived. An uncle owned a glass company and gave the weak young man the chance to work in exchange for accommodation and food. From time to time, young Ralph asked for a piece of glass that caught his eye.
In the few years he worked with the large diamond H at the Newark plant, he collected wooden barrels full of fancy glassware. Although his branch of the family name had been changed to Ellis Island, Ralph Hisey became an avid collector of the product of the same name.
Later, these old wooden barrels were delivered to my door by my aging grandfather. This new glass came into my life when I was 21 years old, and during my difficult years it was a brilliant addition.
In May '07, my house in San Diego burned down and slightly 90% of the collection was destroyed. What remains are fragments of the past, in which his energy is passed on and continues to flow with mine. I really appreciate that he had every single piece in his possession.
Fortunately, I was taught to give tithing. When the heisey barrels got into my hands, I put 10% in the hands of others. The "passed on" pieces are some of the rare and experimental glasses he admired so many years ago.
A.H. Heisey was founded in 1895. She offered both dishes and figures made of pressed and blown glass. It was closed in 1957. The Heisey glassware can be seen on a diamond H. Its high purity and processing formed a strong following. Today it is popular among collectors and is bought and sold in places like eBay or groups of antique glass.
Enthusiasts for the Heisey Collectors of America formed a group in 1971. Three years later, the National Heisey Glass Museum was established in downtown Newark, Ohio. On display are hundreds of patterns and colours that show the evolving business of the works.
Dozens of animals, candlesticks and desk figures adorned many houses in the early 1900s. Heisey glass was produced in paint sands throughout the life of the factory, but the most fruitful period of color production was from 1925 to 1938.
The company made great efforts to produce different colors, and Heisey glass can often be identified solely by the specific colors. In 1925, flamingo (a pastel pink) and moongleam (a vibrant green) were introduced and produced in large quantities.
Marigold is a brass yellow, golden yellow color. The Sahara, which replaced the marigold, has a satisfying lemony-lemony yellow color. Hawthorn is a lavender colour. Mandarin, a bright orange-red produced from about 1933, was part of a trend toward darker, more vibrant colors. The mandarin ivy vase is now a rather rare and collectable piece.
A cobalt colour called Stiegelblau was also produced. Alexandrite is the rarest of the Heisey colors; it can be a bright blue-green under normal light, but in sunlight or ultraviolet light it glows with a pink-violet hue. Zircon is a very modern grey-blue and was the last new color that was introduced.
It is believed that Heisey produced a few pieces in milk glass and probably vaseline glass in the early 1920s, though not in large quantities.
At the time of the closure of the factory, the Imperial Glass Company bought the moulds for Heisey glass production and continued to produce some pieces with the Imperial glass mark until it quit in 1984. Many of these pieces were animal figures, mostly in new or original colours using the old shapes.
As the economy strengthens, more collectors will show up and start pushing up prices again. They peaked in early 2000 and have slowed in recent years. Sometimes large collections are created when a long-time Heisey admirer dies. This is the time to get some of the rarer colors or patterns.
Artifacts of early American history become increasingly rare over the years. Individual Heisey ashtrays and ornate blankets point to a time when the home was a center of gathering and celebration. Bridge sets, molasses dispensers and fancy candy bowls are today cheerful reminders of times gone by.
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