Posted by Mark (leave feedback to contact me) on July 22, 2002 at 09:11:09:
In Reply to: Depression Shot Glass posted by Derek on July 21, 2002 at 14:27:08:
In the "good old days" you did not have a "den" or a "family room" you had a "rumpus room" -- which, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary (http://www.m-w.com ), was "a room usually in the basement of a home that is used for games, parties, and recreation"
A "Rumpus Set" is a set of four shotglasses made by the Federal Glass Company in the United States (and it's Cutler subsidiary in Canada) and was intended to be used in the rumpus room of a house. Few of the glasses have marks that can be used to trace them back to Federal, but many sets exist in their original boxes.
The "Black Americana" set as you call it really only has two glasses that could be considered "Black Americana": The "Down The Hatch" design with the large cooking pot and the "Here's Looking At You" design with the mirror. The other two glasses in this set are "Good Luck" with a cat standing on a fence and "Bottoms Up" with a monkey rididng a goat.
I do not know of the exact dates of manufacture for this set, but it is a very common set, so it was probably made for a number of years. The Federal Rumpus sets were made over a period of 10 or 20 years, and were possibly made as late as the 1960s or '70s
I have seen the "black americana" glasses for sale with prices as high as $30, but I hope nobody paid that price -- I have purchased many copies for under $5
There is a set of 4 glasses where each glass fits the "Black Americana" name, with single color (black) designs, made by the Bartlett Collins Company -- these are more rare, and again, I have seen them with prices up to about $30, but I have never paid that much..
Call them "Black Americana" and people put a $30 price tag on them.
Call the shotglasses and people put a $5 price tag on them
Mark
: I have recently gotten the whole set of the black americana set made by rumpus and was wondering how much the set is worth i have heard it dates back to he 1940s tell me what you think.
: Derek