Tally-Ho
by Mark Nye
Issue No. 467 - April 2013
The following article was adapted from the program presented at the 2012 NCC, Inc. Convention.
The Tally Ho line had its beginning in early 1932 when orders
were cut to use molds from some old stemware lines for a new
line of stemware to be known as 1402 - Tally Ho. Design patent
applications for the pressed stemware and flatware were filed August
12, 1932 and patents were granted that following fall. The design
patent application for blown Tally Ho stemware was not filed until
February of the following year and in early May 1933 was granted.
The first mention of the Tally Ho line in the trade journals came in September 1932 and featured the cocktail shaker. In the October issue of China, Glass and Lamps was this item: "The Imperial Hunt etching by the Cambridge Glass Company on their new Tally Ho patented line is pictured above, it is made in a complete pressed stemware line ranging from the 18 oz. goblet to a 1 oz cordial and also in fancy tableware and novelty pieces in a range of the Cambridge colors as well as crystal."
Items regarding Tally Ho continued in the trades through spring 1933. After that there was little mention of the Tally Ho line in the trade journals. This is not surprising since they tended to feature or report on what was new rather than on continuing lines. The first appearance of Tally Ho in a Cambridge catalog occurred in 1932 on pages issued as supplements to the 1930 catalog. There were four pages and these illustrated a wide range of items including pressed stemware and dinnerware. Additional pages showing Tally Ho were issued in early 1933 and these offered the blown stemware, 1402/100, as well as other items and two small groups of stemware, 1402/150 and 1402/200.
Among the oddities or "Whys" encountered when studying and collecting Cambridge occurs with the blown 1402/100 Tally Ho stemware. The only know illustrations of the complete line are on catalog pages issued in 1933. The Tally Ho folder, issued circa 1935-36, only pictures the goblet on its cover and makes no mention of the rest of the line. While it was available, at least according to the 1940 Price List, it was not illustrated in the 1940 Cambridge catalog.
The 1402/150 stemware consists of many of the bowls from the 1402/100 stemware on short stems. In some instances it can be difficult to determine if a footed tumbler is from the 1402/100 line or is a piece from the 1402/150 stemware. Many of the pieces from this line found by today’s collectors most likely get classified as footed tumblers from the 1402/100 line The 1402/200 line also used a short version of the pressed Tally Ho stem in conjunction with the bowl shape used for the 3129 line. (The 3129 stemware line can be seen in the 1930-34 catalog reprint, etched Vichy.)
The 1402/200 line is rarely seen today. The author has collected Cambridge stemware for at least 25 years and only has one item in his collection, the 3 oz. footed tumbler, etched Chintz. Neither the 1402/150 nor the 1402/200 line remained in the Cambridge catalog for more than a year or two.
In the initial offering of Tally Ho in
the 1933 catalog supplement, the
1402/80 candlestick appeared as seen
at left. It was available as a
candlestick or as a candelabrum with the
addition of a bobeche collar, bobeche and
prisms. For reason or reasons that remain
unknown, the candle holder was changed
during 1934 with the new style using the
same number. Like its predecessor, it was
also available as a candelabrum. The new
version of the candlestick appeared on a
1934 supplemental catalog page and is shown at right.
Two pieces the author has not been able to find a catalog reference for are a syrup pitcher with chrome lid and a 5-3/4 inch candy box and cover, both of which can be seen in the NCC Museum. The syrup is in Crystal, etched Lorna while the candy box is in Amber with no decoration. Based on the etching, the syrup pitcher most likely dates to the mid 1930s.
When the 1930 catalog and its supplements were replaced, circa 1935-36, an eight page Tally Ho folder was issued. On the cover were illustrations of four etchings, Valencia, Elaine, Minerva and Ye Olde Ivy. On the cover was the statement: "Here are shown four beautiful deep plate etchings which may be had on the articles shown in this folder. Write for prices and discounts." The key words are "may be had." This is especially true for Ye Olde Ivy. Evidence indicates only a limited number of items were ever etched Ye Olde Ivy.
Next came a precursor to the 1940 catalog and in it were five pages devoted to Tally Ho. These same five pages then appeared in the catalog issued January 1, 1940. World War II took its toll on Cambridge and among the victims was the Tally Ho line. When the first post war price list was issued, it did not include Tally Ho.
From its beginning, the Tally Ho line was produced in Crystal as well
as in a number of colors, Royal Blue, Carmen, Forest Green, Amber,
and to a lesser extent, Amethyst. Selected items were also made
in Moonlight, Gold Krystol and Dianthus Pink. The ice bucket,
1402/52 was made in Crown Tuscan. Moonlight and Dianthus pink
was used for flat tumblers while there were two steins made in Gold
Krystol. Some pieces were also made in light Emerald as evidenced
by the Light Emerald Sugar in the NCC Museum.
Research done since the 2012 NCC convention has uncovered evidence that the reported Tally Ho celery in Willow Blue and etched Apple Blossom is in fact not from the Tally Ho line but rather is the 3400/ xxx celery. The Tally Ho celery should have rings in the bottom which the piece in question does not.
From the time Tally Ho first appeared on a catalog page until the last, etchings played an important role in the Tally Ho story. On its initial catalog page, the pressed stemware was shown etched Imperial Hunt and Catawba. In the same group of catalog pages, Minerva, Valencia and Elaine were shown on Tally Ho blanks. It is these three etchings that were most frequently used on Tally Ho blanks. During the early years of the line, an unknown number of blanks were etched Marlene, Yukon, Lorna and Ye Olde Ivy.
