DAPHNE — The Higbee glass exhibit at the Old Methodist Church Museum is from the personal collection of Doris Allegri, great-granddaughter to a co-founder of the J.B. Higbee Glass Company.

The exhibit, which will be shown through September, includes salt and pepper shakers, an ice bucket, water glasses and cake plates, among other things.

James B. Higbee and John Bryce founded the company in 1879 in Pittsburgh, Penn., according to Allegri. Their pieces are identified by a family trademark.

“Higbee Glass will have a bee in the bottom of each piece. There is an ‘H’ on the left wing, an ‘I’ on the body and a ‘G’ on the right wing. That’s how you knew it was the Higbee Glass,” Allegri said.

The pressed glass, made from molds, has 21 patterns. It was either clear, light blue, amber, green or ruby, depending on the pattern, according to “Bryce, Higbee & J.B. Higbee Glass,” by Lola and Wayne Higby, descendants of Higbee and Bryce.

A variety of items were made in each pattern. “They made anything that was needed in the household,” Allegri said.

“The two most popular styles were Paneled Thistle and Hawaiian Lei,” Allegri said. “I find a lot of them at the antique stores and yard sales and flea markets.”

The patterns were named so because of a thistle and a band of flowers cut in each piece, respectively.

A Texas company obtained the molds and reproduced those patterns after a flood in 1907 destroyed the Higbee business, Allegri said.

Three companies that are reproducing the glass can’t use the Higbee bee because it’s a trademark, but they are using a bee on the pieces, Allegri said.

Allegri started collecting her pieces over 25 years ago. She has approximately 300 pieces from about 15 patterns, she said.

She usually keeps the collection in her Fairhope home.

“I’ve got a china cupboard full and I’ve got a cabinet here in the kitchen and I’ve got it full and I’ve got a couple of boxes here and there stashed,” she said.

Allegri said she uses the pieces for special occasions.

“It’s something that we can use and enjoy, and people enjoy seein’ it,” she said.

Joan White Crowder, museum board member, said the Higbee glass collection calls to mind another era in American culture.

“It’s a piece of Americana; it was unique to that time,” Crowder, an amateur historian, said.

“It was popular to collect glassware,” she added.

The museum is open Friday through Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m., and is located at 405 Dryer Ave.

For more information call 621-9620.