Miller, et al (Northeast Historical Archaeology, Vol. 29, 2000, p. 8) gives
a beginning date for opague white "milk glass" jar lid liners of 1869 and
cites Toulouse's book, "Fruit Jars", 1969, p. 350 for the source of the
information.  Olive Jones, et al, in "The Parks Canada Glass Glossary",
1985, p. 14, states that opague white glass has been in use for centuries
and was "redeveloped by Venetians in the early-16th century" and has been
in use since but "In the late 19th century it became more widely used for
tablewares, containers, and lighting devices."  She refers to a book by Ada
Polak, published in 1975, called "Glass: Its Makers and Its Public." 
McKearin and Wilson "American Bottles and Flasks and Their Ancestry," 1978,
show several milk glass bottles (listed in the index as "opague white"
bottles) which they date to the 18th and 19th centuries.  The terminology
for milk glass is further confused by the term "opal glass" for glass that
is translucent or semi-translucent according to Heitz and Wilbanks, "Opal
Glass: Cosmetics and Drugs", 1971.
Allen


> [Original Message]
> From: Mark Branstner <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 10/3/2006 5:57:15 PM
> Subject: Milk glass dating
>
> Hey guys,
>
> Anybody have a good reference and a date for widespread introduction 
> of "milkglass", either as (1) canning jar liners or (2) bottles/jars, 
> or both ...
>
> Thanks in advance.
> -- 
>
> Mark C. Branstner
> Historic Archaeologist
>
> Illinois Transportation
> Archaeological Research Program
> 209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
> 23 East Stadium Drive
> Champaign, IL 61820
>
> Phone: 217.244.0892
> Fax: 217.244.7458
> Cell: 517.927.4556
> [log in to unmask]
>
> "There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth,
> without either virtue or talents ... The artificial aristocracy is a
> mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to
> prevent its ascendancy."
>
> - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)