Flowerlites
by Viking Glass
Christmastime at Von Jonnie's
Flowerlites are beautiful, especially with multiple colors displayed together. Inspired by the beautiful photo of Mackenzie De La Cruz's collection, above, I decided to collect photos of Flowerlites since I don't have room to collect the real thing.
My photo collection appears on this page, ordered by the different types of Flowerlites and colors of the rainbow. As Flowerlites are often sold with mismatched flower frogs, I've included a section describing the various Flower Frogs in order to help eliminate some of the confusion.
Information on books, websites, Facebook groups, and companies that decorated Flowerlites with silver and gold overlays or cut flowers can be found on my Identification Resources page.
Peter Christensen
Peter@MyFlowerFrogs.com
Index
Bowls
Other Shapes
Bowl Feet
Viking Glass Company
Viking Flowerlite bowls were made with 2 different styles of feet:
- Standard Feet, the common style in which the feet and legs are relatively smooth. A moderately ornate extension of the base of the legs extends a short way up the sides of the bowl.
- Tree Bark Feet, which only appeared in the earliest years of Viking Flowerlite production, gets their name from their appearance. A tree bark pattern covers the feet, legs, and the base of the legs, which extend only a very short way up the sides of the bowl.
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Beaumont Glass Company
Beaumont bowls, as described in the following notes, are shown on this page under the heading Beaumont Bowls. They have been included on this Viking Flowerlites page because they are so often included in Viking Flowerlite collections, whether by intention or misidentification.
Long before Viking made the Flowerlite, Beaumont made a similar product. I don't know how they were listed in their catalogs, and the examples I have seen don't have a slot for a candle. Further, some of their bowls were sold with lids rather than flower frogs. With examples that no longer have their top piece, it is not possible to know if they were used for flowers or, perhaps, candy.
Like the earliest Viking Flowerlites, Beaumont bowls had tree bark feet. Where Beaumont bowls differ in this regard is that the tree bark pattern extends up the sides of the bowl.
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L.E. Smith Glass Company
L.E. Smith bowls are not shown on this page other than in the following notes.
L.E. Smith made a number of products with flower frogs that also held a candle. One was even named the Flowerlite! However, only their product named the Florette, catalog No. 5250, is similar in appearance to the Viking Flowerlite bowls.
The L.E. Smith and Viking products can easily be told apart by their feet. The feet of the L.E. Smith Florette are long, smooth, and have rounded tips.
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Flower Frogs
Flowerlite flower frogs sit on top of the vase where a lid might sit. They have holes to hold flower stems, and one or two recessed slots to hold candles. Thus the "lite" in Flowerlite!
The diameter of the bottom of Flowerlite flower frogs is smaller than the diameter of the top. This allows the bottom to fit into the opening of the bowl and the top to rest on the lip of the opening as a lid would fit on a bowl.
Viking also manufactured a product named the Flowerette. It was similar to the Flowerlite except that it was designed to only hold flowers. It came with a flower frog with an additional hole instead of a slot for a candle.
The Flowerette flower frogs also had round feet on their bottoms. This was a common practice with flower frogs made for the tops of bowls so that they could alternatively be set in water in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Thus the "frog" in flower frog!
It is likely that today Flowerettes are most often sold as Flowerlites. In fact, they may have originally been purchased that way if when purchasing a hole-only flower frog the buyer didn't realize that they were effectively buying a Flowerette.
There are 5 different Flowerlite/Flowerette flower frogs:
- Small Flowerlite: The flower frog used with the 4.5" Bowl and most other types of Flowerlites has 10 holes for flower stems and one slot to hold a candle.
- Small Flowerette: The Flowerette version of the above has 11 holes, no slot to hold a candle, and small round feet around the perimeter of the underside.
- Large Flowerlite: The flower frog used with the 5.5" Bowl and the Bulls Eye has 15 holes for flower stems and one slot to hold a candle, and sometimes a 16th hole in the candle slot.
- Large Flowerette: The Flowerette version of the above has 16 holes, no slot to hold a candle, and small round feet around the perimeter of the underside.
- Scroll and Centerpiece: The flower frog used with the Scroll and Centerpiece has 33 holes for flower stems including 2 in the 2 slots to hold candles.
Unfortunately, today Flowerlites are often sold and collected with mismatched flower frogs, as is likely the case with a number of the examples appearing on this page.
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Colors
Butterscotch Amber
Please do not give credence to the color names appearing on this page:
- My two primary sources of information are not always in agreement in regard to colors.
- Color can vary from one production run to the next.
- I have not seen the Flowerlites on this page, I have only collected the photos. The lighting used to photograph them may have affected the colors.
- I acquired some of the color names from the sellers who may have made them up to describe the color as they saw it.
That said, if you have any suggestions to improve the color information appearing on this page, I would appreciate your input.
4.5" Bowls – Standard Feet
The 4.5" Bowl form is catalog No. 1007, and is the most common form of Flowerlite.
Translucent
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Opaque
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Silver Overlay
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Gold Overlay
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Cut Glass
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Painted Glass
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5.5" Bowls – Standard Feet
The 5.5" Bowl form is catalog No. 1014, and is similar to the 4.5" Bowl except for its larger size.
Translucent
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Silver Overlay
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Cut Glass
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4.5" Bowls – Tree Bark Feet
The 4.5" Bowl form is catalog No. 1007, and is the most common form of Flowerlite. Tree bark feet are described in Bowl Feet, above, and only appeared in the earliest years of Viking Flowerlite production.
Disclaimer: It is possible that some of the bowls shown here were made by Beaumont and should appear in Beaumont Bowls, below.
Translucent
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Opaque
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Silver Overlay
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Beaumont Bowls
These bowls all have feet with a tree bark pattern that extends up the sides of the bowl as described in Beaumont Glass Company, above.
Disclaimer: It is possible that some of the bowls shown here were made by Viking and should appear in 4.5" Bowls – Tree Bark Feet, above.
Opaque
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Silver Overlay
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Painted Glass
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Artichoke
The Artichoke form is catalog No. 1507, and uses the flower frog of the 4.5" Bowl.
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Bulls Eye
The Bulls Eye form is catalog No. 1014, and uses the flower frog of the 5.5" Bowl. It was part of the Yesteryear line, and was only made for a short period of time and in only the two colors shown.
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Centerpiece
The Centerpiece form is catalog No. 1050.
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Hobnail
The Hobnail form is catalog No. 1932, and uses the flower frog of the 4.5" Bowl. It was part of the Yesteryear line.
Translucent
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Opaque
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Pineapple
The Pineapple form is catalog No. 1930, and uses the flower frog of the 4.5" Bowl. It was part of the Yesteryear line, and was more commonly sold with a lid that looked like the top of a pineapple.
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Princess
The Princess form is catalog No. 5271, and uses the flower frog of the 4.5" Bowl. It was part of the Princess line.
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Scroll
The Scroll form is catalog No. 1048.
Translucent
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Opaque
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Silver Overlay
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Cut Glass
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