From a collector’s point of view there are two types of anniversary glass. One is any glass product made specifically for the 15 Anniversary of a couple. The second category is any glass product made to commemorate any anniversary of a movie, product, business, etc.Looking to the first category, the practice of giving a certain theme of gifts for wedding anniversaries seems to owe its origins to medieval Germany. Here, women received a silver wreath after 25 years of marriage, and on the 50th anniversary they received a wreath of gold. Note that we continue to call these anniversary’s “Silver” and “Gold” respectively.

Anniversary Glass

The references to specific materials associated with other years of marriage; however, do not seem to appear until the late 1800s. Then in 1937 the National Retail Jeweler’s Association created and distributed a more detailed list, which is when glassware became associated with the 15th year of marriage.

To this end, anything glass was considered appropriate, but some clever manufacturers began producing items that indicated the 15th anniversary in the glass itself. These are typically the pieces sought after by collectors and include such items as candleholders, wine glasses, picture frames, glass jewelry, and holiday ornaments.

The second category holds a much more diversified set of options for would-be collectors. In this category one may collect any type of glass that’s produced as anniversary memorabilia. Anniversary copies of classic bottles of soda pop (like Coke) are an excellent example, as are Disney glass pieces celebrating various dates in Disney history.

Anniversary Glass

By extension, this category may also apply to glass items made for ANY other wedding anniversary including and/or other than the 15th. Overwhelmed yet? Don’t feel badly. The diversity of this category is what makes researching it very difficult. The best advice is to determine your memorabilia modality first then seek out the anniversary pieces desired within that realm.