As a member of Treasures For Little Children, a national club for collectors of children's toy glass & china dishes (tin ware, dollhouse items, German kitchens, toy stoves, sewing machines, kitchen items & more), I am still discovering new colors and pieces that have not been recorded in any of the current toy dish reference books.
As for me, I was introduced to toy glass by my great aunt, who lived on Cape Cod and collected Boston & Sandwich Glass. She had several colored examples of their toys. Years later, going through her estate, I found a Tulip & Honeycomb punch bowl, a Lion butter dish, and a
Block amber spooner..... I was hooked!!


On the left is the Petite Hobnail water set, complete with it's tray. A pitcher and two tumblers are pictured in clear in Lechler's toy glass book, page 97. Gail has never seen a set, let alone in an unlisted color (clambroth light green), in completion including the original tray.
It sold on ebay Nov. 2010 for $1010.00.
The age & manufacturer are not known.
(Editor's note: From the color, the date of manufacture is most likely during the 1930s or 40s IF it was made in America.   If it was made in France, which is a possibility, the date is totally unknown.)
The miniature cake stand above may not qualify as a 'rarity' but it is not described in any children's' glass books we've seen.  It measures 6 1/4" in diameter and is only 2 3/4" tall. The design is simply sprigs of cherries & there is a vestige of gold around the outside edge of the plate.  The glass glows yellow under a black light suggesting, but not proving, that it was made pre 1915.  Our best research suggests it is Dugan's "goofus" glass ca. 1905, in intaglio.  We are calling it Intaglio Cherry until we learn otherwise.
Gillinder's famous Lion set is hard enough to find in toy glass -
but the real rarity here is Gail's blue milk glass toy Lion handled cup!
Oval Star sugar base in newly
discovered frosted - Indiana Glass Co.
No. 300 This frosted treatment is not
mentioned or shown in any children's
reference books. The pattern is usually
found in clear or clear with gold flashing.		 Cambridge Colonial 1920's pattern
spooners in green
& newly found teal.
Set of Houze toy dishes in Pink-not photographed or documented in any
Toy Glass reference books. The yellow
set is pictured on the cover of the Whitmyer "Children's Dishes" in it's original box. They note that the three colors that have been found are green, yellow & blue. Now we know it was
also made in pink & obviously
quite rare.
 Hobnail with Thumbprint Base in
light blue and newly seen dark blue. It was made by Doyle and Company, No. 150. The lighter
shade of blue is pictured in the Lechler & Whitmyer Children's Glass books, but not seen
or mentioned in this darker blue.This pattern is also found in clear & amber. Some collectors
report that the sugar and butter lids are interchangeable. If you have never found the correct butter lid, then yes, the sugar lid will
rest correctly on the butter base. But look closely
at the pictures...the butter lid has a 1/4" band
of plain glass that rests on the butter base.
Boston & Sandwich glass reproduction candlesticks (come in clear & cobalt).  Melty looking glass,  light weight, a double layer glass base (look for a line around the base).  The originals are dense, flint looking glass with a ground, polished base.  I have seen a pair with their original paper labels.  They were made for the Beiderman Co. in Taiwan. Cambridge's 1920's pattern Fernland
has been newly found light blue.
Pattee Cross child's beverage set in emerald green, not photographed or documented in any Toy Glass reference books. Color photo of a boxed set of Pattee Cross
from Blanche Largent's children's glass
collection on permanent display in the
Mayborn Museum in Waco, Texas.

Swimming Swan variant mug in milk glass (mug #86 in the Mordock & Adams
Pattern Glass mug book) made by
Atterbury & Co, 1880's. It is shown
in amethyst, but it has been seen in chocolate, raspberry milk glass and
this milk glass version.

 The Frog & Cattails mug. The frog is dressed
in a jacket with buttons, holding a tray up
with two tumblers on it and holding a
paneled pitcher in the other.
     

The Menagerie set in blue, complete with the owl creamer, bear covered sugar, fish spooner
& that very elusive turtle butter. These pieces were originally made by Higbee in clear,
amber, blue & vaseline/canary yellow.
The 3 5/8" tall toy Owl creamer on the right was reproduced by Challinor
& Taylor ca. 1885 with glass eyes in milk glass and slag. See Higbee catalog pic Higbee book
pg 178. The owl is found in milk glass without eyes, but this is considered an individual
because no other pieces have been found in that color. The blue & amber owls have eyes
that convex (bulge out). The clear and milk glass owls have concave eyes, but the clear version has a stippled base. Some milk glass owls with bead eyes are even new.

