Laurel Band Tumbler, by Bob Smith

The Laurel Band tumbler is one of those tumblers that collectors have mixed feelings about when considering it for their collections. This comes about as a result of whether to consider it a vintage or late tumbler as its production date is in the late 1920s. Actually it is a rather nice tumbler which has remnants of both the vintage era and the very beginning of the late era in its pattern. The result is a plain, but nevertheless, a pretty tumbler for its time.

Thanks to the research author James Measell and with aid from author Carl Burns, I can give you the history behind the tumbler. It is a product of Jeannette Glass who made a slight re-tooling of their #177/178 Colonial water set and added a band of laurel leaves around the top of both the pitchers and the tumblers. It is illustrated in the Jeannette catalog along with the Crackle and Banded Ribs tumblers which are other tumblers of this period between old and late glass.

The dome based 8-inch pitcher is seldom seen and the tumblers were seen more often two decades ago than in recent times. Not surprising when you consider these items are already over 75 years old. The only known color is a nice amberish marigold, but a few of the tumblers come in a butterscotch color that is very difficult to find. The butterscotch color is the result of marigold iridescence over a pale green glass. A very rare uniridized example in green recently sjhowed up on eBay. I have yet to see a complete Laurel Band water set, but I am sure there must be a couple them out there in carnival land.

The 4 3/4-inch high tumbler has a 3 1/8-inch dome shaped base, under which there is no design or trademark. The rim is 3 1/8 inches wide and has a band of laurel leaves directly under it. Beneath the band are 25 narrow panels which extend down and over the dome base. All in all, a nice example of that very brief period when the old carnival melded into the later carnival. Collectors would do well not passing by this tumbler. Happy Hunting!

This article was published in the January 2007 issue of the HOACGA newsletter