Oh, My Stars!
by Georgia G. Otten
Issue No. 327 - July 2000
If you think about it you already know more about stars than you realize. For example, there are Brenda, Bart and Ringo. There are rising stars, falling stars, and shooting stars. Not to mention the witnesses, the gazers, and the trekkers. There are people with stars in their eyes. There are those who want to hitch their wagon to a star or simply want to swing on a star. There are movie stars, star-studded evenings, and even a starfish. And of course, there are Cambridge stars. At this time I will only consider the glass not the people!
A Cambridge Star is Born
It was not long into the life of the Cambridge Glass Company until there
was a star. The January 1908 issue of Glass and Pottery World featured
a Cambridge advertisement which introduced the new Near Cut patterns.
As illustrated in that ad, they were "Ribbon" and "Star." See drawing at left.
The Shape of Stars to Come
Presented in the Jenuary 1940 Catalog were items made in the shape of a star. First, the candleholders: 2½", 4", 5", 11" sizes. The candleholders, other than the 11", were advertised as being made in Crystal and Moonlight; however, the 4" and 5" stars are known in Forest Green and the 2½" star is known in Amethyst and Amber.
Sometime before August 1, 1940, addtional pages ware added to the catalog. Making an appearance as pert of the Pristine line was the No. 440 10" Star bowl. The number of star items in the Pristine Line was increased in June 1941. Offered was the star ashtray in sizes 4", 5", 6½", and 7". Also available was No. 308 7" Star bowl. With a ladle that bowl becomes the 7" mayo, and with a lid, it becomes the 7" Star candy box.
Twinkle, Twinkle, R.C. Star
If you want to see stars shining brightly, you need only to look at the Rock Crystal engravings by Cambridge that feature a star: Star (4), #953 American Star, Star 1016, Star 1060, Startburst 4P and Starlite 10P.
Give That Man a Gold Star
This was accomplished with the introduction of the Ebon line in early 1954. Ebon will be found plain or with one of two decorates. One of the decorates is small gold stars, D/Stars. Cambridge also had an etching named Stars and by means of an application of gold, a ditferent decorate, "Stars" was created. Both the etching and its decorate "Stars" can be found on No. 1528 10" vase.
Hopefully you are now "star-struck" and want to go out looking for these items to add to your collection. If you do, and if you encounter a little trouble finding them all and you say "rats!", just look at it this way: "rats" spelled backwards is STAR. And when you do find them all, just thank your Lucky Stars ... Cambridge stars, that is.
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