Books and Articles on Contemporary Carnival Glass

The introduction of Contemporary Carnival Glass in the 1960s elicited strong responses from the collectors of Classic Era Carnival Glass. Many Classic Era collectors were worried that this Contemporary Carnival would diminish the value of their collections. Carnival glass clubs in effect "banned" this new glass from their conventions, some by writing articles into their by-laws. Others wanted all new glass to be marked with a maker's name and year of production so that it was clearly identifiable as new glass. There was even a bill presented in Congress to require the marking of new glass. Read some of the writings where people and clubs expressed their opinions on this new glass here.

Fear of reproductions was very real and the American Carnival Glass Club trademarked the Northwood Classic Era mark of an underline "N" in a circle. ACGA had to defend its trademark when some new carnival was made using this old mark. Read about ACGA's efforts to trademark Northwood's mark here.

However, some grew to love the new carnival glass and began to form clubs dedicated to just the new glass. Dorothy Taylor's ENCORE Club ran conventions in Kansas City adjacent to Heart of America so that individuals could attend a new and an old convention back to back. HOACGA continues to promote contemporary carnival glass by hosting a contemporary glass auction each year.

Fewer books on Contemporary Carnival Glass were written than those on Classic Era Carnival Glass. Due to the internet and declining number of individuals looking to buy books, the publishing of paper collector books seemed to diminish before all the Contemporary Carnival Glass was actually made. Therefore documentation of contemporary patterns is, in many ways, less complete than documentation on classic era patterns.

Still, the books below are a great resource on contemporary glass, its time of manufacture and their makers. Today's collector owes a debt of gratitude to all the researchers and authors of these books. These individuals took the time to document carnival glass production of the 1960s and 1970s and without this knowledge we would be lost.


Dorothy Taylor

Dorothy Taylor formed a Carnival Glass collecting club called "Encore" which focused on new contemporary carnival. She wrote three volumes of "Encore" which documents contemporary patterns. She also commissioned pieces of new carnival to be made.

The following three books were published in the 1980s.

Encore by Dorothy - Book I

Encore by Dorothy - Book II

Encore by Dorothy - Book III


Lloyd Reichel

Lloyd Reichel, of Jamestown Missouri, was a long time collector of carnival glass and member of the International Carnival Glass Association. In 1971 and 1974, he wrote two books on Modern Carnival Glass identifying makers and patterns of this new glass.

Modern Carnival Glass Collectors Book I - 1971

Modern Carnival Glass Collectors Book II - 1974


Diane Rosington

Diane Rosington set out on a project to document all the known contemporary carnival glass made as club souvenirs. For club conventions, clubs often made a souvenir piece that was given out or sold to attendees. In addition to the regular souvenirs, the manufacturer whimsied some pieces which clubs auctioned off at a banquet fundraiser.

Carnival Glass Club Commemoratives 1964-1999


E. Ward Russell

E. Ward Russell along with Ted Nate wrote a book in the early 1970s about collectible plates which had grown a large following. Porcelain, glass and other forms of plates were soon being made by dozens of firms and commemorating various topics including Christmas, Mother's Day etc. Even some glass makers made collectible plates in contemporary carnival glass. Below are selected pages from E Ward Russell's book that show carnival glass collectible plates.

The Plate Collector's Handbook