I've been meaning to ask this question for a couple of years:

March 20, 2016 3:28 PM

What are these strange symbols on my drinking glasses? I bought a set of three identical glasses at a thrift store a while ago, and I've always wondered what they mean. The symbols above and below the crest in the first image look like they could MAYBE be script, but the ones around the sides of the glass look like some kind of arcane magic-type symbols, along the lines of the symbols for star signs. If anyone can explain this, I'll be super grateful!
posted by showbiz_liz to Grab Bag (16 answers total)

I recognize most of them as astrological symbols. If you google up images of astrological symbols, you should be able to identify most of them as shorthand for planets, signs and other astrological stuff.

I don't recognize all of them and they are different from standard modern symbols. But many of them are absolutely recognizable.
posted by Michele in California at 3:32 PM on March 20, 2016

Seems to be zodiac / astrological symbols
posted by Deece BJ Pancake at 3:32 PM on March 20, 2016

Best answer: They're alchemical symbols. I suspect it might be a typeface that was used to encode a phrase on the front, ala Windings. There's no real pattern to them otherwise.
posted by cobaltnine at 3:36 PM on March 20, 2016 [9 favorites]

Response by poster: They're alchemical symbols.

Ha, I found a chart of a few alchemical symbols and so far I have identified the symbols for 'aqua fortis' and 'corpuscule.' Where the hell did these things COME from?
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:41 PM on March 20, 2016

The one that looks like an m is the zodiac sign for Virgo but it could have other meaning. most of the symbols are listed here but I doubt there's much sense to be made of it. Most likely someone just thought they looked cool
posted by missmagenta at 3:54 PM on March 20, 2016

Yeah, that is the sign for Virgo, but if you google up alchemical symbols, it has a particular meaning (distillation). I can't parse it all. But "Distillation dram fumes take...something something" is what I have so far for the front. It is potentially a recipe for a drink or treatment.

Some of that translation is from here: Linky

To answer the follow up question: I assume some of these are simply borrowed from astrology. I don't know where astrology got its symbols. Googling the history of alchemical symbols hasn't been enlightening.
posted by Michele in California at 3:58 PM on March 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

According to wikipedia, Virgo is the symbol for distillation.
I've got distillation dram fumes take soapstone ironvitriol
posted by missmagenta at 4:00 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: seems to be a witty take on alchemy... drink this elixir and you'll turn into gold! (or, at least, feel like gold).
posted by nologo at 4:02 PM on March 20, 2016 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: Using various alchemy symbol charts I also managed to ID the first four symbols above the crest as "distillation dram fumes take," which would definitely seem to imply some kind of alcohol-related alchemy pun.

From the sides of the glass I've managed to identify:

red lead
aqua fortis
corpuscule
vinegar
amalgam
sublimation
spirit
alkalai
alum
essence
sediment

I'm still wondering who the heck made these things in the first place.
posted by showbiz_liz at 4:16 PM on March 20, 2016

Best answer: I asked a question about a set of highball glasses with the same characters (but different design) a year or two ago. I think someone called them apothecary symbols? In any case, barware with that theme was A Thing in the "midcentury" Era.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:20 PM on March 20, 2016 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Some more googling led me to a bunch of other vintage glassware with alchemy symbols - nothing very similar to this set, EXCEPT I also found these pint glasses which have the same crest on them! Looks like my glasses might have been made by this same company, Libbey, which apparently made tons of different weirdly-patterned glasses.

I gotta admit, I was always a little worried that these glasses were secretly covered in obscure White Power symbols or something else nefarious, so I'm very pleased to find out that they're just alchemy-themed kitsch!
posted by showbiz_liz at 4:29 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

check this: glasses with the same series of symbols on them
posted by Deece BJ Pancake at 4:58 PM on March 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Libbey just straight up makes a ton of glasses. Go to a restaurant supply store, and a huge amount of the glassware there will be Libbey. I don't think this is like a specialty of theirs, so much as that they just try to make stuff for all kinds of weird markets.
posted by aubilenon at 5:00 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

Those kinds of weird fonts usually map into the numeric space where the normal characters land. (For instance, I think it's WingDings that maps a heart into the character number where capital Y usually goes.)

I bet if you entered all those characters in order -- and then changed the font to Times New Roman, it would say something clever.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:13 PM on March 20, 2016

"I'm still wondering who the heck made these things in the first place."

The place to ask this question is Replacements.com -- send them a picture and they can often identify the maker and year!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:15 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

...Libbey, which apparently made tons of different weirdly-patterned glasses.

Libbey has probably made almost literally 90% of the glass glasses you've ever hoisted, and maybe 95% of those that have been etched or decorative in some way.

I have spent countless hours asking people in bars why every pint glass in front of them has the British pound symbol on its base. Is it an homage to British ales? Is it some sort of indicator of the volume of the glass? Some sort of post-horn-esque symbol signifying something of interest to the illuminati or its equivalent? And you know what? No one ever knows. Not even Brits in British-style pubs. No one knows why the British pound symbol is on almost every pint glass you encounter.

That's because it's not the British pound symbol. It's the Libbey glass makers' mark.
posted by mudpuppie at 10:29 PM on March 20, 2016 [4 favorites]