- IDGC -

Hello Vintage Lovers...

We are the International Depression Glass Club, of Sacramento, California. Our membership comes from all over northern California, and indeed, from several other states as well. We host an annual Vintage Show featuring vendors selling glass and other vintage goods.

IDGC was founded years ago, when vintage glassware from the "Depression" years was a hot new collectible. When the club was organized, there were few, if any, books on "Depression Glass", and one of the best ways to learn about it was to meet and share information with other collectors.

At the time, "regular" antique shows wouldn't permit "Depression Glass" dealers to exhibit at their shows, so glass collectors organized their own antique "Glass Shows". The IDGC was one of the first clubs to organize a show, and now has the distinction of having the longest-running show in the country.

Since then IDGC has expanded our show to include Mid-Century and vintage glass, pottery, jewelry, linens, kitchenware, silver, books, and more!

What is "Depression Glass"?

The term "Depression Glass" refers to American-made glassware produced around the time of the "Great Depression" -- from about the mid-1920s through the mid-1940s. Some collectible patterns fall outside this range, but most were at least initially offered sometime in that timeframe.

Collectors generally divide "Depression Glass" into two categories:

• The "Elegant" glass, which was labor-intensive, with hand finishing and better materials, making it a "finer" product that was sold in jewelry and finer department stores.
• The regular "Depression Glass", which required little, if any, hand finishing and used lower-grade materials. These were often given away as a premium in soap boxes, oatmeal and cereal boxes, and in movie theaters during the "Depression" years.

However, don't be fooled by the names - both "Elegant" and "Depression" patterns have inexpensive pieces which sell for only a few dollars as well as rare pieces that can run into the thousands.

Both types are eagerly collected today. Many collectors got their start by inheriting some glass from their mother, "Aunt Betty", or a neighbor - someone who originally obtained the glass around the time it was manufactured, and who kept it all those years.