The keys to its appeal were that it looked superficially like the very much finer and very much more expensive blown iridescent glass by Loetz and others and also that the cheerful bright finish caught the light even in dark corners of the home.
Both functional and ornamental objects were produced in the carnival finish and patterns ranged from simple through geometric and 'cut' styles to pictorial and figurative. A wide range of colours and colour combinations were used but the most common colours accounted for a large proportion of output, so scarce colours can today command very high prices on the collector market.
Carnival glass has been known by many other names in the past: aurora glass, dope glass, rainbow glass, taffeta glass, and disparagingly as 'poor man's Tiffany'. Its current name was adopted by collectors in the 1950s from the fact that it was sometimes given as prizes at carnivals, fetes & fairgrounds. However, that can be misleading as people tend to think that all of it was distributed in this way but evidence suggests that the vast majority of it was purchased by the housewife to brighten up the home at a time when only the well off could afford bright electric lighting.
Gardner and daughters also have a rare blue example for sale.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Iridescent-Blue-Carnival-Glass-Punch-Bowl-12-Cups-Indiana-Princess-/252485623281
