Construction and materials

History

The classic form of the globe is a flattened sphere, with two circular, almost planar faces to host words and images.

But the technology of working the glass allowed many variations.

Especially between the second and third decades of the century, one saw globes in the form of ovals and lozenges, with some firms directly materializing their trademarks in the modelled form of a shell, a flame, a crown.

The first globes were single pieces of glass, crafted in much the same way as a vase or a lamp. Kiln firing rendered the logos and designs weather resistant.

One decidedly more industrial type appeared around 1920, no longer a single piece, but made of five parts. The three metallic parts constituted the structure, the two in glass, in the form of lenses, were the illuminated ground on which the trademark was printed.

There were also globes made entirely of metal: the serigraphed image on the lenses was visible by day, while by night a system of perforations outlined the image in light.

Others, all in glass, had an opaline ring structure which held the two lenses. It is difficult to trace a more accurate line of evolution for these fragile objects; each national market had its own times and its own ways.