Kemple Glass Company was another glass company that originated in Ohio and moved to West Virginia. It was established in East Palestine, Ohio, in 1946 and remain there for ten years. In 1957 it was moved to Kenova, West Virginia, where it continued in business until 1970. The company mainly produced wares from molds purchased from other glass companies as the economics of the Twentieth Century took it toll.
Candlesticks and Vases
Candlelight dinners, fashionable in the homes of the wealthy in the Eighteenth Century in England, regained popularity in the US in the mid-Twentieth Century. At that time, candlesticks began to be reproduced in the old styles, as well as new styles being introduced. Kemple produced old Scroll candlesticks, Optic candlesticks, and a Crucifix candlestick. It produced vases and candlesticks with new names like Yutec, Aztec, Martec, Wiltec, Toltec and Bontec.
Other patterns produced by Kemple Glass Company include Lace and Dewdrop, Moon and Star, Narcissus, Ivy in Snow, Lacey Heart, Blackberry, Sawtooth and Trumpet. Kemple, like most glass producers, had a version of Hobnail as well.
Miniatures, Whimsies and Covered Animal Dishes
Kemple Glass produced many miniatures and whimsies, including a one piece horse and cart, slippers, kettles and coal buckets. They reproduced the Rib Base pattern of covered animal dishes from 1945 until the factory closed, on both the Rib Base and the Split Rib Base. These animals dishes included 5&1/2 and 7&1/2 inch versions of the McKee Brothers horse, hen, rooster, lamb, turkey, cat, bobtail duck, dove and rabbit covered dishes. There was also a 7&1/2 inch rooster, hen, fox, cow and lion on a basket-weave base.
The animals dishes can be found in milk glass and blue milk glass, and the colors for all their production range from blue, amber, green, amethyst, amberina, opaque aqua blue, end of day (slag colors), and West Virginia Centennial red.
One of the most interesting Kemple covered dishes is the Dolphin covered dish, a fish in a horn shape with a small fish on the lid that closes the mouth of the fish base. Originally made by the Indiana Tumbler Company, it was made by Kemple in milk glass, blue milk glass and many transparent colors.
Kemple Milk Glass
Kample made many of their items in milk glass. These include Jewel & Dewdrop candle sticks and goblet, Lace & Dew Drop compote and candlesticks, and the Dewberry goblet. Plates with fancy borders produced in milk glass include Lacey Edge plates, the Bar & Scroll Edge plate, the Club & Shell plate, the Lacey Heart plate, and the Diamond & Shell (or Sheaf) border. Kemple also made the Rail Splitter plaque honoring Abraham Lincoln. Other milk glass pieces include the Lace and Dewdrop covered butter and vase, and the popular Indian Head toothpick. Covered animal dishes in milk glass by Kemple include the Dome Top Rabbit covered dish, the Fox on Diamond Basket, and the Cow on Diamond Basket, among others.
By preserving and using the molds of defunct glass houses, Kemple brought glass items from earlier times into the Twentieth Century, and provided many of the glass collectibles of today. Do not be surprised if the glass candlesticks or compote you treasure is one from the Kemple Glass Company.
See Kemple glass here.
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