which has lead me to this post. So I see this antique pickle jar made of Vaseline glass and my god it's amazing
People served pickles out of this thing? Seriously? I have an antique butter dish that's an engraved silver bowl on feet. It had it's own knife at some point. I realized what I love about antique things. Our stuff is so boring.
It's efficient and modern and streamlined, also CHEAP. Nothing is high quality and it's all meant to be replaced in a few years. People use to buy things for life, they had one butter dish and they kept it til they died and it went to another family member and so on until we all decided we had no use for a fancy butter dish anymore.
Then you have people like me. I want these items so much it's a sickness. I want to use them all too. I did my best at thanksgiving to use all the fancy stuff I have been collecting. I try to incorperate as much as I can so it's not all clutter but ummm... I have a lot of clutter.
Which I added to today! Hurray!
I found a couple of neat things. I got a Chase a First Act Guitar it came with the box which are good for young kids. I figured his uncles could show him a few things and maybe when he's older I'll do what my parents did for my sister and get him a nice one with lessons.
I also got some ... you guessed it Vaseline glass. YaY!
I don't know why I like it so much, I think it's because it looks so unassuming but it has a secret that makes it different from other similar colored glass because under a black light it glows. For anyone reading this who doesn't know here's a little history: It became popular in the late 1800's and production dropped around 1940, the Uranium usually in oxide diuranate form the percentage varies but it's usually around 2% it was added as a colorant and the color can vary from almost colorless yellow to vibrant green. The yellow glass is similar in appears to petroleum jelly hence the nickname Vaseline. The green glass is not technically "Vaseline" because it's not the yellow color but it is usually called that because of the Uranium, so technically I bought Uranium depression green glass. Vaseline is easier to say :P So a true collector of glass won't consider my stuff "Vaseline" but it is Uranium glass and although I like the yellow glass I tend to gravitate toward the green depression glass. And frankly it's all been most commonly lumped under that name.
"Vaseline Glass is not harmful, as the emissions from the glass are just slightly stronger than normal background radiation that we are all exposed to on a daily basis." http://www.vaselineglass.org/
Which is one of the questions my Dad and Marine keep asking.. plus I got my best friend a pitcher and I totally want her to use it for serving and not be afraid of it. I have a cup I keep in the bathroom for water as well. not afraid of it killing me. I'd buy a set of dishes and use them everyday if they weren't so hard to find and cost so much to buy.
I got a black light keychain as a free gift and I love it, I use it all the time to check for Vaseline glass, My dad must think I am nuts because he's seen me use it at garage sales to check. If I think a piece might be I nonchalantly beam my key light on it to make sure I am getting the real deal.
So I bought this jar and was not sure if it was real because I left my keys at home but I really liked the jar so I would have gotten it anyways. It is not Vaseline glass just a pretty green and crackled. I decided to use it for q-tips by my vanity:
These bad boys however are Vaseline glass, they light up like a neon christmas tree. I love the relish tray in it's silver holder. It's sitting on my vanity now to catch jewelry :
And this bird bowl turned out to be an unmarked Fenton so that's a major score a Uranium Fenton! If you don't collect glass you maybe can't understand my excitement, and I apologize for sounding like such a dork. I love Fenton glass but you can't have too much of it sadly because all of it is beautiful.
I had a lovely candy dish that my cats broke but I can't justify spending 40 $ on it when I got my first one for 15. I got all three for $30.00 btw which is a pretty good deal.
I also picked up a necklace because it reminded me of Iris Rainbow glass. I asked the lady selling it what kind of glass it was her response was, "A pretty one?" and she looked at me like I was nuts. I gave her 8 bucks for it and she kept the box. Gotta love the farmers market.
So this is Rainbow Iris glass:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-ART-DECO-Necklace-Silver-Sterling-Iris-Rainbow-Glass-Prong-Set-Stamp-835-/121255769800?pt=Vintage_Costume_Jewelry&hash=item1c3b6836c8 
I'm not sure what era mine falls into it could be 50's, the bail looks older but I can't be sure it goes further back than that. There is not a whole lot of information on it either. Sometimes it's called Rainbow glass, Iris Glass or Watermelon glass, that's about the extent of what I could find. Still I thought it was really nifty how similar they are. It was filthy and I was happy to clean it. A lot of people sell jewelry "as is" because a lot of collectors don't want the patina messed up, But I am not one of those collectors. I love to clean and fix up stuff so it's almost like new all shiny and gleaming. It's a compulsion and I can not control myself. Obviously this is not the case at the Farmers Market, they aren't usually collectors or anything like that.
All in all it was a pretty good day, my Marine thinks I'm nuts and should sell my finds. I'm not very good at that though, I enjoy finding cool things and getting great deals but I'm not hunting them down to resell them, I buy them because I like them and I want to use them. Besides if you have a piece that is fairly common like some of the Uranium glass I have (basic teacups and a juicer) you won't get very much for it since there are a bunch for sale already. The condition matters too, any nicks, fleabites, chips or cracks forget it.
I did find my pyrex set on ebay and those go for a pretty penny as well, my 5 dollar price was a steal. I also found that barkeepers friend cleans them up beautifully without damaging the color. Mine had a bunch of silverware marks on it that soap and a cloth didn't remove. Barkeepers friend and the back of a scotch brite did the trick though just fyi and didn't damage to color at all. I was hesitant to use it on them but I tested a small area near the bottom and once I realized it'd be ok I used it all over. I love that stuff it's amazing. He thinks I should sell them as well but I refuse. I think once he uses them a few times he'll agree, the vintage pyrex bowls my parents had were the best and I preferred to use them over anything else plus these are bake wear so you can use them in the oven which he will appreciate even if he doesn't know it yet. ;)
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