The Cambridge office staff was thrifty and sometimes used as scrap paper outdated price lists that had a reverse blank side. One such use was the first page of a Tally Ho Price list. It read in part: "1402 Tally – Ho Line Which is shown on following 8 pages can be furnished: Plain – in various colors as per headings shown. Etched Valencia, Elaine, Minerva, Catawba, Imperial Hunt, in colors shown in headings of etched price column." The page then went on to indicate the listing included D/982 or Platinum Band on crystal blanks only and D/1007/8 – (Gold Scroll) in colors shown in headings for prices in this decoration. The price list apparently concluded with prices for Valencia, Elaine, Minerva and Chintz, gold encrusted on Crystal blanks only and Valencia, Elaine and Minerva with a gold edge.
Unfortunately a copy of the price list itself is not known. Whether or not a copy survived remains to be seen. Hopefully a copy will be found. It would certainly answer a lot of questions regarding decorated Tally Ho blanks.
Beginning in the late 1930s, Rose Point, Wildflower, Candlelight, Diane and Portia appeared on selected items from the Tally Ho line, plain and gold encrusted, and by the beginning of 1940, these were the only etchings being placed on Tally Ho blanks.
Tally Ho blanks were used for rock crystal cuttings/engravings but not much is seen today. Rock Crystal
Engraving No. 690 appeared on the first Tally Ho catalog page,
shown on the pressed stemware. Croesus. Achilles and Adonis
were used on the 18 inch buffet plate as well as on the twin salad
dressing bowl and under plate as were a number of other engravings
including Lucia, Cordelia, Ravenna, and Laurel Wreath. Rochelle,
or No. 857, was offered on a total of 21 Tally Ho blanks
that did not include stemware. There were also other
engravings used on Tally Ho blanks, the most popular
blank being the twin salad dressing set. A late 1930s
catalog page offered and illustrated Engraving No. 903
on a limited number of Tally Ho blanks but did not
include stemware.
In the NCC Museum display there is a footed divided salad dressing bowl and underplate, in Crystal, engraved with what is best described as shooting stars. The engraving was then gold encrusted. There is no known Cambridge documentation regarding such a piece or cutting and it was most likely done by another company who had purchased the blanks from Cambridge.
Apparently one of the new trends in the early 1930s was a Sunday evening buffet supper. Cambridge met the service needs with at least two sets from the Tally Ho line. As illustrated one consisted of the 18 inch flat edge buffet plate while the other used the slightly smaller cabaret plate which has a turned up edge. Both used a 9 inch comport with seat. One used the pressed 5 oz. low stemmed juice as a holder for ketchup, mustard or other sauces. The other used the two handled sugar renamed whipped cream or small mayonnaise. The retail store could buy any combination of the items used in these two sets to offer to their customers.
The divided salad dressing bowl seemed to be a popular item for further decorating by second parties who purchased the blanks from Cambridge and then "did their thing." Frosting and the additional of silver were two of the more popular treatments of this piece. There are several such pieces in the NCC Museum.
One of the more unusual Tally Ho items that have been found is the twin salad dressing bowl, to which has been added a chrome fitting and a music box base. The tune it plays is "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and only plays when the piece is picked up and held. The item does bear its original label and from it we know it was assembled by Thorens, Inc., New Hyde Park, New York. Thorens began operations in Switzerland and is known for its music boxes. It is not known if the piece was intended for use as a twin salad dressing bowl or perhaps as a holder of candy and nuts.
Another company bought the pressed fingerbowl
and put a chrome lid on it. It is not known what
the intended use of this item was. An example is
in the NCC Museum.
Cambridge decorates used on Tally Ho blanks include D/1007, sometimes called Lace. It will be seen in gold on blown stemware and other pieces, usually on colored blanks. When done in gold, it is known as D/1007-8. When done in colored enamel, it is usually on Crystal blanks and is simply referred to as D/1007. This decorate itself may be in one color enamel and a rim band in a different color enamel. D/1008 consists of enamel rim bands and it use maybe limited to Tally Ho blanks. Various colors will be found.
On display at the NCC Museum is a Crystal Tally Ho punch bowl decorated with an enameled Hunt Scene, Decorate No. D/990, done in colored enamels This combination would date to the middle 1930s and was probably produced in a limited quantity.
Cambridge apparently did use a frosted decoration, similar to the decoration known as Alpine seen on Caprice, on Tally Ho blanks. A fruit saucer with the plain portion frosted is known and it bears a Cambridge label. If the piece had been frosted by an outside company, the label would not be there since where it is, it would have been covered by wax during the decorating process and hence destroyed.
Farber Brothers purchased the standard Tally Ho ice pail, in all the major colors, for use in the Krome Kraft Line.
Some of the Tally Ho molds were junked in the early 1940s. The balance of the molds remained at the Cambridge factory until they were acquired in 1960 by Imperial Glass Corporation as a part of the total mold purchase. During the Imperial liquidation sale, three molds were acquired by Summit Art Glass, these being the coffee cup, punch cup and No. 76 candlestick. These molds were never used by Summit and were later acquired by NCC, Inc. The balance of the Tally Ho Molds remaining at Imperial went to Indiana Glass where their ultimate fate was the scrap heap. Thus the Cambridge Tally Ho saga comes to an end.
Two handouts were made available to those attending the Tally Ho program presented at the 2012 NCC, Inc. Annual Convention. The first was a listing of the Tally Ho line and the colors in which each piece can be found The second was also a listing of known Tally Ho items and indicated in which Cambridge catalog(s) each piece appeared. The latter listing also serves as a master list of the Tally Ho line.
Anyone wishing a printed copy of either or both should send
a request, along with a self addressed stamped enveloped to:
NCC, Inc
Tally Ho Request
PO Box 416
Cambridge, OH 43725-0416
Requests without an SASE will not be filled nor
acknowledged. Please allow two to three weeks for
delivery.
These listings may also be had via email in PDF format.
Send requests for email copies to Nyetowers@att.net.
