Radium & Vaseline Glass!
("Sitting On the Edge of the Ice Wall!")
Let me start off by thanking everyone for their support, well wishes, and patience, while I am battling a nasty bug! It has been difficult to even write, but recording and videography is, at this time, out of the question. The weakness that this “bug” causes makes everything quite difficult. I’ll be back recording as soon as I can.
Last Spring, I explored the fascinating world of Vaseline and radium glass! I hunted these items down in certain antique stores that recognize the desirability of these precious gems!
If you find an antique dealer that is knowledgeable about these glassware items, they have a special display, set aside in a darker corner somewhere. They use the darkness of the enclosed space to illuminate these items with black lights! And the results are astonishing!
These beautiful works of art glow! They usually glow green, like a neon green, but there are other colors, too. They make for an interesting addition to any dining room armoire!
According to “A.I.,” Wikipedia, or whatever we’re calling the Information Highway these days, “Vaseline glass is a type of uranium glass that is typically yellow or yellow-green in color and glows bright under ultraviolet light due to its uranium content. It was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries for decorative and household items.”
Heaven forbid! Radium in glassware?! Yes! And I believe it was good for our health! That’s just based on everything they seem to “guard” us from in the name of “danger” and “our health.”
It was made with radium paint that glowed under certain lights. The “radium girls” painted the hands on watches and clocks with this radium paint, so that they would glow in the dark making it easier to see the time. They were very sought after! According to some antique shop dealers, there are, apparently, some of these items that could be dangerous, if worn all the time. But, for the most part, the glassware is perfectly safe, and may even offer health benefits.
In fact, it was not just decorative. These glassware items were used at meals. They were eaten from, drank from, and they displayed food in a perfectly lovely way!
There is also Carnival Glass, which is just as stunning, but supposedly contains no radium at all. These items were painted with a metallic metal, and sometimes aging takes its toll on the colors of the Carnival Glass. This type of glass is coated to give a rainbow appearance, refracting light. It’s just beautiful, as well! It is also called aurora glass, dope glass, rainbow glass, taffeta glass, and the poor man’s Tiffany.
But Carnival Glass was not as popular as the radium-infused glassware. In the early 1900’s, radium was all the rage! It was in everything! If you needed your shoes shined, they used radium boot polish. For peaches and cream skin, women used radium cosmetics!
I had done a Substack in September of 2024 regarding “Radium Heat.” It is actually one of my most read Substacks, and it lists all the wonderful things radium was used for in the early 1900’s. It may be easier to find under my Bitchute account, as they have them listed in chronological order.
They were not afraid. It was not dangerous then, and it’s not dangerous now. But fear seems to be the thing our media loves to do to us best!
Why not look into these beautiful, mysterious items, while they are still affordable? They become more rare as time goes on, but their beauty doesn’t really fade – hey, it’s radium! Maybe try a radium Vaseline vase for fresh-cut flowers! See what it does! If nothing else, it will be a gorgeous addition to your décor!
Until next time …