Several months ago I purchased a nearly complete set of red coated Petalware, a depression glass made by MacBeth-Evans in the 1930's: eight dinner plates, eight side plates, eight saucers, seven teacups, seven two-handled soups, and a cream pitcher and sugar bowl. I fell for the color: I have always liked the simple design of Petalware and have other pieces in monax (translucent white). When I started researching I couldn't find any reference to opaque red - and I thought I'd made a novice mistake, seduced by visual appeal without knowing whether it was a genuine period collectible. Since then I've been reassured by someone who shared their knowledge that my collectible checks out, made by the original company during the original time of manufacture (some depression glass patterns have been reproduced). That's what I want to pass along: none of us knows everything about every item we collect and it's great when someone else shares knowledge with no expectation of pay-off
