Customer Reviews

The Fostoria Value Guide

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are those who impulsively and passionately buy books on antique and collectible glassware, those who systematically purchase such books for their usefulness, and those who wait for that rare wonderful book to add to their collection. Milbra and Emily, Mother and Daughter, have written a book for ALL of you. Grab your purse, your wallet, your checkbook, your credit card. We're going shopping!

Why this book, you ask. The shelves are full of reference books. True enough. There are bigger books, books that have more pictures, books that are hard bound and updated every year. You already have those books. Buying THIS book is like buying a piece of Fostoria- crystal, colorful, wonderful to touch, full of history, something from which you must tear your eyes, something you don't want to put down, something valuable.

Each of the 206 numbered pages has a treasure for you to find. No where will you find more information on the value of your Fostoria pieces. No where can you find references to the 4 previous books so lovingly and gorgeously produced by this team. With this book you have a way to access all 4 previous books in any way you choose.

From Acanthus, Etching 282 to York, Cutting 707 (almost A to Z), The Fostoria Value Guide is where you find what you are looking for. One hundred years of production by the greatest glass company this country will ever see. What are you waiting for? Need more information? Okay.

Worried that THE Guide is organized just by etchings or cuttings? Leave your worries behind you. Categories (alphabetically) are imbedded in the treasures, so if you want to look up "Jugs and Tankards", you'll find them after Jubilee and before Juliet. Got a collection of "Figurals"? Find them after Fifth Avenue and before Finger Bowls. Starting a collection of Centerpieces? You'll find an entry just before Century, which kindly redirects you to "Bowls, Centerpieces, and Console Bowls". Have an unnamed blank? Look under "Blank". Collecting an unnamed etch? Look under "Etch". It doesn't get any better than that.

Still not satisfied? Okay, you've got a beautiful pitcher, which your Aunt Wilma left you. She called it Meadow Flower, you're sure. But there is no listing. What to do? Meadow Rose is close, look there, is that it? Page 109 in THE Guide. You know she got it in 1937, when she was married. That's right, it was made then according to THE Guide. Not sure? THE Guide tells you to look closer in Stemware, page 87. Convinced? Now call your insurance man. That pitcher is worth a lot more than what your Aunt paid for it. How about $350.00 today?

Still need more? Hard to please or just a discriminating book shopper? How about 16 pages of photographs, advertising, and catalogue pages you haven't seen before. How about an alphabetical guide word at the top of each page, just like a dictionary, so you can move around quickly and easily through the pages? Milbra and Emily aim to please, and they've hit the bull's eye.

I know you're convinced now. You've seen plenty of other value guides- lifeless, cryptic, colorless, limp, incomplete, poorly bound, an after thought. Who needs them? With this choice you'll enjoy a beautiful, friendly book.

See you at the store. Or if they are sold out (likely), see you online. You won't go wrong. Have Milbra and Emily let you down thus far? Not even close. Love their books, love them, love Fostoria.

This is the book I've been waiting for. It puts all the patterns into one book I can carry with me. Since it's in ABC order, patterns are easy to find, and there's picture of a piece or design to jog my memory with each pattern. Lot's of good data packed into one book, plus all the color makes it fun. A must have for Fostoria collectors!

This beautiful new book is a worthy companion to the other 4 books in the Crystal for America series by Milbra Long and Emily Seate! It is artfully designed and cleverly organized, so you can quickly find updated values for any Fostoria glassware covered in the four preceding books. Colorful page borders and plenty of illustrations, many in color, make this book easy to use, despite all the numerical information it offers. There is even a section of new information on Fostoria tumblers! This book does not replace the other 4 books -- you need them for indepth information on pieces and patterns, but it is a masterful presentation of updated value information.

Quiz: What is the size difference between a cookie, cracker, pickle, and a pretzel jar?

Don't know? This book won't help. Many of the listings lack physical measurements, cutting the value of the book in half. This is particularly crucial when looking at stemware and bowls. Unless you carry a measuring cup with you, the capacity in liquid ounces in some listings won't help either. Means you'll have to lug around the other books, defeating the purpose of having a separate Value Guide.

The book seems quite complete otherwise, and has clear pictures/drawings of most patterns so you can verify price tag accuracy. No substitute for a pattern identification book, since that is not the purpose of this book.

I found this book very confusing and difficult to use. There are very few colored pictures, and what there are, are not labelled. I would not recommend this book. There has to be a better Fostoria book than this. It also does not have everything that was made in a pattern. You would have a real hard time identifying many Fostoria patterns using this book.