I have always shopped in thrift stores, but I’d never seen more than two or three coffee mugs of the same design at the same time. All I knew was that they went very well with my old style kitchen. I could hang these trim white mugs on my red mug rack and they would look cheerful and be useful. And there were six of them!
After I brought them home, I got curious and turned them over to read the inscription on the bottom. All of them said “Fire King” but the symbols were different. Some had an anchor in the middle, others said “Anchor Hocking”; still others just said “Fire King.”
Then…
My sister in law noticed the Fire King mugs and brought me two more and apologized that they were not the pure white of the set I had, but a pearl cream color. (I later discovered the color was called “clambroth.”)
Then…
I found two more Fire King mugs at the local Salvation Army store, this time with pheasants on them.
Then…
I happened to remember my Grandmother’s coffee mugs. They were the exact same as mine, but they were pale green. By that time my curiousity had been awakened, and I was hooked.
Still stumbling in ignorance, I went to the library where I came across a book (Kitchen Glassware) by Gene Florence – and there it was! Not the white or clambroth, but the jadite green of my Grandmother’s Fire King mugs.
From then on, even my husband knew what to get me for Christmas and Mother’s Day and my birthday. If not a Fire King piece, then a book about it!
My small collection is the result of hundreds of hours of poking around in dusty antique stores or blistering hot garage sale tables looking for a Fire King trademark. Sometimes the only thing I find is someone who knows more than I do – and that’s as important as finding that special piece.
As time went on, I discovered that, while Anchor Hocking is a little different from Coca Cola or McDonald’s, its American history is just as much a part of our culture as any other commercial icon. Anchor Hocking – and more specifically, Fire King – is collected, displayed, bought, sold, and discovered in dusty attics and old factories across the nation. There are newsletters devoted to this oven proof glassware; clubs and shows and even a museum are witnesses to the popularity of Fire King.
I also found out that, because of the popularity of Fire King, reproductions have been imported from Asia and Brazil. You have to be careful to not be scammed out of your money, as dealers in fakery list them on as the real thing.
I started collecting Fire King mugs, then went to oven ware and mixing bowls, but I enjoyed so many of the colors and shapes that I never settled on one pattern. You might find yourself in love with Peach Lustre or pitchers or restaurant ware.
You may decide that you want to go to Fire King shows and hobnob with the Big Names in depression glass circles, or you might decide you don’t want to collect it at all. That’s ok. Fire King is an American icon; a relic of days gone by; a symbol of capitalist ingenuity and resilience.
I’m not an advertisement for Anchor Hocking. They’ve changed many times over the years, so the company that is Anchor Hocking now is not the same as it was, but… long live Fire King!
