Thrift store fun

(Updated 3/25/14 with better pictures)

I went to a local thrift store yesterday that I hadn't been to since probably last summer.  It's way on the other side of town, but I happened to be driving by it yesterday after catching a matinee movie, so I decided to stop in.  I saw this plate:

I thought it might be depression glass, and with a $3 price tag, I thought it would be a good buy even if it turned out not to be.  After scoring a couple of other finds, I stopped by my parents house all excited that I might have found a depression glass plate of my own. 

But...my mom held it for about 2 seconds and said it didn't feel like depression glass to her, it was too heavy and sharp.  :( 

My mom has a book on depression glass, and I looked through the book as my mom looked on the internet trying to figure out what the pattern was.  We finally found a plate that looked identical--the Federal Glass company's Madrid pattern in amber.  Here is a close up of the pattern:

I found it in the depression glass book, but also learned that the Federal Glass Company made replicas of this pattern in 1976, and these reproductions had a 76 worked into the design somewhere.  I immediately started searching the plate for the dreaded 76.  And...

I found it.

   My mother was right (as usual).  But it was a really fun looking into depression glass and trying to figure out what the pattern was.  Definitely a learning experience worth $3!