In June, 2003, Paul Kirk sent me the following information about Carnival patterns in ceramic:
I can say I have never seen a carnival pattern in metal (I think they are neat) but do see a lot of the cheap ceramic pieces. Most often seen here (NE Ohio) are Imperial patterns: Pansy, Imperial's Grape, Tiger Lily, etc. Also seen now and then are Northwood Good Luck and Fruits and Flowers bowls. Have never seen any Fenton, Dugan, or Millersburg patterns. I once bought a white ceramic Imperial Grape punch set from a garage sale and the maker told me that this was something they made in ceramics class back in the 1960's. I asked how she got that pattern and she told me these were the molds the instructor was loaned to let them use (they had others in the Grape pattern). They are exact copies of their carnival glass ancestors. She was under the impression that the factory loaned out molds for ceramic classes, and that theory could hold true for the Imperial patterns which were in production in the 1960's. It would seem that the molds were not made from a piece of glass as the detail is generally good.