Goofus Glass:
from the
Glass Encyclopedia

Goofus Glass is pressed glass which has been "cold painted" - that is paint has been applied but not fired in a furnace afterwards. Consequently the paint tends to chip and come off, unlike enamel painting on glass, which is more permanent. The most common kind of Goofus Glass has red or green paint on the flowers and a dull gold or silver background, painted onto clear glass.

Most Goofus Glass dates from the period of about ten to fifteen years around the turn of the last century, (1897 to around 1912) although it continued to be produced into the 1920s. It was popular for its bright colors, and being cheap and affordable by most people, it was produced in large volumes in the US by companies such as Imperial Glass and Dugan Glass. It went out of fashion when Carnival Glass became very popular (from 1908 onwards).

If you are looking for Goofus glass, you can usually find items for sale on ebay - click here to see the Goofus glass listings currently offered on ebay.

There is an excellent article about Goofus Glass by David Ballentine on the Glass Museum (click here).

Also a useful little book by Carolyn McKinley (click here) which is full of colour photographs. Out of print now, and hard to find, but worth getting a copy if you can. Click on the book cover picture left to see if there is one on Amazon.com.

References and Sources:

1: Goofus Glass" by G. David Ballentine on The Glass Museum (2001)
2: Dugan/Diamond: The Story of Indiana, Pennsylvania, Glass (1993) by Heacock, Measell & Wiggins.
3: Goofus Glass (1984) by Carolyn McKinley, publisher Collector Books.
4: Harry Northwood: The Wheeling Years 1901-1925 (1991) by Heacock, Measell and Wiggins.


If you are looking for goofus glass, you can usually find items on offer on ebay (click here to visit ebay)