You may have seen this news article, in which the Associated Press tested drinking glasses emblazoned with licensed characters for lead and cadmium content. Wisely, the AP not only examined brand-spanking-new drinking glass sets, but decades-old cartoon character glassware from thrift stores and yard sales, thus proving any problems didn't develop overnight.
I'll let you read the article for yourself, but suffice it to say, the results proved a fair amount of both metals used in the enamel designs can actually leach out and be absorbed into one's skin, and that decades of dishwashing break down the designs, thus enabling more heavy metals to escape. (A true fan of kitschy glassware knows not to dull vintage drinking glasses by putting them in the dishwasher, anyway.)
Lesson learned? Save these for the collectible shelf or at least only for adult use, and keep your mouth above the emblazoned design when you drink out of them. I've got to question the bit in the article about the dangers of a six-year-old ingesting lead from a circa-1983 Return of the Jedi glass. Considering what those suckers go for on eBay and how hard they are to find nowadays, if I was lucky enough to find one I sure as heck wouldn't hand it to one of my kids to break! I don't even trust my kids with dollar-store glassware, let alone the true vintage stuff.
Nothing would make me toss my vintage glass collection, ever. (See gratuitous photo.) A few I've had for years, others I picked up for a dime or a nickel at yard sales. I have a fond childhood memory of this Pac-Man glass (seen in the front of the photo) I've had since about 1982. I'd trace a path through the condensation on the glass with my tongue until I'd made it through Pac-Man's maze...waitaminnit! Oh crud.
Cheers, albeit very careful ones, to my fellow vintage glassware fans!
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