Antiques and collectibles
The marks, patterns and kinds of glass, china, silverware, cast iron and books found at thrift stores and garage sales, and what each one tells you.
Uranium, milk, carnival and Depression glass and the other kinds of old glass people find, and the marks American glassmakers pressed into their pieces.
The printed patterns on vintage Pyrex and the pressed patterns of Depression glass, how to tell them apart, and the years each was made.
The marks on the bottoms of plates, cups and vases: the European porcelain factories, the American art potteries, and the marks found on many makers’ wares.
The marks on silver-plated flatware and teapots, nickel silver, pewter and old cast-iron skillets, and what each one says about the metal and its maker.
How the copyright page says which printing a book is, and the marks that set book club editions and remaindered copies apart.
About antiques and collectibles
Antiques and collectibles gathers the marks, patterns and kinds of material people turn over at thrift stores and garage sales: old glass and Pyrex, china, silver plate, pewter and cast iron, and books. There are five systems, and each page says what a mark or pattern is, who made it and when, from makers’ records, museums and published references.
Glassware types and makers’ marks covers the kinds of old glass, such as uranium, milk and Depression glass, and the marks American glassmakers pressed into their pieces. The museum of radioactivity run by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) dates the use of uranium to colour glass to the 1830s, and calls ultraviolet light the most reliable way to identify it: glass with uranium in it glows green under a black light, though some does not.
Pyrex and Depression glass patterns covers the printed patterns of vintage Pyrex and the pressed patterns of Depression glass. Corning launched Pyrex in 1915 as cookware of temperature-resistant borosilicate glass, Smithsonian Magazine wrote in 2015; around the 1950s it began making Pyrex from thermally tempered soda-lime glass, while Pyrex made in Europe is still borosilicate.
Pottery and porcelain marks covers the marks on the bottoms of plates, cups and vases. Meissen’s crossed swords is one of the oldest: the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) records that the factory’s inspector Johann Melchior Steinbrück proposed the swords from the arms of the Electorate of Saxony, that they were generally established from 1731, and that the factory registered its marks on 20 May 1875.
Silver plate, pewter and cast iron marks covers the marks on silver-plated flatware and teapots, nickel silver, pewter and old cast-iron skillets. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission’s guides allow the word pewter only on metal of at least 900 parts per 1,000 Grade A tin.
First edition and book club marks covers the marks in books: the number line and first edition statement on the copyright page, which say which printing a copy is, and the book club and remainder marks that set some copies apart from the bookshop edition.
Marks kept in other collections
Two kinds of mark found on the same tables have collections of their own. “Made in” marks, such as Made in Occupied Japan and Made in PRC, are country-of-origin marks, under Product labels beside the RN and CA numbers on clothing labels. Stamps on gold and silver, such as 925 and 14K, are jewelry marks, under Jewelry and gems. The FTC rule on pewter comes from the same document as the US rules on those stamps: the Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries.
Sources
- Vaseline and Uranium Glass (ca. 1930s) (ORAU Health Physics Museum), Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Health Physics Historical Instrumentation Museum Collection, “Vaseline and Uranium Glass (ca. 1930s)”, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Article text
- How Pyrex Reinvented Glass For a New Age (Smithsonian Magazine), “How Pyrex Reinvented Glass For a New Age”, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 June 2015, Smithsonian Magazine, Article text
- The crossed swords (DPMA), The crossed swords, Traditional East Brands, last updated 10 December 2025, German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), “The oldest German trade mark”
- Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries (16 CFR Part 23), 16 CFR Part 23 (1 January 2021 edition), Federal Trade Commission, published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, Part 23 title; § 23.9(b)
- Impression line (Chicago Manual of Style Online, Q&A), The Chicago Manual of Style Online, Questions and Answers: Manuscript Preparation, Copyediting, and Proofreading, University of Chicago Press, Q&A, Manuscript Preparation
Last reviewed October 8, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research