Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Vintage Cocktail Glasses


Chris Amirault

Recommended Posts

I think this is the thread one comes to if they have an addiction to glassware.

I have that addiction and here are some cocktail glasses I have acquired over the last four years.

These are for champagne cocktails. On the left is a standard Libbey 5.5 oz coupe for scale.

58ad3e31.jpg

Smaller coupes.

67e878b0.jpg

Nick & Nora and small gold rimmed glass.

38a59935.jpg

Hoots Mon

df2a7e3d.jpg

I don't own any of these.

4b6b4a45.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have that addiction and here are some cocktail glasses I have acquired over the last four years.

These are for champagne cocktails. On the left is a standard Libbey 5.5 oz coupe for scale.

58ad3e31.jpg

4b6b4a45.jpg

I am looking for some coupes to give as a wedding present, elegant ones like the one with the rim on the right of the first picture; know a source?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have that addiction and here are some cocktail glasses I have acquired over the last four years.

These are for champagne cocktails. On the left is a standard Libbey 5.5 oz coupe for scale.

58ad3e31.jpg

I am looking for some coupes to give as a wedding present, elegant ones like the one with the rim on the right of the first picture; know a source?

Williams Sonoma has some Riedel glasses with a platinum rim that are quite elegant looking but ridiculously expensive (then again what isn't between Riedel and Williams Sonoma...). Kind of a cross between a coupe and a standard martini glass. At 9 oz capacity they are bit large for typical cocktails though. This comes as a set of four different glasses with the platinum band. Have seen at least one review that claims the rim washes off quite easily so caveat emptor. I don't own them myself.

I bought a set of six coupe glasses with an engraved side from Ebay a while back that I like and use regularly. Will try to post a pic later.

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. ~Mark Twain

Some people are like a Slinky. They are not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs...

~tanstaafl2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

eBay is a constant source of vintage barware for me. Just this week I found an old cocktail pitcher with a chrome rim for straining and a vintage functional soda siphon. I'll post pics when they arrive.

My other favorite places to find cool glassware, etc. are the thrift stores or Goodwills. There's a gigantic Goodwill shop just a few short minutes away from my house in Camden, NJ where I've found some gorgeous glasses for as little as $.25 each. Camden isn't exactly the most fashionable neighborhood, but you'd be stunned at what treasures will appear in such places. If you don't mind being a bit more spendy, the "high rent" area thrift and consignment shops can be a treasure trove as well. Where I live the Western suburbs of Philly (aka the Main Line. Think Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story) qualify as that. The various hospitals, Junior Leagues, etc. all have charitable thrift shops set up. Gold mines if you have the patience. I've found some lovely gifts for friends for weddings, anniversaries etc. just by judiciously combing around a bit. What could be a nicer gift than an old school chrome Art Deco martini shaker, a pair of spectacular (accidentally) matching silver rimmed coupe glasses and a copy of one of my favorite cocktail books? Certainly a fitting gift from someone like myself, and hopefully they'll think of me fondly when they're making their Happy Hour cocktails at home. And if you're merely looking for your own collection, then the fact that there might be an odd number of those lovely glasses you keep coveting just means you'll have however many + a spare when one inevitably breaks.

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought a set of six coupe glasses with an engraved side from Ebay a while back that I like and use regularly. Will try to post a pic later.

Some pictures of the Ebay glasses I bought recently. I probably overpaid for them but I liked the rose theme (which is probably obvious if you have seen some of my other pics!) so what the heck.

IMG_5525mod.jpg

IMG_5526mod.jpg

A libbey 5.5 oz coupe for comparison. A slightly shorter glass with a much wider bowl that holds about 7 oz when full. Could well be a dessert glass for all I know.

IMG_5529mod.jpg

They look fairly contemporary to me and I doubt they are crystal. But they have become my go to glasses when friends are over.

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. ~Mark Twain

Some people are like a Slinky. They are not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs...

~tanstaafl2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

eBay is a constant source of vintage barware for me. Just this week I found an old cocktail pitcher with a chrome rim for straining and a vintage functional soda siphon. I'll post pics when they arrive.

My other favorite places to find cool glassware, etc. are the thrift stores or Goodwills. There's a gigantic Goodwill shop just a few short minutes away from my house in Camden, NJ where I've found some gorgeous glasses for as little as $.25 each. Camden isn't exactly the most fashionable neighborhood, but you'd be stunned at what treasures will appear in such places. If you don't mind being a bit more spendy, the "high rent" area thrift and consignment shops can be a treasure trove as well. Where I live the Western suburbs of Philly (aka the Main Line. Think Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story) qualify as that. The various hospitals, Junior Leagues, etc. all have charitable thrift shops set up. Gold mines if you have the patience. I've found some lovely gifts for friends for weddings, anniversaries etc. just by judiciously combing around a bit. What could be a nicer gift than an old school chrome Art Deco martini shaker, a pair of spectacular (accidentally) matching silver rimmed coupe glasses and a copy of one of my favorite cocktail books? Certainly a fitting gift from someone like myself, and hopefully they'll think of me fondly when they're making their Happy Hour cocktails at home. And if you're merely looking for your own collection, then the fact that there might be an odd number of those lovely glasses you keep coveting just means you'll have however many + a spare when one inevitably breaks.

At the moment, eBay doesn't have the number I'm looking for: 10 or 12, or 8 minimum. I've always shopped in little antique/used housewares stores but now that I live in Tucson, not sure there are the sort of places I always went to when I lived back East. Will be in NJ and CT for Thanksgiving, so maybe will have some luck there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a theory about the name "Nick and Nora" glasses--and obviously nothing like proof. Yes the shape mimics the ones in the films, but there may be another reason too. If you read the book and watch all the films--and I heartily recommend that everyone do both--Nick and Nora drink an enormous number of cocktails, especially martinis. I don't mean over the course of the book, any given film, or the series; I mean per sitting. In one memorable scene, Nora finds Nick in a bar and asks how many martinis he's had. He's on his sixth; she immediately tells the waiter to bring her the same number, all at once. Based on the size of cocktail glasses in restaurants these days, Nick and Nora would probably have died on the first date. Similar numbers of martinis are drunk in the Mr. and Mrs. North novels.

Hence my theory: the glasses are so named because they allow one to replicate the Nick-and-Nora experience by having four to six cocktails instead of the two to three that would be more typical (of some of us) now.

For what it's worth.

"What's more, I believe it's a cook's moral obligation to add more butter given the chance."

Michael Ruhlman,
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind Everyday Cooking

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that's an entirely plausible explanation. Good thinking.

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Thought I'd bump this up with a few great finds at estate sales today:

Glass Score.jpg

Punch/glog glasses, two crystal cocktail glasses, and eight mint julep cups that, remarkably, were engraved with big "A"s on them. French Pearls in the two cocktail glasses to celebrate.

Chris Amirault

eG Ethics Signatory

Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Saw these today, didn't buy them yet. They are a bit bigger than I like for cocktail glassed (the tag says wine) but I was thinking I could use them for margarita glasses. I absolutely hate the traditional margarita glasses I have. These probably hold 8 oz. The bowl portion of the glass is iridescent, kind of cool.

IMG_2346_zps22bbcbe4.jpg

 

These are kind of cool, the pattern is kind of Americana for lack of a better term.

 

IMG_2351_zps2c11fbed.jpg

 

Will be going back by tomorrow so may grab them then.

 

Annette

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...