Gay fad glasses

Six decades after its closing in , Gay Fad Studios has boldly reemerged. A trailblazing legacy reignited with newfound creativity. Explore new and exclusive glassware decorated with time-honored methods and materials—all from Ohio. New Frosted Starburst Collection.

gay glass

Select one style or mix and match to make a fun set. Fan Favorites. Gay Fad Studios’ designs were known for the detail patterns and vibrant colors. Choose from our large selection of unique and hard-to-find Gay Fad Mid-Century cocktail glassware and barware, perfect for entertaining or for a special gift. Check out our gay fad drinking glasses selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our tumblers & water glasses shops.

Gay Fad glassware is identifiable from its wide variety of glassware, hand-painted designs and prints, and mid-century barware —often frosted. The most popular Gay Fad pieces to collect are juice pitcher and glasses sets, cookie jars, frosted barware, “Tipsy Drunk” martini glasses, and Fire King-collaborated flower glassware.

The Gay Fad Studios Glass Museum offers the largest comprehensive collection of nearly 3, pieces of original Gay Fad Studios glassware, boxes, packaging, never-seen-before photos, catalogs, newspaper clippings, and artwork from Midcentury Glassware Wonder. Fran Taylor blazed a pioneering trail in midcentury glassware while shattering norms one glass at a time.

Adept with visionary product and business insight, Taylor defined an era of midcentury glassware design with profound creativity and innovation. The spark of creativity. Fran Taylor navigated life with profound creativity and perseverance.

Her boundless talent and vision inspired her to develop a unique company with profound purpose. This is her story. Having navigated a difficult childhood and the economic downturn of the Great Depression, Fran used her talent to explore how every day functional items could make art more accessible.

Her effort culminated in the creation of Gay Fad Studios. Loosely meaning happy trend, Gay Fad led the pack of midcentury decorated glassware where each piece was an achievement in artistry and innovation. A picture perfect beginning. She sold them to three department stores in Detroit, Michigan and delighted customers with their beautiful decorations. Despite her friends ' initial misgivings about the investment, the wastepaper baskets proved to be an immediate success.

Due to popular demand, Fran doubled, tripled, and quadrupled production. Close friends like artist, and later Art Director, Bill Butcher laid the foundation for a company that was about to take off into the stratosphere. Over five years, they hand - painted a wide variety of household and kitchen items, but an unforeseen challenge would shift Gay Fad to take an amazing turn. Hand painted wastepaper basket, c.

In , she moved from Detroit to Lancaster, Ohio, a town booming in glassware production. All this in just six short months. From here, Gay Fad would become an influential force. Bill Butcher and Fran Taylor, c. Fran designed and oversaw the production of an open concept building where the studio functioned among other aspects of the business.

The crisp white exterior was punctuated by a bold red entrance. The lower level served as daycare and after work recreational space for employees. The building housed a custom lehr and a dock for shipping and receiving from passing trains. Over the next few years, Gay Fad would occupy three additional spaces in Lancaster, Ohio. Main headquarters. Artist Studio.

Each artist memorized up to nine Gay Fad patterns captured on various glass styles, shakers, and pitchers. Each station operated like a turntable where the artist could manually rotate the table and continue painting each piece. In the center of each table was a master sample for quality control and reference. Later techniques would incorporate decoration like silkscreening, precious metals like 24k gold, frit, and transluscent colors.