Rare – Gettysburg Souvenir Ruby Glass Pitcher, marked “Jennie Wade Museum”

A while back I was able to acquire a lifetime collection of early Gettysburg souvenirs. I myself have always had a fondness for these pieces and have allocated a portion of my book “Battle of Gettysburg – The Relics, Artifacts & Souvenirs” to their history (see pictures). There are numerous items in the collection, and I will be listing them as quick as I can.

The piece being offered here is a Ruby glass pitcher, measuring 4 ¼” high x 4” wide including the handle. In gold lettering across the front is “Jennie Wade Museum / Gettysburg Pa.”. The base is clear cut glass, and it has gold trim. Jennie Wade was a resident of Gettysburg, during the Battle of Gettysburg. At the age of 20, she was the only direct civilian casualty of the battle, when she was killed by a stray bullet on July 3, 1863. In the early 1960s, the Jennie Wade Museum was revamped and moved a majority of the artifacts to The Soldier’s National Museum (now closed).

Ruby-stain or Ruby-flash glassware became popular in 1890 and continued at least into the 1920s. It was a process of creating pressed glass to look like the more expensive “cut glass” and then adding the rich red color. These unique and beautiful pieces were common souvenir gifts that were sold in Gettysburg the first half of the 20^th century.

I have personally collected these pieces for quite some time and included many of them in my book “Battle of Gettysburg – The Relics, Artifacts & Souvenirs” (see pictures). The souvenirs marked with “Jennie Wade Museum” are rare because it is no longer a museum, but now a gift shop. Also, they were only sold at the Jennie Wade House, not throughout the town. This unique piece is in excellent condition with no chips or cracks.