Glass Chatroom Board

A quick p.s. -- You may notice that some of my tea cup titling is in the format "Vintage Tea Cup and Saucer" but on some I have put the maker name right after the word "Vintage" (such as the Lenox and the Noritake). Whether I do that depends on the popularity of the maker name; Lenox collectors are going to type in "Lenox tea cup" in the search box than just "vintage tea cup". My cup will appear in the search regardless, but it MIGHT appear earlier in the search if my title exactly matches what the person has typed. It's not foolproof, because nobody really has figured out all the ins and outs of Etsy's somewhat weird search engine (which is supposedly based on "relevancy", whatever the heck that means, lol) but I have experimented with tweaking titles in order to see how my items move up or down in search results and that seems to have some bearing on it.

Although Etsy doesn't have dedicated categories per material under the Vintage (i.e., not handmade by shop owner) category, if you use the right title words and tags, it will still be found in searches.

For instance my vintage china tea cups are under the main category of Vintage, the sub-category of "Serving"(ware) and the sub-subcategory of "Tea Cups". Then I make sure to put the most relevant 'search words' in my title and in the 13 additional item tags that I can add (for the search engine). That results in the title you see for this teacup, as an example: http://www.etsy.com/listing/88408695/vintage-tea-cup-and-saucer-hammersley

The rather awkward looking title allows for it to come up in a variety of Etsy search parameters; not only "vintage tea cup" but also "hammersley tea cup", "bone china tea cup", "vintage china tea cup", "pansy" or "pansies", "purple tea cup", "1920s tea cup" and so on and on....

When I list the Cambridge candlesticks I will put them into the "1920s" age category which automatically places it into what Etsy considers the "top level" category (vintage). I'll then choose the subcategory "Home Decor" (because candlesticks aren't serving/eating ware) and then select the Candle Holder category. That will automatically put "Vintage", "Home Decor" and "Candle Holder" into the search parameters connected with that item. When I add my own tags, one of them will be "candlestick candle stick" because you never know if a buyer is going to spell it as one word or two when they search.

Yes, on Etsy you have a choice of what payment methods you want to accept. I have mine set to PayPal and "other" which means I can specify to a particular buyer what payment methods I'll take; it also allows for the pre-arrangement of a layaway purchase if a seller wants to offer that option.

Etsy is just beginning to roll out a Direct Payment option, by which people could pay via credit card without having to use PayPal at all. It's only in "beta" at the moment, and available to a limited # of sellers, I guess to gauge how much interest there will be. Supposedly their fee will be a bit less than PayPal's (I believe it is either 3% or 3.5% instead of 3.9%, plus 25 cents instead of PayPal's 30 cents).

However, there are two significant differences which are offputting for me. One is that Etsy's direct-payment system won't offer discounted shipping labels, and my security software does not play nicely with the USPS online postage function. That essentially kills the Etsy option as far as I'm concerned. The other difference is that if you want money to be transferred from your Etsy DirectPay account into your linked bank account, they will only do that on Mondays -- unlike PayPal where they put the transfer request through immediately 24/7. It supposedly will take the same 3-4 days for the $ to be credited, same as via PayPal's method.

Good morning, all. 🙂 Again thanks for all your help on my candlesticks. I found the Cambridge collectors society website and emailed them a question and pic of the blue ones, asking if they know what causes them to glow. Here is their answer:

"Your candlesticks appear to be the Cambridge #1595 candlestick. They should be 8 inches tall. The color appears to be the color NCC refers to as Blue 1. It is highly reactive under black light. There are similar Cambridge blue colors but they are not reactive under black light. We do not have the specific formula for this color so I cannot tell you if one of the raw materials was an uranium salt. "

So in my listing I will quote that info so that buyers know this MAY be uranium glass but I am not claiming that it absolutely definitely is.

@amber I love Etsy for selling and compared to eBay I think it's heaven. I sold a lot of items on eBay back in 2001-2003 and now wish I still had most of them to put into my Etsy shop instead. For one thing the selling fee is lower and also there is no fee for photo hosting (five are allowed). I agree with @katie_delano that the individual seller is being not so slowly pushed out of eBay; IMHO it's been that way for awhile. The place is being flooded by large volume sellers from overseas, for one thing. Here's an example: my son wants to sell a lovely 14k white gold and diamond heart pendant that he bought in 2005 for his then-girlfriend and retrieved when they broke up 2 years ago. He's now engaged to someone else and asked me to sell the pendant on eBay. He paid $700 for it when gold was $600/oz and would take $400 for it now (when gold is $1700/oz!) ; I've had it on eBay SIX times, all at the 'best' times of year, and nary a nibble. Why? Because eBay is flooded with mass market made in Asia jewelry and a single nice item gets totally buried in the crowd, despite a decent photo and thorough description. It's so frustrating there. Unfortunately I can't put it into my shop because it's not vintage, although at this rate it'll still be sitting here in its box in the year 2525 (what a great song title, lol).

As for those amethyst/mauve/whateverthecoloriscalled short candlesticks, it looks as though that particular mould was used and is still being used by a LOT of glass companies! All the links posted so far look exactly like the ones I have, and are the same dimensions. I'm wondering if it is just too much of a grey area to even label them as "vintage". They were part of a group of tea cups, a few other china smalls, the china boudoir clock, and of course the blue candlesticks bought from the same lady. I should probably sound her out as to how long she has had the short ones and get an idea from that as to whether they are pre-1993 or not. All of the other items date from 1900 to the mid 1980s but of course that's not to say that these do.

Is there any way for me to determine visually or audibly whether they are crystal or are glass?

