1950’s Fire King Milk Glass Dishware - Is it Lead Free?

August 9, 2011 by Debra Lynn Dadd

Question from m1021

I've always liked milkglass, and saw some on Etsy from the 1950's (I think, given the stamp and what google says about the date stamp). 

From all what I can learn through google, there was arscenic in milk glass back in the 1800's, and then they stopped that and used lead for awhile instead to acheive the same milky look, up to the early 1900's. 

But the info seems to stop there. So the milkglass I'm drooling over from the 1950's....anyone know if that's safe? It's stamped "Fire King," and I do know that Fire King/Anchor Hocking glass is currently safe nowadays. But does that give me any assurances for old stuff?

Debra's Answer (update 2020 by Lisa Powers)

While I can’t say for certain, readers have used testing kits and found them to be positive. I err on the side of caution and don’t recommend eating from vintage dishware unless you can confirm it is free of lead.