The Ruby Red Cup

When I started writing about Flora Zogg a few months ago, I reached out to extended family members with whom I hadn’t communicated in years, hoping they had memories to share. After a few email exchanges, I hadn’t received much information other than what my more immediate family had shared. The eldest cousin had already passed, and the younger ones never knew Flora.

In one communication with the youngest cousin, we exchanged contact information for her older brothers and she asked for my own mailing address. I didn’t think much of it, until weeks later when a well-secured package arrived in the mail. I couldn’t imagine what it might be, but I opened it eagerly.

I gasped as I pulled back the layers of bubble wrap to reveal a glass cup with my great-grandmother’s name inscribed around the lip!

I had never seen it or anything like it, and couldn’t believe my dad’s cousin had sent it to me. Since Flora married in 1906, I knew that the cup had to be older than that, as it was inscribed with her maiden name. I wondered if it was part of a set, if my aunts or father had ever seen it, and when or why she would have received it. 

I immediately sent a photo to my dad and aunts, and none of them recalled ever seeing it. So I went to the internet to see if I could find others like it. Because of its red coloring around the lip, it was an easy search. I discovered that the object was related to a family of glassware in the ruby red thumbprint family, sometimes called Kings Crown. I found a collector who manages a website and is an expert in all things Kings Crown. After reaching out to the collector via Facebook and providing photos, I received the following expert opinion:

Based on the pictures, this is a "Custard Cup" in the X.L.C.R. aka Excelsior pattern produced by U.S. Glass between 1892 and 1904 when they discontinued production of the pattern. The pattern itself was re-introduced by U.S. Glass in the early 1940s as "Dubonnet" and renamed in the early 1950s as "Kings Crown."

Two things of note with this piece. First, the staining may or may not have been original from the time period as they were produced both with and without, and other glasswork shops could stain as desired. Given the relative translucent nature of the stain, I would lean towards after-market staining. Next, this would be classified as a souvenir piece. It was very common for pressed glass pieces to be sold/personalized at larger events to commemorate said event (although not all large events, think the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis).

It’s certainly possible that Flora attended the 1904 World’s Fair, since her father still lived in Missouri and she was not yet married. Did she travel from Texas to Missouri to attend the event with her father’s new family? Or did the family attend the fair and bring the cup back to Flora as a souvenir of their trip? Or was this a treasure from an entirely different event?

Although there’s no real way of knowing, it’s yet another glimpse into Flora’s early life. I’m thankful to have these pieces to put together and to hold as yet another memento to add to my collection of her personal belongings.