Welcome to whitefriarsducks.co.uk, a new website for the appreciation of Glass Ducks made by the Whitefriars Glass Works. I am currently in the process of collating information and pictures from various sources, a big thank you to all those who have pledged their support, sending me photos and information to fill in any gaps and to try and bring together as much details as possible.

Currently there is just this page, which is a reasonable facsimile of how the site will appear, and function. We wanted to share it with you for any comments, which will be gratefully received. The Gallery & MY Duck sections may not make it into the first version of the full site. The Gallery is intended to be simply a place to share your own duck pictures for the enjoyment of all. The MY Duck section will be an interactive, style, height & colour area where you can click each or multiple selections to drill down into your own ducks origins, a fancy availability chart by colour, year & height. This is a bit more tricky to code so it might start as a simple colour chart. If you have any facts or photos of ducks you would be willing to share, please get in touch via email. We are missing a few ducks in our own collection, notably a large early style in Flint, small early style in Twilight, intermediate style in Twilight – either size, large later style Amber. If you have any of these styles and colours we would love to hear from you and obtain a few pictures for inclusion.

The dreaded legal bit.... I know people who have fallen foul, at their cost. Sorry if this sounds harsh, you would be amazed how many people think something on the Public Internet is therefore public property, and it's OK for them to rip off and re-use somebody else's hard work and ideas. If you see something you would like to use, just ask, and if it's not mine to offer I will point you in the direction of the real owner

N.B. Unless stated otherwise, this website is copyright of the site owner. Other kind contributors own the copyright to the material they have contributed and it is used here with their permission. Nothing within this site may be reproduced, copied or linked to, in any form or by any means, WITHOUT prior permission.

One final note, this site is solely for enjoyment, and sharing knowledge about Whitefriars Ducks. There will be links to other Whitefriars resources (that menu actually works right now) but strictly no adverts promoting any commercial activity, with the exception of charitable sales in aid of the whitefriars.com fund which supports the displays held at The Cambridge Glass Fair.

Thank you, now back to the ducks

Evolution from 1955 to 1980

The Whitefriars Glass duck is an enduring and highly collectable figure. The earliest records currently available show they were produced from 1955, continuously up to 1980 when the factory closed.

During that time, four main styles were produced, in a dozen or so colours, and various sizes between 5 & 7 inches tall. As you can see from this first picture, their overall style changed quite dramatically over the years, as did some of the smaller details.

From left to right we have a developmental time-line, spanning the entire period of production. To the left is the early style made from 1955 to 1958, then an intermediate style made for a short period from 1959, 3rd from the left the later and most commonly found style produced from 1960 until around 1975, and finally to the right the Full Lead Crystal (FLC) style made between 1975 & the 1980 closure. Throughout this site I will try and continue to use these four terms, early, intermediate, later & FLC as I go on to describe and compare features, tabulate colours and availability, and maybe touch on the thorny subject of rarity. Valuation is an area I will purposely avoid. It will suffice to say, you could pay anything from a few pounds upwards, and literally anything could affect that, they bring their own priceless pleasure.