Seneca Driftwood Casual
The Seneca Glass Company operated from 1891 to 1983. The original factory was in Fostoria, Ohio (built, then vacated by Fostoria). Some time later, a new factory was built along the Monongahela River in Morgantown, West Virginia. Seneca's factory was next to the Morgantown Glass Works and two doors down from Beaumont Glass. This proximity led to the companies "borrowing" designs from one another and at times making or decorating glass for each other. The full name Driftwood Casual is often shortened to Driftwood.
Seneca's original Driftwood line (#1952) had a somewhat different design, but it's still recognizable as Driftwood. A major distinguishing characteristic is that original Driftwood had perfectly round bases. All pieces shown on this page are from the later, more easily found production. I finally found some original Driftwood-a set of four crystal Highball tumblers! One is shown here. Seneca applied for a patent on the original design May 1, 1953 and had it granted October 20 of that year, design patent number 170,666. For another look at the original design, here's the patent file. Front Page Drawings
Original Driftwood was available in at least Crystal, Amethyst Smoke, Bottle Green, Pale Blue, Heather, and Honey, a color similar to Morgantown's Topaz. Tumbler shapes included the Iced Tea, Highball, Water, Juice.
Driftwood Casual is available in a rainbow of colors, though not all pieces will be found in every color. Official colors names are Accent Red, Amber, Buttercup (later called Yellow), Charm Blue, Cinnamon (sometimes called Brown), Crystal, Delphine Blue, Gray, Heather, Lime Green, Moss Green, Peacock Blue, Plum, and Ritz Blue. Colors for which official names have not been found include amberina, white milk glass, black, and a very pale blue similar to Anchor Hocking's Sapphire Blue. Catalog documentation has not been found for milk glass and black. Judging by their scarcity, they were probably limited production runs when Seneca was making other milk glass and black items in the 1970s. Charm Blue is similar to but a little darker than Indiana's smoky blue.
I recently spotted a set of Seneca Streamline tumblers in the same pale blue color as the vase shown on this site. Streamline was a 1930s Seneca line consisting of a pitcher, decanter, and several tumbler sizes. (I also have a ruffled green vase made from the same mould as the pitcher.) Getting back to the Driftwood Casual vase, either Seneca began making that vase earlier than originally thought, or the pale blue color was made over a long period of time. I lean toward the latter.
I recently found a circa 1970 Driftwood Casual Brochure. Brochure Back Of interest are five items are listed as being unavailable in Accent Red: 6" Ashtray, Covered Dish, Flowerlite, Salad Plate, 32oz. Pitcher. Since this brochure listing is only a snapshot in time of Driftwood production, I cannot say for sure none of those pieces will be found in Accent Red. However, I can say that I've not yet seen any of them.
Thanks to Nancy, Kerry, Hazel, Gary, and Elizabeth for some of the great photos!
Pages
Overall, I like this book, but there are a few errors and inconsistencies in the Driftwood section.
—In a photo of similar patterns, glass on right listed as unknown is Bryce's El Rancho pattern.
—Color Inconsistencies: I use Seneca's names for colors. The book uses Amethyst for Plum, Cobalt for Ritz Blue, and Charcoal for Gray.
—Pitcher shown in Plum is 32, not 37 oz.
—32 & 65 Oz. pitchers listed as Cinnamon are actually Amber. Cinnamon is a synonym for Brown.
—"Hollow Stem Beer Glass" next to Gray salad bowl is actually a Steel Blue Hollow Stem Pilsner from Morgantown's Crinkle line.
Color Data Ordered from most to least valuable, based on my experience. Known years of production are listed in parentheses. I've not seen catalogs earlier than 1967, but obviously many of the colors listed as being in production then actually began earlier. Heather, for example, was around in 1953 when the original Driftwood was introduced, but it was discontinued by the 1970s. Plum is a very scarce color, probably made for 2 years at most.
Black (mid 1970s??)
Milk Glass (??)
Ritz Blue (1975-1979)
Plum (1973, perhaps 1974)
Delphine Blue (1960s-1982)
Accent Red (1960s-1982)
Charm Blue (1979-1983)
Buttercup (Yellow) (1969-1983)
Heather (Start-Late 1960s)
Gray (1971-73 or 74, also probably sometime in the 1960s)
Lime Green (1977-1982)
Peacock Blue (1967-73 or 74)
Crystal (Start-1983)
Cinnamon (Brown) (1960s-1983)
Amber (1960s-1982)
Moss Green (1960s-1983)
