New Kensington will again host Three Rivers Depression glass show

It came in a bag of flour, maybe with a tank of gas, or even with a movie ticket. Often, Depression era glass was the sideshow to the main attraction.

Today, that's not the case with some of the colorful pieces of glass from the era, which can garner hundreds of dollars when sold.

Many of those pieces will be on display at the Three Rivers Depression Era Glass Society show March 1 and 2.

The show at the New Kensington Clarion Hotel will have more than 30 vendors selling and displaying thousands of pieces, according to the show's co-chair Leora Leasure.

Leasure says collectors and sellers from around the country will attend the event — touted as one of the largest in the region — some selling items that predate the Great Depression.

“There will be glass from about 100 years ago, early American pattern glass,” says Leasure, who chairs the show with her husband, Jim, and is also the society's president. “We do have that, but not a whole lot.

“We tried to center on the Depression Era.”

Leasure, who lives in Eighty Four, Washington County, says many of the pieces on display will have local ties.

“Some pieces were made right there in Tarentum, other pieces in the South Side,” she says.

“I could name about 39 different companies (that made Depression era glass) that were located in the tri-state area.”

Generally, attendees will find glass of two forms: “pressed glass,” which was often given away as a promotion and came in different colors with patterns pressed into it, and “elegant” which was often hand-blown and cost a great deal of money at the time.

Pressed pieces can start at about $1.50, Leasure says, while older “elegant” glass pieces can go for upward of $2,000.

“Most collectors start off collecting glass because it's pretty,” Leasure says, explaining the attraction of collecting the fragile pieces. “After a while, we start appreciating the history.

“In the Depression, everything was so bleak, “ she says. “The colored glass allowed them to set a very, very pretty table.

“Mostly, when I walk into a show and take my first eyeful, I see a rainbow of color. Whether it was pressed or elegant, what got everyone so excited about was the color.”

Leasure says collectors collect certain types of glass for a variety of reasons.

“People collect certain colors, certain patterns or certain types of glassware,” she says. “For example, someone might only collect cream and sugar glassware.”

Regardless of what you're looking for, Leasure says, all the glass at the show will be American made.

“The glass industries are just about gone in this country,” she says. “We celebrate American glass and its history.

“It has to be American.”

R.A. Monti is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.