The blue covered sugar and green spooner
in the very rare pattern, BRAIDED BELT.
Braided Belt pieces are listed in the Whitmyer book as coming in clear, white with hand painted decorations, amber, and green. In my 12 years of collecting, the above two pieces are the only ones I have ever found. I have never seen any clear or amber, have seen a blue creamer at a convention. I have a picture from a member who owns one piece of the milk glass... a sugar without a lid.		 The newly found (color not pictured or mentioned in any of the children's reference books) Stippled Raindrop/Dewdrop spooner in light blue.
AUSTRIAN pattern is also known as FINECUT MEDALLION in Early American Pattern Glass nomenclature. It was also made in Adult sized pieces by Indiana Tumbler & Goblet Co. (Greentown) during the 1890s in clear, vaseline/canary, amber & blue. Colored pieces of the pattern are rare and the 'Dewey blue' is the most rare of all.
Only the four piece table set pieces are known in the children's version of the pattern.

Cat in Hat in Chocolate brown & tan paint Plain pattern milk glass table set.
Sultan aka Wild Rose with Scrolling pattern spooner in blue. TWIN SNOWSHOES is a pattern rarely
found in the toy glass form & here is the
pitcher and 4 tiny tumblers!
Clambroth Scenery butter as seen in the reference books and the clear glass with all
over ruby flashing...finial has gold flashing.		 Clambroth Scenery sugar lid - ruby
flashed & souvenired 'Valley Forge".

This 2" tall guy is MITERED BLOCK, Lipped. A J Beatty & Sons made it in the 1880s. The original factory catalog page showing it & a matching tiny mug, is in Doris Lechler's TOY GLASS, page 157, pl 1. The mug is in the Mordock & Adams
mug book, pg 100, mug #533.		 Not a lot of original Victorian age vaseline
or canary colored toy glass is around today.
This little 2" tall mug is 1 3/4" OD at the top.
It is the smallest in a four size set of toy mugs with
different motifs made by Bryce Bros. ca 1880s. Other
designs are Feeding Deer & Dog, Grape Bunch & Robin
In Tree. It is pictured in Lechler M-72, page 143 & in
Mordock/ Adams mug book, #83 pg 21 & 22.

AND NOW, Ladies & Gentlemen, you will be treated to some toy glass
caster sets that have never been pictured in any Children's' Glass Book!!!! Ta DA
Beaded Figure Eight Handle Triangle Handle Teardrop/ Crossbar Handle
The names of the caster set holders do not actually have 'proper names' known to us.
So they are described by the handles of the metal holders.

The final picture is of an original boxed caster set consisting of blown molded bottles manufactured by the Boston & Sandwich Glass Co. and then sold through the manufacturer of the caster frame. The box says, "Sherwood's Standard White Lustral Wire Ware" (inside the S at the top) then, "Sherwood's Square Toy Caster No. 3 Patented". This exact set is pictured in the Barlow & Kaiser Guide to Sandwich Glass Toy Section #3356. Another original boxed set is pictured in the Whitmyer book. The box illustration shows the plain paneled bottles which Boston & Sandwich are documented to have made, although the set next to the box contains the rounded blown molded bottles they also made.

     These are 4 miniature caster sets. Whitmyer's book has the tiny three piece set on the far right with the checkerboard texture bottles on page 103 of the Encyclopedia of Children's Dishes book, but the center bottle is missing. My picture shows it. The same page shows the tiny blown bottle set on the right, but the finial/handle is missing. My two (far left and second to left) have their finials.
      The final piece in the group (second to right) shows an undocumented filigree bottle holder with taller blown bottles, which have their original stoppers (shown close-up in Lechler's TOY Glass book, page 130).
     The bottles were made by glass factories and then shipped to the companies that made the metal holders. Some holders are found with more than one pattern of bottle. The bottles are also named for patterns or shapes...American Shield, Blown Molded (or Sherwood for the wire holder it is found in), Drape, Paneled, Ribbon Band, Double Ribbon Band, Circle in Square, Lattice (Quilted), Diamond, Square, and Ribbed Band with rayed base.
     Blown Molded (Sherwood), Paneled, and Ribbon Band (single band) are
documented to have been made by Boston & Sandwich.
     The American Shield pattern is believed to have been made as part of the Centennial Celebration in 1876 and can be found in a holder marked "CENTENNIAL". It is also the only pattern of bottle to have been found in color....cobalt!
     The sets came in two, three, four, and five bottle sets. A 4 bottle set usually contains a bottle for pepper (possibly salt), 2 cruets (vinegar or oil) and a mustard. The peppers had metal shaker lids, the cruets and mustards came with glass lids, depending on how the bottle rim was finished. Bottles with sharp, cut off rims would require a metal lid. Finished, polished rims would take a glass stopper.


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