History of Glass World Invention/Discovery Early Uses Spread of Glass Technology US Jamestown Pittsburgh West Virginia Why glass in WV Early WV glassmakers WV Glass Labor

1. Glass Industry in West Virginia
History of Glass
An Interdisciplinary Project of Cabell County
Schools and Marshall University’s June Harless
Center
Session 2 – 11 April 2013

2. Outline
• History of Glass
– World
• Invention/Discovery
• Early Uses
• Spread of Glass Technology
– US
• Jamestown
• Pittsburgh
– West Virginia
• Why glass in WV
• Early WV glassmakers
• WV Glass Labor
2

3. First Uses of Glass
• First use was as jewelry
• Invention was probably accidental from mixing
wood ashes and sand
• Invention likely around 3000 – 2000 BC in
Mesopotamia or Egypt
11 April 2013 Session 2 3

4. Early Glass Artifacts
11 April 2013 Session 2 4

5. First Glass Containers
• Early glass was core formed by putting a stick
in molten glass and shaping over a clay form
• Glass making spread to China around 500 BC
11 April 2013 Session 2 5

6. Egyptian glass
11 April 2013 Session 1 6

7. Sumerian glass bottle
Session 2 7
11 April 2013

8. Roman glass
11 April 2013 Session 1 8

9. Glass from Judea
11 April 2013 Session 2 9

10. Glass Blowing
• Glass bowing was developed around 100
BC, probably in Syria, and required much higher
temperatures that molding
• Glass technology swept through Rome since glass
vessels were stronger, lighter and easier to make
than the ceramic containers it replaced
• Innovations in glass advanced in Rome more
quickly than at any time in history, including
today
11 April 2013 Session 2 10

11. Sargon Vase
• 750 BC
11 April 2013 Session 2 11

12. Roman Glass Innovations
• Excavations of Roman middens suggest that
glass items were so inexpensive that they
were discarded when they sustained even
slight damage
• Some window glass was used in Rome but not
widely since the Mediterranean climate didn’t
need as much protection from the elements
• Following Roman occupation, window glass
was common in Great Britain
11 April 2013 Session 2 12

13. • Replica Roman window glass
11 April 2013 Session 2 13

14. • Prior to the development of plate glass, small
pieces of horn or parchment were used to let
light in windows
• Glass balls were used as magnifying glass in
Rome
11 April 2013 Session 2 14

15. Middle Ages
• There were few innovations in glass from 400
– 1400 AD
• Alexandria was the center of stained glass
manufacturing around 1000 AD
• Damascus was a glass making center until the
1400 invasion by Timor when many glass
craftsman escaped to Italy
11 April 2013 Session 2 15

16. Italian Glassmaking
• Italian glass innovations in the 1400s include
millefiori and crystal
• Many advances in science and technology
were tied to advances in Italian glass
manufacturing during the Renaissance
• The Venetians guarded their glass blowing
techniques so carefully that they moved their
best artists to the island of Murano
11 April 2013 Session 2 16

17. Murano Crystal
11 April 2013 Session 2 17

18. Murano millefiori
11 April 2013 Session 2 18

19. Millefiori
11 April 2013 Session 2 19

20. Glassmaking in the US
• The first recorded production of glass in the
US was in Jamestown in 1608 by a group of
“Dutchmen”. Later, a group of Italian
glassblowers were brought to Virginia
• Early US glass industries developed near forest
areas since quantities of wood were required
to fuel the glass furnaces. Later coal and
eventually natural gas was used as a heat
source.
11 April 2013 Session 2 20

21. Jamestown Glass
11 April 2013 Session 2 21

22. American Glass Pocket Flask
11 April 2013 Session 2 22

23. Glass in West Virginia
• In WV there is abundant coal and natural gas
as an energy source
• Raw materials (silica, lime, metals) are readily
available
• River transport allowed products to be
shipped
• A capable labor force existed
11 April 2013 Session 2 23

24. 4 April 2013 Session 2 24

25. Early WV Glass Manufacturing
• It is believed that the first glassmaking in what
is now West Virginia was in Wellsburg as early
as 1813
• The glass industry expanded along the Ohio
River using immigrant labor and artists in the
late 1800s
• Dean Six estimates that over 450 glass
manufacturers have been in business in WV
11 April 2013 Session 2 25

26. Issac Duval Glass
(possibly)
11 April 2013 Session 2 26

27. • By 1930, over 15% of all glass produced in the
US came from West Virginia
• Michael Owens developed an economical
glass blowing machine
• Libby-Owens-Ford started making automobile
glass in Charleston from 1917
• William Blenko started WV operations in 1921
making European style art glass
11 April 2013 Session 2 27

28. WV Glass Labor
• Most glass workers were immigrants from
Italy, Russia, Poland and Belgium
• Glass unions formed to protect workers
• Tariffs on glass protected domestic market
share but slowed innovation
11 April 2013 Session 2 28

29. Supporters