Six Generations of the Poppy Show Vases
By Tony DeMichael
I am a fan of big vases. Give me all the Tree Trunk, Rustic, Morning Glory, Diamond and Rib, Smooth Panels, and Poppy Show vases you can find. One of my favorites is the Poppy Show vase originally made by Imperial during the classic era of carnival glass production. The intricate pattern of the Poppy Show creates so many different angles for which light, whether direct or indirect, to hit its surface and bring out all the shades of iridescence applied to that vase.
The first generation of the vase produced by Imperial came in the base colors of marigold, purple, smoke, green, and amber. I have seen several examples of marigold both pastel and dark. The purple examples are simply outstanding especially when the purple is covered with blue iridescence, as they often are. Don’t get me wrong, purple examples don’t show up all that often. Equally hard to find are the smoke and green examples. The smoke examples I have seen have the true smoke color usually with pastel iridescence. I have not seen examples of these with the brown shade of Imperial smoke. All I have seen in smoke have been very good to outstanding when it comes to iridescence. Green examples are very hard to find and borderline rare in my opinion. Their color tends to be more towards Helios side, and relatively speaking, are not nearly as attractive as the other colors. Amber could truly be classified as rare as only a handful of amber examples are known. The two I have ever seen have the wonderful treatment Imperial was known for when it comes to amber glass. Purple, smoke, and amber will set you back several dollars unless they are damaged. I personally would not have any problem shelling out the money for a damaged one if it had the kind of beauty that most of these, with the exception of green, possess.
Pastel Marigold Purple Smoke Amber
Imperial started to reproduce in the ’50s and early ’60s a second generation of Poppy Show vases in some non-iridized colors. We have a couple of milk glass examples from this era and have seen others in non-iridized colors of brown smoke and green. These would be marked IG on the bottom middle of the base. Some IG marks are faint, and you need to look closely. You should not be very concerned about mistaking an old classic first-generation Poppy Show vase for one of the later generations. The possible exception is when it comes to this in the green examples, which I will explain below.
In 1967 a third generation of the Poppy Show vase was produced in green. The iridescence and casual look could cause you to mistake this vase for a classic first generation example. However, this generation should have an IG mark on the base and the top will not be the same as the tops on generation one.
Green – Age Questionable – Unmarked
In 1974, at the behest of the late Gary Levi of Levay Glass, Imperial made a series of Poppy Show vases in white carnival and frosted white that was not iridized. One version of these vases has tops in all kinds of unusual shapes. There were only 40 of these whimseys produced. We are the proud owners of four of these whimseys and I must admit, I am just as excited finding one of these as I would be finding one of the rare or hard to find first generation vases. There were also 200 white vases made with a flared top, and 200 more made with a ruffled top. These will have some of the poppies with a frosted treatment which is quite unusual and beautiful. This fourth generation of Poppy Show vases is very hard to find.
The vases shown above are some of the frosted white vases with various top edge treatments. They are not iridized. These were displayed at the Lincoln Land convention.
I should point out that in 1962 Imperial started to reissue carnival glass in some of the old patterns along with some new patterns. All of these reissues, depending on when they were made, and who was the owner at that time at Imperial, would be marked with IG (Imperial Glass), LIG (Lennox Imperial Glass), or ALIG (Arthur Lorch Imperial Glass). The colors were Rubigold (marigold) 1962–1972 marked IG, Peacock (smoke) 1962–1972 marked IG, Helios Green 1967–1970 marked IG, Sunset Ruby (red) 1968–1973 marked IG, Azure Blue (ice blue) 1969–1970 marked IG, Aurora Jewels (cobalt blue) 1970–1972 marked IG, Amber 1973–1975 marked IG, White 1974–1976 marked IG, Pink 1978–1982 marked LIG and ALIG, Horizon Blue (ice blue) 1979– 1980 marked LIG, Meadow Green (ice green) 1980–1981 marked LIG, Amethyst 1981 marked LIG, Sunburst (yellow) 1982 marked ALIG. The last two colors were near the end of Imperial production and tend to be hard to find in any pattern. Just to repeat, the only two reissues of the Poppy Show vase during this period were in green and white as explained above.
