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Vaseline and Uranium Glass (ca. 1930s)
glass, like the candlestick holder shown here, is a term for the transparent yellow to yellow-green glass that owes its color to its uranium content. Purists might argue that the green sugar bowl in the picture should not be considered Vaseline glass because an additional colorant (probably iron) has been used in addition to the uranium to produce the green.
This green fluorescence explains why an example of Vaseline glass that looks yellow under incandescent lighting might take on a greenish tinge when viewed outdoors. Uranium was first used to color glass in the 1830s and it has continued to be used for this purpose with the exception of a fifteen year (or so) period beginning in World War II. A very detailed analysis of the radiation exposures due to uranium in glassware can be found in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission publication “Systematic Radiological Assessment of Exemptions for Source and Byproduct Materials” (NUREG 1717).
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