Children’s Toy

Times have certainly changed! In the mid 1800s it was considered perfectly acceptable to give a child an elaborately designed miniature of a real household item, presumably on the assumption that children where just adults in miniature. And The Boston and Sandwich Glass Company was astute enough to cater to this market. We found out about this when we were asked for help in identifying a child’s toy found in estate sale in northern Vermont.  Measuring only 3” high, this diminutive playset is lovingly crafted, and apparently sturdy enough in construction that at least one of them has survived to the present day.

Our collections curator Olivia was able to find the exact set pictured and described in Volume 3 of The Glass Industry in Sandwich by Raymond Barlow and Joan E. Kaiser, on page 227. 

Barlow and Kaiser note there were a few variations in this design, including the flared lip of the stoppered cruet (which you have), as well as either a metal or glass lid for the mustard jar. The authors attribute the glass to either the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company or one of the companies that occupied the factory after Boston and Sandwich closed in 1888. 

From the Community

This is the photo we were sent.

And below is the listing on page 223 of Volume 3 of The Glass Industry in Sandwich by Raymond Barlow and Joan E. Kaiser

Excerpt from page 223 of Volume 3 of The Glass Industry in Sandwich by Raymond Barlow and Joan E. Kaiser