"},"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"#tag:ref","function":"tag"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"Paquette notes that the pressure in gas wells was trending lower by late 1888, especially during the cold winters of 1888 and 1889. By early 1890, gas flow to factories was occasionally restricted and sometimes shut off completely."},"group":{"wt":"Note"}},"i":0}}]}"> [Note 4] Some local companies, such as Fostoria Glass Company, decided to move elsewhere to be near better fuel supplies. [36]
The Mambourg Glass Company was incorporated in Ohio during August 1887 with capital stock of $25,000. [37] [Note 5] Charles Foster was named company president, and J. E. Wilkison became secretary and treasurer. Those two officers were also directors, as were Leopold Mambourg, J. J. Bastin, and B. B. Barry. [44] Ground had already been broken for the new glass works on July 20, 1887, and construction began in mid–August. [45] The new glass works would have a 13 pot furnace. [46] [Note 6] Mambourg (the company's namesake) was the company's general manager, and he supervised the plant's construction—Fostoria's first glass works. [41] Although Fostoria Glass Company was incorporated before Mambourg Glass Company, it did not start construction of its plant until September 12, 1887—and it did not start production until almost two months after the Mambourg Glass startup. [48]
Production was ready to start on the evening of October 25, although it did not actually start until after midnight (October 26). It took another week before production was made at full capacity. [46] A state inspection report later noted that the glass works had 60 male employees and access to the Columbus and Toledo Railroad. [49] The window glass produced was such good quality that the company received more orders than it could handle, causing some orders to be refused. [46] Management soon decided it needed to increase capacity, and work began to accomplish that objective on August 1, 1888, after the beginning of the summer stop. [50]
In addition to managing this plant, Mambourg was also managing two other window glass plants controlled by Foster. Mambourg, Foster, and others started the Calcine Glass Company in August 1888. [51] Later in 1888, the Crocker Glass Company was started by Foster, Rawson Crocker (Foster's brother–in–law), and others. Mambourg managed all three companies. [41] The expansion work at the Mambourg Glass works was completed in late January 1890. [52] The plant expansion included a new tank furnace, flattening ovens, and an additional building. [53] [Note 7] The expansion caused a need for more skilled glassworkers during a time when there was a shortage of that type of talent, so more experienced workers were hired from Belgium. [55]
The U.S. economy suffered through multiple recessions during the late 1880s and 1890s, making life difficult for manufacturing firms. The U.S. business cycle peaked during July 1890, and declined until May 1891. [56] Leopold Mambourg was managing three glass companies and facing the difficulty of Fostoria's natural gas shortages. Recessions plus periodic shutdowns caused by the fuel shortages caused all three window glass plants to have financial problems. To help the over–taxed Leopold Mambourg, management hired T. T. Lewis to manage daily operations at the three glass plants. In the summer of 1892, Mambourg left town to establish a new glass plant in Circleville, Ohio (near Columbus). [52]
An economic depression began in January 1893 and became known as the Panic of 1893, bringing deflation and a high unemployment to the nation. [57] In May the nation was shocked when Foster, who had recently completed his term as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, failed financially and assigned control of his financial interests to his creditors. [58] The three window glass companies where Foster was a major investor (Mambourg Glass Company, Crocker Glass Company, and Calcine Glass Company) shut down and some banks and non-glass companies were also affected. [59] During the autumn, a group of former employees received permission from Foster's creditors to reopen the plant as an employee–owned co–op. Capital was raised and the plant was leased from the creditors. [60] Production started in December 1893. [61] After the June 19, 1894, summer stop, the plant did not reopen. [62]
The deceased was nationally known as an authority on glass manufacture and was in great measure responsible for the development of the industry here.
W.S. Brady, of the Fostoria Glass Company, of Moundsville.... We will start up next Monday.
The Mambourg Glass Company, Fostoria, capital stock $25,000.
The Mambourg Glass Company, which recently located a window–glass factory in Fostoria, this afternoon elected the following officers....
The Mambourg glass works, which has been idle for several months, has resumed, employing 75 men.
Fostoria is a city located at the convergence of Hancock, Seneca, and Wood counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 13,046 at the 2020 Census, slightly down from 13,441 at the 2010 Census. It is approximately 40 miles (64 km) south of Toledo and 90 miles (140 km) north of Columbus. The community grew substantially during the end of the 19th century, coinciding with the northwest Ohio gas boom. Typical of Rust Belt cities, Fostoria peaked in size in 1970.
