LET'S TALK ABOUT "SILVER BAND"

A lot of people seem to be very confused about Thorpe's "Silver Band" barware. Some people say that Thorpe "NEVER" worked with Platinum while others know she did for a fact. Others say that "Silver Fade", that weird mirrored finish that is transparent, is Thorpe. It is not. So, with many thanks to several contributors, I am going to point out what is Thorpe and what it is called in the Trade and what it is made with. Ready?


This is Silver Band aka "Allegro". Allegro has a sterling silver, opaque band that will tarnish to almost black. It must be polished gently with silver polish and if labeled, would have a silver and white label that looks like the example below. Now that we have identified Allegro/Silver Band, let's talk about it's features. Allegro has a band that is at least one inch (1") thick. It is seldom less but often more. The silver is not marked other than the care card that comes with it.




Now let's look at another, similar piece:

Pretty neat huh? Almost identical to Allegro this pattern is called "Old Gold" and it is made with Platinum. Yes, that's right, Platinum. Unlike Allegro which has an almost brushed appearance and is, even when polished, very slightly dull, Old Gold reflects like a new mirror. It's reflective quality is due to the band of platinum that borders the rims. It is opaque, not transparent. To tell them apart, I will post a picture of two pieces that are identical blanks but one will be Allegro and one will be Old Gold. This will make it quite easy for the average person to tell the difference between these two. What these pieces have in common are the blanks they were made with. It is possible to find identical blanks in both Allegro and Old Gold. Thorpe did not make glassware, she bought it from distributors, especially Princess House though blanks from Imperial, Paden City and others are not uncommon. In fact, I will be posting a lovely floral Allgro design that Thorpe did with Silver, some sand carving and her precious sterling silver bands on Paden City blanks.

Below is a copy of the care card that accompanied Thorpe's "Old Gold" Platinum band pieces. Thorpe NEVER variated from her 1" rule with Old Gold. So anything wider or thinner than 1" is not Old Gold.

Now that we have cleared up the misunderstandings, miscommunications and other misinformation about Dorothy Thorpe's Silver Band vs. Old Gold, I'd like to make just one other teeny point. MAD MEN! Now that Matthew and his producer/director friends have returned the series to the air on AMC, I'd like to point out that this season, as far as I can tell from the 2 hour Season Premier (which pretty much put me to sleep. Dancing beans? Really? It's not quite what I expected either!) - The ONLY character using Thorpe is Don Draper (Jon Hamm). And he is using "Old Gold", the Platinum Rimmed line, not Allegro (Silver Band). Got it? Good! :)

Once again, I'd like to clarify that the "Silver Fade" stuff that's all over eBay and every thrift store I go to, was NOT designed by Thorpe, which probably explains why no one has ever been able to produce a piece of it with a valid label. Anyway.. I see what the Silver Fade is selling for, and if you buy it, don't come crying to me when you figure out it's not Thorpe. Based on the abundance of it, and it's relatively recent appearance, I'm changing course from saying this was *likely* made in West Virginia to saying it's a new import. I can't find these going any farther back than a few years, and that's consistent with the rest of the fakes and forgeries. Silver Fade is new, it's not Thorpe and I hope people who find it at Thrift stores or wherever they're finding it will stop deceiving people. That's just wrong!