Question 18: On page 66 of the Third 25 Years, a group of Cactus items is illustrated in Topaz Opalescent. Were there other pieces that were made in Cactus Topaz Opalescent that are not shown on this page? If so, what are they? And which of these pieces is an accurate reproduction of a Greentown piece, even though it may be in a different color than those made by Greentown? Did Fenton make any Chocolate Glass pieces in the Cactus pattern?

Answer: There are 17 pieces shown on page 66 in Cactus, and there were 26 items listed on the price list. The 26 items were all made in Topaz Opalescent and in Milk Glass. Items #16 and #17 shown on page 66 are the covered sugar and cream set. The set was also sold without the cover as a separate number, and then the covered sugar was also sold as the #3488 candy box. The other pieces that are illustrated in the 1959 catalog supplement and on the price list which are not shown on page 66 are as follows:

#3411 11” Plate

#3412 11” Footed Cakeplate

#3424 8” Bowl

#3429 9” Bowl (this bowl is made from the same mould as the #3424, 8” Bowl, but it is finished into a rectangular, squared-off shape)

#3430 10” Basket (Which is made from the #3424, 8” bowl)

#3455 5” Vase (made from the same mould as #3454, but the top is cupped and then flared like a cuspidor top)

#3456 7” Vase (which is the same shape as the #3454, 5” vase)

#3457 7” Vase (which is made from the same mould as the #3456, but the top is flared out)

#3480 Candy Jar (Sometimes called the Cracker Jar)

All of the above items plus the items illustrated on page 66 were also made in Milk Glass. None of these pieces is marked with the Fenton Logo in the bottom. We didn’t start to do that until in the early ‘70s. By that time, those pieces were all out of the line. You asked which pieces are authentic reproductions of the shapes of early Greentown pieces. If you look first at page 66

item #6, the #3422TO Footed Bowl Compote is an exact reproduction of a similar item made by Greentown.

Item 12, the Salt and Pepper Shaker, the metal top is not the same.

Item 13, The Cactus Cruet with stopper

item 15, the #3435 Handled Bonbon

item 16, the covered sugar (also sold as a candy box) and the creamer.

Items not illustrated on page 66 that are authentic reproduction of the shape include the:

#3480 Covered Candy Jar. (This is the Cracker Jar illustrated on page 72 of the new 1980’s Decade book. It is illustrated in Chocolate Glass made for Levay in 1982. The bottom of the piece has the Fenton logo, but some of the covers were made without the logo).

All the other pieces are shapes that were not made by Greentown. On page 158 of the 1980’s Decade book, a group of pieces made in Red Sunset Carnival from the Cactus moulds is shown. These were made for Levay in 1982. All of them have the Fenton logo in the bottom.

There are four authentic shapes similar to Greentown shapes:

#1024 Cruet;

#1025 Toothpick made from the Salt Shaker

#1028 Covered Sugar

#1030 Covered Cracker Jar

The #3463 Cactus Cruet with Stopper was also made for Levay in Chocolate Glass but is not illustrated in the fourth Fenton book. I hope this information is useful.

Frank Fenton

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