Venetian glass is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as gilding, enamel, or engraving. Production has been concentrated on the Venetian island of Murano since the 13th century. Today Murano is known for its art glass, but it has a long history of innovations in glassmaking in addition to its artistic fame—and was Europe's major center for luxury glass from the High Middle Ages to the Italian Renaissance. During the 15th century, Murano glassmakers created cristallo—which was almost transparent and considered the finest glass in the world. Murano glassmakers also developed a white-colored glass that looked like porcelain. They later became Europe's finest makers of mirrors.
The Fostoria Glass Company was a manufacturer of pressed, blown and hand-molded glassware and tableware. It began operations in Fostoria, Ohio, on December 15, 1887, on land donated by the townspeople. The new company was formed by men from West Virginia who were experienced in the glassmaking business. They started their company in northwest Ohio to take advantage of newly discovered natural gas that was an ideal fuel for glassmaking. Numerous other businesses were also started in the area, and collectively they depleted the natural gas supply. Fuel shortages caused the company to move to Moundsville, West Virginia, in 1891.
Belmont Glass Company, also known as the Belmont Glass Works, was one of Ohio's early glassmaking companies. It was named after Belmont County, Ohio, where the plant was located. The firm began operations in 1866 in a riverfront village along the east side of the county, which is known as Bellaire. At that time, the community had resource advantages that made it an attractive site for glassmaking. Bellaire's location at the intersection of the Ohio River, the National Road, and two railroads meant it had an excellent transportation infrastructure. Fuel necessary for the glassmaking process was also readily available, since Belmont County was part of the eastern Ohio coal region. Bellaire also had a workforce with glassmaking expertise located less than five miles away, since glass had been produced in Wheeling, West Virginia, since the 1820s.
Henry Crimmel was an American glassmaker who became well known in Ohio and Indiana. A German that came with his family to America at the age of eight years, the American Civil War veteran started at the lowest level in glass making, and learned every aspect of the business. A skilled glassblower known for his glassmaking expertise and the recipient of two patents, he also worked in management in at least three glass factories – and was one of the co-founders of the Novelty Glass Company and the reorganized version of Sneath Glass Company. He retired with over 50 years in the industry.
The United States Glass Company was a trust formed by the combination of numerous glass companies. The factories were located from western Pennsylvania to Indiana.
Novelty Glass Company of Fostoria was one of over 70 glass manufacturing companies that operated in northwest Ohio during the region's brief Gas Boom in the late 19th century. The company made bar goods, stemware, and novelties. Organization of the firm began late in 1890, with banker Rawson Crocker as president and veteran glass man Henry Crimmel as plant manager. Production started in February 1891. The plant was built on the site of the former Buttler Art Glass Company, which had been destroyed by fire in 1889.
Hartford City Glass Company was among the top three window glass manufacturers in the United States between 1890 and 1899, and continued to be one of the nation's largest after its acquisition. It was also the country's largest manufacturer of chipped glass, with capacity double that of its nearest competitor. The company's works was the first of eight glass plants that existed in Hartford City, Indiana during the Indiana Gas Boom. It became the city's largest manufacturer and employer, peaking with 600 employees.
Seneca Glass Company was a glass manufacturer that began in Fostoria, Ohio, in 1891. At one time it was the largest manufacturer of blown tumblers in the United States. The company was also known for its high-quality lead (crystal) stemware, which was hand-made for nearly a century. Customers included Eleanor Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, and retailers such as Marshall Field and Company, Neiman Marcus, and Tiffany's.
Early glassmaking in the United States began in Colonial America in 1608 at the Colony of Virginia near Jamestown, believed to be the first industrial facility in what would later become the United States. For centuries, glassmaking procedures, techniques, and recipes were kept secret, with countries actively preventing glassmaking knowledge from spreading beyond their borders. German workers with glassmaking knowledge, described as Dutchmen, along with Polish glass workers, were brought to Colonial America to begin operations. Although glass was made at Jamestown, production was soon suspended because of strife in the colony. A second attempt at Jamestown also failed.
J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company was one of the largest and best-known manufacturers of glass in the United States during the 19th century. Its products were distributed worldwide. The company is responsible for one of the greatest innovations in American glassmaking—an improved formula for lime glass that enabled American glass manufacturers to produce high-quality glass at a lower cost. The firm also developed talented glassmakers that started glass factories in Ohio and Indiana.
