Glassware

The difficulty in identifying glassware is that it often has no definite logo or backstamp, making it harder to name the manufacturer.  Perhaps this is of no consequence either, as Corning was never the manufacturer of Corelle-matching glasses anyway, and even official glassware has always been made by a third-party company.  It can be a little deceiving when these items have the Corelle brand name on the box, because it is too easy to wrongly assume that they are made of break-resistant glass.  But even official Coordinates glasses are just ordinary glass and every bit as fragile.

In determining which glassware is official, the best option is to study the pattern and compare it to a real piece of Corelle.  If every aspect of the design looks absolutely right, it might be a licensed product.  In any case, if the butterflies look a bit odd, or not all the blossoms are represented, or there aren’t enough dots between the snowflakes, it is probably a look-alike.

Libbey:

Libbey is worthy of note as one of the makers of glassware to go with early Corelle patterns.  It is impossible to say if every single one of their products of the 1970s was made with permission.  There are examples of Libbey glasses that are licensed Corelle Coordinates, but there are many older ones with look-alike patterns in diverse styles and designs.  

Libbey imitated Snowflake Blue, Butterfly Gold (some in amber glass), Spring Blossom Green (some in green glass) and Old Town Blue.  It appears they made official glassware in these patterns also, plus Morning Blue.  There are Meadow, Indian Summer, Wildflower, Strawberry Sunday, Country Festival and Spice O' Life glasses by Libbey too, but these designs seem to be look-alikes.

(Photo: Small Libbey glasses with a version of Wildflower.)

Libbey Glasses:  This Butterfly Gold version has a coloured rim, and the Spice O' Life version is inscribed with "Bonne Sante".

There are also closed-handle pitchers, beverage jugs and cork-top storage jars that appear to be made by Libbey with look-alike designs.  These include Butterfly Gold, Spring Blossom Green, Country Festival and Spice O' Life.  Determining which pitchers are Pyrex and which are made by Libbey is fairly simple.  Pyrex pitchers always have 'Pyrex' printed on the side as part of the decoration, and they are very thin, lightweight and fragile, like laboratory glass.  Conversely, Libbey pitchers are thicker and more hefty.

As for newer Coordinates patterns, they are too numerous to mention.  Most patterns from the 1980s onward include matching glassware, and the majority of these have the distinctive 'single bulge' shape near the base, but others have a thick heavy base and straight-sided shape.  Libbey also made beverage jugs in selected patterns for the Corelle Coordinates line. 
          
Some licensed Libbey glassware is marked with a Crisa logo.  Crisa is a Mexico based subsidiary of Libbey Inc.  Some, but not all of Libbey’s products are marked with an ‘L’ logo.

The typical 'single bulge' shape of many Libbey glasses. 

James Bradley Assoc. (Glassmates):

Products from James Bradley Associates, of Northridge California, are easier to identify.  Almost all of their pieces are marked with copyright ‘1973 James Bradley Assoc Inc’, and some say 1974.  The brand name was Glassmates, but this only appears on the original boxes.  It is highly probable that JBA was only in the business of decorating blank glassware made by other companies.  The patterns imitated by this company were Butterfly Gold, Snowflake Blue, Spring Blossom Green, Old Town Blue and Spice O' Life.  The glassware sets were available in clear glass, as well as with a white exterior finish.

Beverage jugs also were available and they have a similar narrow-necked shape as those made of Pyrex.  The difference is easily spotted though with the white exterior finish on the JBA versions.

Also under the Glassmates brand were pedestal mugs in white opal glass.  They were available in the patterns listed above, plus Blue Heather and Indian Summer.  The mugs themselves were actually made by Federal Glass and some of them have the ‘Shield F’ logo on the bottom.  However most of them have no maker’s mark, but they can be identified by the distinctive 'B' shaped handle. 

Besides glassware, JBA also put their name on vinyl placemats.  So far only a ‘Butterfly Gold’ version has been noted with a copyright date of 1972.  The pattern is not very convincing and doesn't match the glassware patterns they produced either.

Indiana Glass:

From early 1986 to mid-1992 Indiana Glass held a licence from Corning to produce matching glassware under the 'Drinkware for Corelle' brand.  One style of glass from this company is recognizable by the 'double bulge' near the bottom, and so far the following patterns have surfaced in this style, there may be more:

Apricot Grove
Black Orchid
Blue Lily
Country Violets
First Of Spring
Forever Yours
Morning Blue
Symphony

After losing the Corning licence, Indiana launched the 'Complements' brand based on look-alike Corelle patterns.  Imitations of Forever Yours, English Breakfast, First of Spring and Apricot Grove exist with the double-bulge style.  There are other items, like candy dishes, made with this version of Forever Yours.

Dominion Glass:

This Canadian manufacturer made glasses to go with Spice O' Life and Old Orchard.  The Spice O' Life glasses have a look-alike pattern, and their shape is similar to Libbey's single bulge style.  But the printed design is quite different and the French phrase is absent.  Glasses made to go with Old Orchard seem to be a perfect match, but it is not known whether they are a licensed product.  Glassware from this company is generally marked with a capital "D" logo.  (Photo: Old Orchard glasses.)

Unknowns:

There are some styles of glassware of unidentified manufacture which bear authentic looking patterns.  

One notable style exists in Butterfly Gold, Old Town Blue, Morning Blue, Ribbon Bouquet, Blue Floral and Blue Lily.  It was made in two sizes and has a slight hour-glass shape, narrowest in the middle and flared top and bottom; the base is flat and thin.  Another style, which may be related, also has a flat base but the sides are completely straight.  This type has been seen in basically the same variety of patterns as above.

A Woodland Brown pattern has been seen on glassware.  The design is printed on a white band near the top of the glass.  It is not known for certain, but these might be from Libbey.


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