By the end of 1983 Imperial was no more and the Poppy Show vase mold went in to dormancy for a while. It eventually ended up at Fenton. How that came to be escapes me but Galen Johnson related an interesting story to me at the most recent Lincoln Land Carnival Convention in Milwaukee. In the later years of Imperial’s existence Galen said Imperial and Fenton exchanged assets and labor with one another. Imperial was indebted to Fenton for services rendered. When it came time for Imperial to settle up with Fenton, their financial situation was such that it was theorized they repaid Fenton by turning over possession of molds to Fenton. One of those molds was said to be the Windmill mold. Could it be the Poppy Show vase mold was also a part of the settlement? Interesting theory.
At any rate, the Poppy Show Mold lay dormant until it was resurrected by Fenton and by Singleton Bailey in particular. In September of 1995 Fenton and Singleton Bailey introduced what would amount to the fifth generation of Poppy Show vases. The first vase produced was done in what was described as spruce green carnival. New versions were introduced every few months, each with a different color or shape. Some were iridized, some were not. A total of thirty different colors were reissued over the next several years. The initial price for these if ordered from Singleton Bailey was $59.95. The first few were sold for that price. Eventually the price rose gradually to $100 by the end of production of these. The last vase in the regular line of these vases was offered for sale in July of 2001. With the exception of three versions, all vases had a ruffled top.
Three of them had what was described as a “tulip” top. Carnival collectors would refer to this shape as JIP (Jack-in-the- Pulpit). There were less than 200 of each version made. The numbers varied from a low of 55 for the ice blue tulip top to a high of 192 for the ruby red carnival tulip top. We were lucky enough to know a collector who bought every one of these Singleton Bailey reissues. We were able to purchase the whole collection and we have them all displayed in our living room. We have them arranged in the order they were introduced to the public.
The DeMichaels display some of their Singleton Bailey vases on shelving on their walls.
Left to right: Martha Stewart green, shell pink iridized, black carnival tulip top, pink chiffon, iridized green, Burmese iridized, cranberry opal, ice blue tulip top, emerald green, iridized yellow topaz over milk glass, ruby carnival tulip top, iridized emerald green over milk glass, iridized blue topaz, iridized cranberry opal, turquoise carnival, iridized yellow topaz whimsey top (one of a kind), yellow Burmese (one of a kind)
L to R: spruce green, Celeste blue, black amethyst, red, cobalt, Burmese, opaline, champagne, topaz opal satin not carnival, topaz opal carnival, gold carnival, plum, sea green, violet, blue Burmese, aqua iridized, milk glass iridized.
After the last in the regular line of these vases was issued in July of 2002 with a beautiful cranberry opal carnival example, a few whimsies were made in some different shapes and colors. A few of these are most likely one of a kind and if you find one you are quite fortunate indeed. If it has anything but a ruffled or JIP top, it is a whimsey and should be considered quite rare. I understand a few, in cranberry opal, had handles attached and converted into pitchers.
The latest and last generation of the Poppy Show vase was produced by Fenton for Dick Betker. It was made to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of carnival glass in the United States. Fenton produced its first carnival in 1907. These vases were produced in pastel aqua opal carnival. They are quite beautiful. A few were made with different tops. Most had the ruffled top. There was a sticker placed on the bottom of the base of each commemorating the occasion.
The values of all these vases, both old and newer versions, vary in price like any other piece of carnival glass. Of course, the first generations because of their scarcity and beauty command four figure prices. The exception would be the marigold examples as they seem to turn up more often than any other color. Green examples of the first generation also can be had for lower prices because, frankly, they lack the beauty of the other colors. I know of no emerald green examples from the first generation of Poppy Show vases. There was an emerald green vase done by Singleton Bailey in November of 2001. If you want to see what an old would look like in emerald green, find yourself one of the absolutely stunning examples. Even though some of these reissues sell for $150 or even less, I believe some day their value will appreciate due to the relatively small number that were made and their inherent beauty.
Contemporary vases in the left photo are black amethyst and red. The right photo shows blue and Burmese vases.
Photos by Tony DeMIchael.
This article first appeared in the ICGA Pump in the September 2018 issue and is reprinted with permission.