My glassware is a hodgepodge of various sizes and styles that I've accumulated over the years. I have at least six different varieties in my cupboard, remnants of sets that are mostly broken now... plus a few random pieces that just kinda wandered in somehow...
Blue Striped Glasses. I bought these in college because they were on sale at K-Mart for cheap. They taught me never to buy painted glassware, because the paint eventually gets beat to shit and discolors. I hate these glasses, so naturally, they are the set that's survived the longest.
Coke Glasses. These are the famously-shaped fountain glasses from Coca-Cola. I saw them at Macy's while in Seattle and just had to have them even though they were really expensive. I broke three of them in the first year. The remaining three are pretty beat up, but work fine. Especially for a can of Coke, which fits perfectly.
Tall Glasses. After a tragic accident that saw two blue-striped glasses bite the dust, I decided I wanted glasses that would hold a lot of liquid, as I was tired of having to refill my chocolate milk glass. I found some at Shopko that fit the bill perfectly. Unfortunately, they're brittle as hell and break if you sneeze in their general direction. I have two left out of six.
Arby's Holiday Glass. I've accumulated a lot of fast-food glasses over the years. McDonalds and Burger King mostly. They used to have promotions where if you bought a meal you could get a keepsake glass for 99¢ (or whatever). No matter how cheesy, I always bought them. My favorite was a set of Peanuts comics glasses from McDonald's. I loved them so much I collected the entire set of four! There have been others... Star Wars... Muppets... Disney... Garfield... and the like. I also had some crazy McDonald's character glasses (Ronald, Grimace, Hamburglar, etc.) that lasted for years. Unfortunately, they were all destroyed when I moved apartments ages ago. All except Mayor McCheese. He survived only to crack in the dishwasher a few months after unpacking. The only fast-food piece I have left is a glass with small red birds painted on it that I got from Arby's. At least I think it was Arby's... maybe not. I have no clue as to its longevity.
Plain Glasses. It was a rare instance of my having company over and being embarrassed that I didn't have a complete set of glassware. So I found a set of plain-but-nice glasses at JC Penny's "Home Department." They worked great, but were fairly thin and crack easily.
There have been others, but that's the bulk of what's left...
Fast-forward to today.
I am finally tired of having a random assortment of glassware, so I decided to throw everything out and start over. But this time, instead of buying that thin crap that doesn't last... I decided to buy the thick, restaurant-quality glassware that will outlive me. Luminarc is famous for their tough "Working Glass" pieces, and I had my heart set on acquiring some...
I couldn't find any locally, so I decided to order from Nordstrom's, which was having a Luminarc sale.
Today they finally arrived.
One chipped. One cracked. And one crushed to a billion tiny pieces (plus three big chunks)...
I guess owning a nice set of glassware just isn't in the cards for me.
It's a pity I can't stand drinking from plastic. That would probably save me a lot of angst here.
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I have those – by the way you can get plastic lids that fit on them for storing in the fridge, etc
Yeah! I bought some lids… they’re bright red!
I have a set of six green Luminarc style glasses that I bought at Target in 1996. They’ve somehow survived two moves back and forth to San Francisco, multiple moves within Phoenix, and most recently to Denver and back. I’m frankly amazed…
Of course saying that I’ve probably jinxed them all to hell.
Duralex are even better — nicely flared lip. Very difficult to break.
I looked at Duralex, but didn’t care for the shape of the Picardie glasses. They have a kind of bulge in the middle that spoils the utilitarian aesthetic I liked so much in the Working Glass. Still, pretty glassware. I really like their bar glasses.
I think I owned a set of Luminarc at one point in my life. They were tough and lasted a long time. I’m not sure if they were the ones my ex got in our divorce.
Speaking of divorces and random glasses, I had the 4 glass set of Disney park glassware from McDonald’s that my ex got, but I liked them so much, I went out to eBay and got myself a set. They are still going strong 14 years later.
I’m a big fan of using the glass half of a Boston shaker as everyday glasses. Huge, tough, easy to replace as they are identical everywhere and generally available at any kitchen/catering shop for almost nothing.