Stretch Glass: from
the Glass Encyclopedia

Stretch Glass is iridized glass which has been re-heated after the metallic sprays which cause the iridescence have been applied. This causes the external surface, which has bonded to the spray, to expand less then the glass beneath it, and so to split and produce fine striations on the surface of the glass. These give the glass a shiny matt appearance, unlike carnival glass which is not re-heated after spraying and is very shiny. The stretch effect is sometimes further emphasised by re-working the glass (flaring or crimping or pulling) the edges of the glass.

Stretch glass was introduced in the USA in about 1916, was very popular in the 1920s and continued to be made until the mid 1930s. The name Stretch Glass was applied by glass collectors in a much later period, and was not used by the manufacturers of this glass. It was made by several companies including: Central Glass Works in Wheeling; Diamond Glassware Company in Indiana; Fenton Art Glass in Williamstown; Imperial Glass in Bellaire; Jeannette Glass; King Glass in Pittsburgh; Lancaster Glass; Northwood Glass in Wheeling; Tiffin Glass; and the Vineland Flint Glass Works.

Most stretch glass is produced from plain pressed glass designs, usually without surface decorations or patterns, unlike carnival glass which usually has a pattern pressed in the glass. Some stretch glass is mold blown. And quite often stretch glass is mistaken for art glass produced by such companies as Steuben and Tiffany. Their glass, however, was much finer and delicate, and had an iridescence which was produced by chemicals in the glass, not sprays applied to the glass, even if a stretch glass effect was sometimes added afterwards.