Blossom Time
by Mark Nye
Issue No. 132 - April 1984
The January 1940 Cambridge Glass Company catalog and price list included listings for eight plate etchings. They were Blossom Time, Candlelight, Chantilly, Diane, Elaine, Portia, Rose Point and Wildflower. Of these, Blossom Time is less frequently seen than any of the others.
It is an attractive etching composed, as the name implies, of
flowers. Why it never achieved the popularity reached by other
Cambridge etchings remains unknown. Perhaps it was overshadowed by
Wildflower, another floral etching somewhat similar in nature, which
was already established in the Cambridge line prior to the introduction
of Blossom Time.
Blossom Time first became available during the last half of 1938 or very early in 1939. The first known references to the etching are dated early 1939 and one, Crockery and Glass Journal of February 1939, includes the word "new." A reference to the introduction of the Martha line punch bowl in late January 1939 has been found and it included availability of the punch bowl with the Blossom Time etching
The next reference for Blossom Time is the January 1940 Cambridge Glass Company catalog in which thirteen pages were devoted to illustrating the etching. The last known reference to the etching was found in an ad appearing in the June 1942 issue of Ladies Home Journal. No doubt production continued for some time after that date, but Blossom Time was discontinued prior to 1949 since no mention of the etching is found in the Cambridge company catalog issued that year or in subsequent price lists and catalogs.
Blossom Time is not known in color except for gold encrustation on ebony pieces. The Welkers, in their Book I of catalog page reprints, included two pages that show ebony items available with D/1059 - gold encrusted Blossom Time.
From the 1940 catalog and price list we learn Blossom Time was made
in a complete dinnerware line utilizing Martha blanks, including 9½"
and 10½" dinner plates. (Cambridge referred to the
latter as service plates, not dinner plates.) Complimenting the
dinnerware was #3675 stemware which appears to be the only stemware
etched Blossom Time.
A bell made from a #3700 goblet and etched Blossom
Time appeared in a supplement to the 1940 catalog, but no listing for
the actual stemware with this etching has yet been found.
Accompanying the dinnerware line was a full range of serving, accessory and decorative items. These include bowls, plates, relish plates, candlesticks and vases. The blanks used were primarily from the Martha line, but other blanks were also used to a limited extent.
The Martha line of blanks did not include oil bottles and shakers. Thus we find the Blossom Time line includes two styles of shakers from the #3400 line, #3400/76 and #3400/77. The oil bottle used for this etching is also from the #3400 line, #3400/161 6 oz. with ground stopper.
Several other items from the #3400 line were also etched Blossom Time. These include two jugs, #3400/38 and #3400/152, two tumblers, #3400/38 and #3400/115, the #3400/175 cocktail shaker with #10 top; the #3400/92 32 oz. decanter and 2½ oz. tumbler; and the #3400/119 12 oz. cordial decanter or bottle accompanied by the #3400/1341 cordial tumbler.
Two hurricane lamps were included in the Blossom Time line, #1601 with only the chimney etched and #1603 with only the base etched.
For the candy box collector the Martha #311 candy box and cover was etched Blossom Time, as were the #3600/3 tall candy box and cover and the #3600/4 low candy box and cover. Butter dish collectors take notice, there is also a Blossom Time butter dish, and the #506 covered butter dish.
The Martha line punch bowl, with a capacity of 10 quarts, utilized the ladle from the Tally-Ho line. Those of you fortunate enough to have a Blossom Time punch bowl, this is the ladle you need to complete the set. There are 5 oz. punch cups and an underplate 18" in diameter, both from the Martha line, that round out the complete punch set, and these too were etched Blossom Time.
The 1940 price list also contained listings for Decoration D/1058 - Etched Blossom Time - Gold Edge, and Decoration D/1059, Etched Blossom Time - Gold Encrusted, both on crystal blanks. These listings included the #3675 stemware, two sizes of salad plates, many accessory or serving pieces, vases, candlesticks, the #3600/4 low candy box and cover and three jugs. The punch bowl, however, was not listed as having been made with either of these gold decorations.
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