Indiana Glass Company was an American company that manufactured pressed, blown and hand-molded glassware and tableware for almost 100 years. Predecessors to the company began operations in Dunkirk, Indiana, in 1896 and 1904, when East Central Indiana experienced the Indiana gas boom. The company started in 1907, when a group of investors led by Frank W. Merry formed a company to buy the Dunkirk glass plant that belonged to the bankrupt National Glass Company. National Glass was a trust for glass tableware that originally owned 19 glass factories including the plant in Dunkirk. National Glass went bankrupt in 1907, and its assets were sold in late 1908.
The Nickel Plate Glass Company was a manufacturer of tableware, lamps, and bar goods. It began operations in Fostoria, Ohio, on August 8, 1888, on land donated by the townspeople. The new company was formed by men from West Virginia who were experienced in the glassmaking business, and their company was incorporated in that state in February of the same year. They were lured to northwest Ohio to take advantage of newly discovered natural gas that was an ideal low-cost fuel for glassmaking. The company name came from the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, commonly known as the "Nickel Plate Road", which had tracks adjacent to the new glass plant.
The Fostoria Shade and Lamp Company was the largest manufacturer of glass lamps in the United States during the early 1890s. It began operations in Fostoria, Ohio, on May 17, 1890. The plant was run by Nicholas Kopp Jr., a former chemist at Hobbs, Brockunier and Company in West Virginia. Kopp achieved fame for his many glass designs and formulas for various colors of glass, and he is the discoverer of the American formula for selenium-based ruby glass. The company's products were very popular, and it was able to make significant profits early in its existence. In addition to lamps and shades for home lighting, the company also made novelties such as salt shakers.
The Bellaire Goblet Company was the largest manufacturer of goblets in the United States during the 1880s. Its original glass plant was located in Bellaire, Ohio, which earned the nickname "Glass City" because of its many glass factories. Bellaire Goblet Company was part of Ohio's "Glass City" on the east side of the state, and later moved to the other side of the state to participate in Northwest Ohio's "Gas Boom". It also became part of a large glass trust.
18th century glassmaking in the United States began before the country existed. During the previous century, several attempts were made to produce glass, but none were long-lived. By 1700, it is thought that little or no glass was being produced in the British colonies that would eventually become the United States. The first American glass factory operated with long–term success was started by Caspar Wistar in 1745—although two glass works in New Amsterdam that operated in the previous century deserve honorable mention. Wistar's glass works was located in the English colony known as the Province of New Jersey. In the southeastern portion of the Province of Pennsylvania, Henry Stiegel was the first American producer of high–quality glassware known as crystal. Stiegel's first glass works began in 1763, and his better quality glassmaking began in 1769. In the United States, the first use of coal as a fuel for glassmaking furnaces is believed to have started in 1794 at a short-lived factory on the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia. In 1797 Pittsburgh's O'Hara and Craig glass works was also powered by coal, and it contributed to the eventual establishment of Pittsburgh as a leading glassmaking center in the 19th century.
Very few 19th Century glassmaking innovations in the United States happened at the beginning of the century. Only ten glass manufacturers are thought to have been operating in 1800. High-quality glassware was imported from England, and glassmaking knowledge was kept secret. England controlled a key ingredient for producing high–quality glassware and kept its price high—making it difficult for American glass manufacturers to compete price-wise. European glassmakers with the knowledge to produce high–quality glassware were, in some cases, smuggled to the United States. Eventually the American glass industry grew, and the second half of the century saw numerous innovations.
19th century glass categories in the United States include types of glass and decoration methods for glass. A simplified category version appropriate at the beginning of the century is glassware, bottles, and windows. As the century progressed, glass production became more complex and made necessary more categories and subcategories. An 1884 United States government report used glassware, bottles, windows, and plate glass as major categories—although plate glass accounted for only four percent of the value of all glass made.
19th century glassmaking in the United States started slowly with less than a dozen glass factories operating. Much of the nation's better quality glass was imported, and English glassmakers had a monopoly on major ingredients for high–quality glass such as good–quality sand and red lead. A tariff and the War of 1812 added to the difficulties of making glass in America. After the war, English glassmakers began dumping low priced glassware in the United States, which caused some glass works to go out of business. A protective tariff and the ingenuity of Boston businessman Deming Jarves helped revive the domestic glass industry.
Centennial history of belmont county.