Stemware - 3500 Line

by Mark Nye
Issue No. 321 - January 2000

Drawing of 3500 stem Editor's Note: In lieu of an article by Mark Nye this issue, the following is a reprint taken from Cambridge Stemware by Mark Nye, page 161.

The Gadroon stemware design patent application was filed with the Patent Office in January 1933 and a patent granted to the Cambridge Glass Company four months later. As early as April of that year, trade journals were carrying advertisements for No. 3500 stemware. The line was probably introduced to the trade at the January 1933 Pittsburgh Exhibit.

Gadroon stemware, etched Elaine, Minerva and Valencia, appeared on Cambridge catalog pages issued in early 1933. While no exact dates have been established for the production of this line etched Diane and Chintz, it would have occurred between 1933 and 1939. Elaine etched Gadroon stemware continued in the Cambridge line until 1954. The etchings Minerva and Valencia were discontinued at the end of 1939.

In 1935, No. 3500 was the first stemware line to be etched Rose Point and it continued to be furnished with this etching until the end came in 1959. Trade journals during Fall 1936 were saying that gold

3500 Stemware Line
Common Name: Gadroon
Production Years: 1933 - 1958
Etchings: Chintz, Diane, Elaine, Minerva, Rose Point, Valencia
R.C. Engravings: Adonis, Croesius, Harvest, Victory Wreath
Decorations: Etched Elaine - Gold Encrusted (D/1014)
  Etched Elaine Gold Edge (D/1022)
  Etched Elaine - Platinum Edge
  Etched Rose Point - Gold Encrusted (D/1041
  Etched Rose Point - Gold Edge (D/1051)
  Gold Stippled Edge - (D/1018)
  Pattern 85878
Colors: Colored Bowl, Crystal Stem & Foot. Optic
  Crystal
  Colored Bowl Crystal Stem & Foot. Not Optic
  Amber, Amethyst, Carmen, Forest Green
  Gold Krystol, Royal Blue
encrusted Rose Point on Carmen Gadroon stemware was "the very newest thing Cambridge has done." Production of Carmen Rose Point probably only took place during the 1930s since no mention of it is found in the 1940 catalog or price list.

By July 1938, the rock crystal engravings Adonis and Croesus were being furnished on No. 3500 blanks and this combination remained an active part of the Cambridge line through 1956. Victory Wreath is also a 1930s cutting while Harvest dates to after World War II.

The listed decorations, with the possible exception of Elaine with platinum edge, were being furnished on Gadroon stemware during the late 1930s. No date has been established for Elaine with platinum edge since it does not appear in any of the known price lists. This combination is, however, known through actual examples. Sometime during the 1940s, D/1014, D/1022 and D/1018 were dropped from the Cambridge line. D/1041 and D/1051 decorated Gadroon stemware continued to be listed in price lists through October 1953, after which they failed to appear. By January 1940 the decorations were only being furnished on crystal blanks. The short bowl goblet and the 13 ounce fooled tumbler were not available with the gold decorations.

Pattern 85878 is a floral decoration, of the transfer type and, while no price lists exist to confirm production dates, was probably manufactured before 1940. It is known on Amber, Carmen and Royal Blue blanks.

The Gadroon cafe parfait does not appear on catalog pages dating to the 1930s but is shown in the January 1940 catalog. In 1940 the short bowl goblet was listed in crystal, plain or etched Elaine. According to the 1940 price list, the rest of the line was available in Amber, Carmen, Royal Blue end Crystal. Crystal blanks were available etched Rose Point and Elaine.

By 1949, the short bowl goblet and the largest and smallest of the footed tumblers had been discontinued and the line was no longer being produced in color. Color production was probably stopped around 1943. The small footed tumbler reappeared in 1956 as a low wine.

The 1958 price list offered No 3500 stemware etched Rose Point but failed to make it available plain.