A vintage Westmoreland paneled milk glass grape tumbler.

American glass factories such as the Westmoreland Glass Company in Grapeville, Pennsylvania, produced large quantities of decorative glassware during the middle of the twentieth century. These pieces were created using traditional mold-pressing techniques to supply middle-class households with affordable tableware and decorative items for daily dining and interior display. The distinctive opaque white glass, often called milk glass, was formulated by adding opacifying agents to the molten batch to achieve a milky appearance resembling porcelain.

Homemakers used these molded tumblers and vases as drinking glasses, water tumblers, or small flower holders on dining tables and kitchen windowsills. They were produced in vast quantities for everyday domestic use across the country during the mid-century decades. Eventually, changing dining habits and the decline of traditional table settings led to the closure of many classic American glass plants and ended the large-scale manufacture of such glassware.