Pattern Name:POLAR BEAR

Pattern Motif:Animals

Glass Type:Non-Flint

Decoration:Frosted

Era:1870s

Description:50 Favorites - 28 Bessie M. Lindsey informs us that negotiations for the purchase of Alaska were initiated between the United States and Russian in 1859. Czar Alexander II apparently anticipated difficulties with the administration of this distant territory, while William H. Seward, Secretary of State under President Johnson, successfully convinced the U.S. Congress of the land's great economic potential and extolled the purchase as a significant expansion for the country. Negotiations were concluded in 1867 with the purchase price set at $7.2 million. Subsequent history has established the sagacity of Seward's purchase, but at the time it was subject of tremendous public derision. Alaska was percieved as a barren land of ice and snow, with little recognition of its importance for fish and furs and no premonition of the Klondike Goldrush that was to begin in 1896. (50 Favorites catalogue) U1, p.95; M1, p. 96 Reproductions known.