Thanks all 🙂 @Fran2 , yes that eBay link is exactly like the ones I have here, except that mine must be the Amethyst version. I don't think they can be lead crystal though, because they don't "ring" (not even on the base if held upside down). Is there another test? Of course if they are 1993 or later, then it's a moot point because I can't put them in my shop.

@amber, thank you for both compliments! 🙂 My avatar is the same one I use on Etsy and Twitter. It's part of an old circa-1850s or early 1860s watercolor miniature that I found about 10 years ago in a Massachusetts antique shop and just couldn't leave without. I have no idea who she was or who painted her... so she's a Mystery Lady!

My second pair doesn't do anything weird under blacklight but I am equally clueless as to what they may be. I'd describe their color as a pale mauve pink (slightly greyer than a true pink but IMHO not with enough purple in it to qualify as lavender... but maybe it is?) Specs are:

Height: 4 1/8" Base 3 1/4" outside edge to outside edge

Candlecup has a flared top rather than a flat rim like the blue ones have; the inside diameter just below where the 'flare' begins, is approx 3/4". When measured flat across the top, edge to edge, it is 1 3/4" diameter.

Other than the top of the candlecup, the entire stick is hexagonal in shape. It's 'waist' is 5/8" in diameter. The 'collar' below the candlecup is 1 3/8" diameter.

The underside of the base is open, and about 1" deep. The glass has the same subtle swirl effect as the Cambridge, except that in these bases, the effect is less overall and more in a narrow band about midway down ... if that makes any sense. Sorry that I don't know the exact terminology for what I'm seeing, but I will definitely learn! 🙂

The seams are not as apparant in these as on the blue ones, because of the hexagonal shape, but they are there; two can be felt on the outer edge of each base. It's a subtle difference but they are definitely there.

I can see a few tiny bubbles under 10x magnification (they are not quite as visible to the eye as in the blue candlesticks).

They both weigh exactly 6.0 ounces on my postal scale.

And lastly these do have a sort of mark, though I don't know if it helps any. On the inside of one candlecup is the number 30; on the other one, there is just the number 3 (no zero). No other markings.

Pair: http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/mauvecsA.jpg

Tops: http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/mauvecsB.jpg

Bases: http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/mauvecsB.jpg

Underside of bases: http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/mauvecsB.jpg

Tops from overhead: http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/mauvecsC.jpg

No alien glow. 😉 Many thanks once again! 🙂

Gail, aww, thanks so much for the photos compliment. 🙂 *blushing*

@oklahomasong_Gail Wow, that was lightning-speed fast! Thank you SO much, you have no idea how long I've spent trying to find anything even remotely resembling these (I requested several glass-candlesticks books via my local public library system but have not received them yet...sometimes it takes awhile for interlibrary loan).

So... do they glow under blacklight because there is some uranium content, or is there something else in the glass that is producing the effect? I don't want to call them "uranium glass" in my Etsy listing if that's not what causes it.

And I stupidly forgot to mention the weight of the blue candlesticks! So sorry.

On my postal scale, one weighs exactly 1 lb 0.0 oz.

The other one weighs 1 lb 1.6 oz.

Fingers crossed 😉 (apologies for calling these 'uranium glass', obviously they might not be but that was my first guess, lol)

Pair under normal light:

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/blueuraniumcs2.jpg

Pair under blacklight:

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/blueuraniumcs1.jpg

Other views:

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/blueuraniumcs3.jpg
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/blueuraniumcs5.jpg
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x451/LainyPix/blueuraniumcs4.jpg

Hm... obviously I did something wrong there. I copypasted the image URLS in the "<a href" etc format (same as I would do for an eBay listing) but I'm not seeing any links in my posted message. Suggestions?

Hello everyone and thanks Jesse for the very nice introduction! 🙂 As he mentioned, I have 2 pr of candlesticks that I'm having trouble properly identifying and describing for my Etsy shop. The first pair are blue, and flouresce a chartreuse color under blacklight (stronger glow the closer to the light; I have a 60w bulb inside a gooseneck lamp, mainly for checking teacups up till now!). I have no idea whether these are uranium glass, Depression glass, or what... totally clueless. Here are the specs:
Height: 7 7/8"
Diameter of base: 4 1/8" outside edge to outside edge
Candlecup dia: 1" Depth of candlecup: 1"
Overall dia of top 2 1/4" (thus, the lip is 5/8" wide from candlecup to outer edge)
Diameter of the balls on the stem: 7/8"
Base is "open" and about 3/4" deep (wasn't sure how best to measure this)
Seams can be felt all the way from the underside of the top lip to the bottom of the base, although they feel the sharpest along the stem. The top of the lip rim is smooth; I cannot feel a seam there but I can both see and feel it underneath. If I run my finger along the outer edge of the top lip, I can feel a slight gentle bump where the seam edge begins. Looking closely at the bases I can see a very faint ripple effect (in other words it is not perfectly clear, as a piece of window glass would be) and there are a few tiny bubbles as well; some individual and others in a line, approximately 1/2" long. Both bases exhibit both kinds of bubbles.

Here are the links to pics that I have on Photobucket. I would describe the color as slightly lighter than what I think of as cobalt blue, but not as light a as the ewer pictured at left on the chatroom board image. IMHO this is more of an ultramarine blue than a dark cobalt.

Pair in normal light:

Pair under blacklight:

Top under normal light:

Bases under normal light:

Underside of bases under normal light:

There are, naturally, no markings, numbers, or anything else that would help identify who made these or when. That would be way too easy. 🙂

Please let me know if there are other measurements I should take, or things I should check for. Many many thanks!