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Jadeite was made by three different American companies at the height of its popularity, beginning in the Depression. CONTRIBUTED
The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center (434 S. Main St., Madison) is hosting another of its Collector’s Showcase exhibits through the end of December, featuring kitchen ceramics made of Jadeite glass, owned by Karen Massey, and a collection of 19th-century handwritten recipes from local families, now owned by Becky Vickery. The Cultural Center is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday each week.
Jadeite was made by three different American companies at the height of its popularity, beginning in the Depression era. In 1930, the McKee Glass Company was the first to release so-called “jade glass,” with these pieces easily distinguishable by a distinct McK mark.
Two years later, McKee’s rival, the Jeannette Glass Company, began production of similar items, including mixing bowls, shakers, canisters, refrigerator dishes, and juice reamers. Most Jeannette pieces are not marked.
In 1945, jadeite dinnerware came onto the scene from the Anchor Hocking Fire-King division with dinnerware sets in several different lines and patterns. Most Anchor Hocking jadeite is marked with a variation of the Fire-King logo somewhere on each piece.
Arriving on the scene much later was Mosser Glass with its Jadeite green wares beginning in 1970. The Madison display has one piece of Mosser Glass, which is the cake stand. The pieces of Jadeite chosen from Massey’s much larger collection are in the show because they’re all kitchen related.
All recipes and the recipe book on display were purchased by Vickery at the Prior family estate sale sometime after 2012, following the death of Florida Prior. The handwritten recipe book probably belonged to Sarah “Sallie” Poullain Campbell (1870-1936), who was the daughter of Antoine Poullain and his second wife Rebecca Louisa Lamar. The book has an 1885 date in it with her name given in several places.
Several loose, yet categorized, recipes appear to have belonged to her daughter, Florida Lamar Campbell Prior (1898-1991), and to her daughter, Florida Campbell Prior (1924-2012). The collection spans three generations of the Poullain, Campbell and Prior families.