When the Nazis tried to break the spirit of an American, it was useless. Your prisoner not only returned to American soil, he returned as a war hero. At 6’4 and under 90 pounds, he returned home to Ohio to heal.
Soon, word spread that the Army Air Corps member had survived. An uncle owned a glass company and gave the weak young man the opportunity to work in exchange for room and board. Every now and then, young Ralph asked for a piece of glass that caught his eye.
During the few years he worked at the Newark plant with the large H diamond, he accumulated wooden barrels filled with elegant glassware. Although his branch of the surname had been changed to Ellis Island, Ralph Hisey became an avid collector of the eponymous product.
Later, my elderly grandfather delivered those old wooden barrels to my door. That perfectly good glass came into my life when I turned 21 and during my years of struggle, it was a brilliant addition.
In May 2007, my San Diego home burned down and 90% of the collection was easily destroyed. What remains are fragments of the past where her energy is transmitted and continues with mine flowing through her. I treasure that it held every item.
Fortunately, they taught me how to tithe. When the Heisey barrels passed into my hands, I put 10% in the hands of others. The ‘passed down’ pieces are some of the rare and experimental glass that he admired so many years ago.
The AH Heisey Company was formed in 1895. It offered both tableware and figurines in blown and pressed glass. It closed in 1957. Heisey glassware is identifiable by an H diamond. Its high clarity and finish generated a large following. It is now popular with collectors and is bought and sold on places like eBay or antique glass groups.
The Heisey Collectors Enthusiasts of America formed a group in 1971. Three years later, the Heisey National Museum of Glass was created in downtown Newark, Ohio. Hundreds of patterns and colors are displayed showing the evolution of the plant business.
Dozens of animals, candleabras, and stationery adorned many homes in the early 1900s. Heisey glass was produced in colors for the life of the factory, but the most prolific period of color-making was from 1925 to 1938.
The company went to great lengths to produce distinct colors, and Heisey glass can often be identified only by specific colors. In 1925, Flamingo (a pastel pink) and Moongleam (a bright green) were introduced and produced in large numbers.
Calendula is a coppery golden yellow color. Sahara, which replaced Marigold, is a satisfying soft lemon yellow color. Hawthorne is a lavender color. The tangerine, a bright orange-red produced around 1933, was part of a trend toward darker, more vibrant colors. The Tangerine Ivy Vase is quite a rare and collectible piece today.
A cobalt color called Stiegel Blue was also produced. Alexandrite is the rarest of the Heisey colors; It may be a pale greenish-blue under normal light, but in sunlight or ultraviolet light, it glows a lavender-pink hue. Zircon is a very modern grayish blue and was the last new color introduced.
Heisey is believed to have made some pieces of milk glass in its early years of production and probably produced Vaseline glass in the early 1920s as well, though not in large quantities.
At the time the factory closed, the Imperial Glass Company purchased the molds for Heisey glass production and continued to produce some pieces under the Imperial Glass brand until they closed in 1984. Many of these pieces were animal figurines, mostly in new or original colors using old molds.
As the economy strengthens, more collectors will emerge and start to push prices back up. They peaked in early 2000 and slowed in recent years. Sometimes large collections show up when a longtime Heisey fan passes away. That’s the time to snatch up some of the weirder colors or patterns.
Artifacts from early American history are becoming scarcer over the years. Individual Heisey ashtrays and elaborate dinner sets hint at a time when home was a center of gathering and celebration. Bridge sets, molasses dispensers, and elegant candy dishes are now joyous memories of yesteryear.