What is a Flower Frog?

Just about every estate sale I work on has a flower frog or two.  Some people like to collect them and others are just puzzled by them.  A flower frog can be a small cage looking contraption, a round metal base with sharp spikes, a glass piece with holes or a decorative figure with holes to insert stems in. 

No one is really sure where the term “frog” came from.  The first little metal “frog cage” was produced by the Dazey Manufacturing company who made a lot of different kitchen items such as the butter churn.   Floral stems were inserted in the “holes” for support and florists and home decorators loved the support these frogs gave to floral stems in arrangements.  

These first frogs were made of metal and quite utilitarian, they were meant to hide in the bottom of a vase or planter and remain unseen.  Other manufacturers produced glass and pottery versions that were meant to be seen and be decorative.  Some figural flower frogs were produced and are beautiful whether they hold flowers or not.

The creation of “oasis” foam led do the demise of the flower frog and helped to make these vintage items become collectible items.  They are quite reasonably priced and pretty easy to find.  Most of them don’t take up much room and there are so many kinds to choose from.  There are so many glass and figural flower frogs to choose from and don’t forget that they are actually functional and a lot of collectors use their flower frogs for floral arrangements.

Happy Collecting!