Flower Holders - Part IX
by Bill Smith
Issue 35 - March 1976
This month we present another of the lesser known types of flower holders. This one was named for us in the Cambridge catalogs. A very appropriate name: "Turtle".
The first appearance that we have found of this holder was in one of the "Nearcut" catalogs on a page showing Ebony glass. The same page listed numerous items in the Community pattern.
From advertising we have an article which is dated January 1922 and
indicates that Ebony is one of the new colors being presented
that year. 
We would surmise from this that 1922
could mark the beginning of this item. This would make it one of the
oldest types of holder that was produced by the company.
As with any of the other Cambridge items, there were changes in the item as time passed. We can depict at least two varieties at this time. The earlier of these two varieties as shown in Fig.1 is nearly flat on the top.
We can find no reference to this item during the early 1930's. It
did, however, reappear in the 1940's. In the catalogs of this era, it
was listed as Item 70 and was described as a 3½ in. Turtle
Flower Block. 
This later version, retained most of
the characteristics of the early model, but with more of a dome type
top. See Fig. 2 at right.
At present we are aware of only five holders of this type.
Two of
these are Ebony, two are Crown Tuscan, and one is Crystal. None of the
five are known to be of the early type.
Both types of the block have a total of nineteen holes. The outside holes being alternately large and small. All of the large holes penetrate the bottom of the blocks, while the small holes on at least the late blocks are blind. Fig. 3 shows the arrangement of those holes.
We are hoping that even though our design detail is very limited, you will be able to recognize one of these blocks when you see it at the Show or a Flea Market. They are a very nice addition for any collection.