I bet that you think that you know why antique carnival glass, or “iridescent glass,” is called “carnival glass.” I bet, I bet, I bet. You may be right, you may be wrong, or you may be somewhere in between right and wrong. So what is carnival glass?
 
If you place a piece of carnival glass on a table and watch it while you are walking around it, the colors of the glass change as light reflects back at you from the metalized salt solutions that were sprayed on the glass during its manufacturing process. The Fenton Art Glass Company started selling iridescent glass in 1907, only two years after the company opened for business.  The introduction of pressed glass into the United States during the late 1880’s enabled manufacturers to lower their costs and offer their products at a lower price to consumers. When Fenton, taking advantage of being able to "mass produce" glass, introduced their line of iridescent glass, lower- and middle-class people were able to purchase a type of glass that only manufacturers like Tiffany had been able to produce before. While most of the glass that Fenton and later competitors made was pressed, there was still quite a lot of handwork involved, as glassmakers would pinch or pull or crimp their work to make each piece unique. Fenton, Imperial, Dugan, Northwood and Millersburg were the major players in the United States when carnival glass was popular.
 
The heyday of carnival glass lasted until roughly the early 1930’s. By this time, Fenton, Imperial, Dugan, Northwood and Millersburg had all ceased producing this type of glass. Carnival glass production moved out of the United States to countries including England, Australia, Czechoslovakia and Mexico. However, Imperial reintroduced carnival glass during the early 1960s and continued to produce it until the mid-1980s, and Fenton brought the glass back in 1970 and continues to produce carnival glass today.
 
So why is this iridescent glass called carnival today? Somewhere during the 1920s and the 1930s, carnival glass seconds and overruns were sold to carnivals and fairs for use as prizes. There you have it!