Anchor-Hocking's #1600 Line - "Bubble"

by Virginia Scott
Rainbow Review Glass Journal - September 1976

Anchorglass Ad It is rare, indeed, to find advertisements for any kind of Anchor Hocking glass except those for the "Fire King Ovenware", so I was pleased to find this one for "Forrest Green Anchorglass" dinnerware while looking through a 1954 Good Housekeeping magazine. The pattern shown, of course, is that old favorite which is familiarly known to collectors as "Bubble".

It should be noted here that "Bubble" is not an official name for this dinnerware pattern. Mr Phil Bee, Product Planning Coordinator, Tableware Division, Anchor Hocking Corporation, stated in a letter to me that the name had never been used for the pattern, Anchor Hocking's No. 1600 Line. The line has been made in a variety of colors and has been called by several different names in the company catalogs. It was made in crystal and called "Bulls-eye" in 1937-44. It was called "Fire King" when it was made in Sapphire Blue in 1942-48 and in crystal in 1951. The 1954 Forest Green issue was "Anchorglass" and the 1959-60 opaque milk-white and the 1963-65 Royal Ruby was "Provencial".

The stemware shown in this ad is Anchor Hocking's No. 300 Line. The Forest or Emerald green is No. E-300, the E for emerald. This stemware has a rounded bowl set on a foot which has four rows of graduated hobnails on the underside. The stem has a large ball which is joined to the bowl with a flat wafer and to the foot with a tapered section which is smooth on the top side, but is rayed underneath. A row of slightly overlapping large beading encircles the foot.

I asked Mr Bee if the stemware was made especially to go with the "Bubble" dinnerware. "No", Mr Bee replied, "it wasn't as far as I can tell." He did add, however, "It could be possible that the No. 300 Line was designed to go with the "Bullseye" dinnerware line, but I have no way of proving this as our records are not that detailed." At this point, I am going to say that it is my very un-expert and very personal opinion that the stemware was designed to go with the No. 1600 dinnerware. Notice that the ad states, "Everything matches beautifully in color and pattern". Moreover, when the foot of the No. 300 stemware is turned over and compared with the design on a "Bubble" plate, the rayed section and the graduated hobnails are very similar to the design of the plate, but on a smaller scale with hobnails instead of the larger "bubbles" on the plate.

The 1954-55 issue of Forest Green No. E-1600 dinnerware was a limited issue and is relatively scarce. The No. E-300 stemware was shown in the 1956 catalog, after the dinnerware was dropped. No. 300 stemware may also be found in all-crystal and with Ruby red bowl and crystal foot.