While starting my search for Jadite dishes, I frequently came across some terms in describing the items that I've never heard of before. To me, "Straw Marks" was one of the funnier ones. What the heck is that? Did "straw" actually become embedded in the glass mold? Well, who the heck wants straw in their dishes? I had to laugh.
After a little research the mystery unfolds and it's quite simple. "Straw marks", "shear lines, shear marks", are just surface irregularities on the glass. These "irregular wavy lines" develop on the mold after cooling.....or as cooling occurs during the pouring of the glass. The liquid glass will fold over itself as it fills the mold and harden with these lines. I don't know if straw was ever actually used to cool glass. Some think old time collectors thought this is how it was done and their the ones who started using the term to describe the lines.
The majority of my Fire King pieces have some type of a straw mark. There usually on the bottom, but can be found anywhere on the plate. I think they add a uniqueness to the glass. Each piece is always different.
Some people think that the glass is damaged when they see or hear the term, but these are not cracks. They are just on the surface.... Replacement Glass collector guidelines say's they should not have any negative effect on the value of the piece. I would have to agree. I have not found them to be a distraction to the beauty of the piece. As a matter of fact, most of the time I find myself really having to look for them by twisting and turning to an angle in order to pick it up. Sure, I guess there could be pieces that have marks that really stand out or that may be very prominent on the front of the piece, but so far I have not encountered that.
When you look at some of the pictures you might think..oh my that's awful, but they really don't stand out. I had to really zoom in and blowup, otherwise most people probably wouldn't notice them at all.
Again, these look large and distracting in the picture, but I really had to zoom in and get the dish at an angle in order to pick up the mark. I think the picture makes them look worse than they really are.
This one looks much worse than it is. It's one of those that you really have to turn on angle to see otherwise, believe it or not....... it's very hard to see!
Some large swirl type lines.
When you look at some of the pictures you might think..oh my that's awful, but they really don't stand out. I had to really zoom in and blowup, otherwise most people probably wouldn't notice them at all.
Again, these look large and distracting in the picture, but I really had to zoom in and get the dish at an angle in order to pick up the mark. I think the picture makes them look worse than they really are.
This one looks much worse than it is. It's one of those that you really have to turn on angle to see otherwise, believe it or not....... it's very hard to see!
Some large swirl type lines.
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