Purple Slag Baby Bootie #029
This shoe was made by the Fenton Art Glass Company in Williamstown, West Virginia.It is a purple slag or purple opalescence baby bootie, and came in many popular colors.
Glass was made in a flat section and then folded over a mould to close the vamp.
Detail of side which is covered in daisy and button pattern.
Below, the center back of the shoe is without pattern.
This glass shoe was owned to BJ, the daughter of Lillian P Wood, who acquired it in the 1950s and she kept it in the shoe collection and transferred ownership to the collection after the death of Lillian, in June of 2000. The shoe is in excellent condition with only the markings you wouls expect from glassware that is over 50 years old.
Its value was placed at $35.00 to $50.00 in the Wheatley shoe book in 2001, and with rumors of Fenton Glass closing its operations, the values of Fenton novelties and glassware have risen 22% in the last 6 months. Estimated value present time is $55.00 to $ 75.00.
This exact baby bootie in the purple slag color is shown on page 178 of Collectible Glass Shoes by Earlene Wheatley, published by Schroeder Publishing, 2001 and is referenced in Shoes of Glass 2 by Libby Yalom, published by The Glass Press, 1998. There is a brief history in Fenton Glass The Second Twenty-Five Years by William Heacock, published by The Glass Press, 1994.
Opalescent Fenton Cat Slipper #013
This cat slipper is a new release from the Fenton Glass Company. Although this is similar in color to the Vaseline glass, it does not have uranium in it’s patent ingredients; it has magnesium. This does flouresce, but very weakly. Some Vaseline collectors include any flourecing item as collectible. In this collection only the Vaseline with a make-up of 2% uranium sulphates is marked as Vaseline.
In 1970 the carnival cat slipper was introduced and all the shoes were marked with a label instead of a pressed sole logo. This is referred to in the Fenton catalog as “Carnival Cat Slipper #5290. This was the third design of the cat (or kitten) slipper to be made; the first was the daisy and button design and the second was the hobnail pattern, as seen on shoe # 012.
The two photos below show more detail of the cat. It’s head at the frot top of the shoe, curling forward and down, and its extended front paws.
Another close-up of the detail.
This is the black and silver Fenton paper label which was used beginning in 1970. It is unusual to have a paper sticker label remain on a gift shoe, and increases the value of the shoe (though not by much.)
This shoe was purchased as a gift acquisition for the collection and was not owned by Lillian P. Wood. It was purchased in Mineral Point, WI in 2004 by the current owner. Valued at $10.00; with label intact, $12.00 to $15.00.
Information from Fenton Glass: The Third Twenty-Five Years by William Heacock, published by The Glass Press, 1994. Other sources were: personal records; Collectible Glass Shoes by Earlene Wheatley, published by Schroeder Publishing, 2001; and Shoes of Glass 2 by Libby Yalom, published by The Glass Press, 1998.
Fenton Cat Slipper in Vaseline #012
This shoe was manufactured by Fenton Glass Company. The slipper is a familiar design of this company called the ‘cat slipper.’ This specific shoe’s manufacturing number is TO #3995, the TO for Topaz Opalescent, the color’s name designated by Fenton. The shoe is a Vaseline glass piece and fluoresces distinctly under a U-V light. It was made from 1939 until 1948 and re-issued in 1962. For an in-depth explanation of Vaseline glass, see
http://theshoecabinet.com/2007/12/12/vaseline-glass-the-magic-glass/
The shoe features a cat on the front, it’s head curled over it’s front paws. It is very difficult to see the features of the cat in this photo due to the hobnail pattern, but a different cat shoe with a good close-up view will be posted soon.
The hobnail pattern refers to the distinctive raised, white ‘bumps,’ reminiscent of a type of nail head called the hobnail. This is a common style in Fenton glassware.
This shoe was an acquisition of the collection of Lillian P. Wood, and purchased at Ramblin’ Rose Antique Mall in Oshkosh, WI in March of 2001 for $24.
The first issue of this shoe is valued at $35.00 to $50.00. The re-issue’s estimated value is $30 to $35. An identical shoe of the collection is currently in storage. Its history is unknown.
Sources of the above information are Yellow Green Vaseline: A Guide to the Magic Glass, Revised Edition by Jay L. Glickman and Terry Fedosky, published by The Glass Press Inc, 1998 and Collectible Glass Shoes by Earlene Wheatley, published by Schroeder Publishing, 2001.
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