Jadite/Jadeite/Jade-ite? Something that often confuses new collectors (and let's be real, experienced ones too) is the spelling for that term for milky green glass. The truth is all three are correct! Sorta...
To know which to use requires a little history lesson. Back in the depression era, glass companies started to make common glass housewares in bright colors and simple shapes. Jeannette, McKee, and Anchor Hocking were among the "big three" producers and most pieces you find belong to them. Interestingly enough, each company used a different term for their glass in official documentation. The earliest references for it came from McKee, however Jeannette copied the idea, dubbing their green milk glass "Jadite" as seen here.
A fantastic ad for Jadite from Jeannette. (1930s)
McKee also made green glass items but instead chose to name their glass simply "jade green". For some reason there are a lot of references to another name, "Skokie Green" which always referes to McKee glass.
Old McKee and Jeannette ads were always in black and white.
Perhaps the most ubiquitous use is by Anchor Hocking's Fire-King line. They called their glass "Jade-ite".
Original boxes such as this Anchor Hocking Fire-King box are very collectible.
Whichever term you choose to use, Jadite is becoming so popular, most people will know what you're talking about. For search purposes, especially on eBay, I like to use boolean operations to make sure I see all the Jadite that is on the site. This can be done by entering the following in the eBay search bar:
(jadeite, jadite, jade-ite)
Make sure to include the parenthesis. If it makes any difference, the experienced collectors Joe Keller and David Ross (authors of the book on collecting) use "Jadite" while Martha Stewart, a known collector, uses Jadeite. Try out all three in searches online and see how just one little letter can yield different results!
Daily Double: A few other terms you should consider using in your search: green milk glass, Martha's green glass, jade glass
