Royal Lace Depression Glass

When you hear the word “royal” what do you envision? Or the word “lace”? Now put those words together and imagine a pattern of dishes known as Royal Lace Depression glass. Do the words make you think of an expensive type of glass with a frilly pattern and a high price tag? Cobalt blue Royal Lace is all of those things and more.

Sometimes called Ritz Blue, the popular pattern came about when the Hazel-Atlas Glass Company lost its contract with General Mills. It was the period of the Great Depression and money was tight. Not wanting to waste the blue colored glass that had been used in a Shirley Temple advertising campaign, the company poured the melted blue glass into its Royal Lace molds and created an instant favorite – blue Royal Lace.

The Royal Lace pattern was first manufactured in 1934 as a twenty eight piece set and could be found in crystal, green, yellow, pink, and dark red. Although the design was already extremely popular, people fell in love with the blue color. Today’s favorite collector colors are blue, pink, and green.

Tumblers were made in four sizes and were used for water, iced tea, or juice. Many tumblers were made, but the huge demand keeps driving up the price. As a result, a number of people include just one size in their collection. Five pitchers in assorted sizes were made in the Royal Lace pattern, both with and without an ice lip.

Royal Lace sherbets were manufactured completely of glass or with metal holders. Those without any metal are preferred by collectors. The bowls most commonly found have a straight edge. The most attractive bowls were made with either a ruffled or a rolled edge, but these are harder to find. When purchasing bowls, plates, or sherbets, check the inner rims for signs of roughness or nicks in the glass. Because bowls are often stacked together, they are damaged more readily than other glass pieces. It’s a good idea to place a paper plate between each dish.

The most costly pieces of Royal Lace Depression glass are blue: a butter dish and cover, a blue three-legged ruffled edge bowl, a nut bowl, and a butter dish bottom. All of these are priced at over $300 each. Many blue glass pieces are over $100 each. Next in desirability are the pieces in green, then pink, with other colors being much less valuable.

Although still available, accumulating a complete set of Royal Lace can take years of searching and thousands of dollars. But for those collectors who are willing to make the sacrifice, the results will be well worth the effort.