Glassmaking | glassian

"A concentrated meat extract was developed by Justus von Liebig around 1840 and promoted by Liebig's Extract of Meat Company (Lemco) starting in 1866. The original product was a viscous liquid containing only meat extract and 4% salt. In 1899, the company introduced the trademark Oxo for a cheaper version; the origin of the name is unknown, but presumably comes from the word 'ox'. Since the cost of liquid Oxo remained beyond the reach of many families, the company launched a research project to develop a solid version that could be sold in cubes for a penny. After much research, the first Oxo cubes were produced in 1910 and further increased Oxo's popularity. During World War I 100 million OXO cubes were provided to the armed forces, all of them individually hand-wrapped." —wikipedia

From early in its history (1872?), Liebig added sets of chromolithograph trading cards ("chromos") to the packaging of "Liebig's Extract of Meat" products, usually in sets of 6 cards (sometimes 12 or 18), sized 7 × 11 cm. Most series were issued in more than one country, and can therefore be found in several languages. A vast number of cards were produced: about 11,500 overall, covering a myriad of topics: science, nature, art, history, etc. The last lithographed series came out around 1939. Following are three sets devoted to glassmaking.

Images

Interior of a Crown Glass House ca1835	Apsley Pellatt's Falcon Glass House 1842	Lewis Hine: child labor 1908-1924

Cooperative Flint Glass Co Undated	Whitall-Tatum Co undated	Whitall-Tatum Co ca1920s

Whitall-Tatum Co ca1920s	Aniche (Nord) ca1930	Glasfabriek Leerdam 1910-1968

Articles, Pamphlets, Books
	That famous product of French Enlightenment, the Diderot Encyclopedia by Denis Diderot et al, published from 1751-1772, includes detailed descriptions and engravings of many trades, including glassmaking. Of the original 40-some plates about glassmaking, six were re-printed by the Corning Glass Center from originals in the Corning Museum of Glass, and released as "The Art of Glassmaking 1751-1772 / A Portfolio of Prints from the Diderot Encyclopedia". I added the original legends in French (from the ARTFL Encyclopédie Project) and my own loose English translations and commentary.
	Apsley Pellatt's Curiosities of Glass-Making from 1849 is the most comprehensive glassmaking book here. He covers the history of glass, glass chemistry, batch formulas, furnaces, processes, labor organization and pay scales, just about everything. Many cuts of unfortunately only so-so quality, but six nice color plates (drawings, not photos). Reprinted in 1968 by the Ceramic Book Company. 158 pages.
	Reminiscences of Glass-Making by Deming Jarves was first published in 1854 "in the columns of a village newspaper", and updated in 1865 with the second edition transcribed here. It was very popular and copies are easily available today (as well as a 1968 reprint). At over 100 pages, it offers details of glass-making and its history not published elsewhere, including glass formulas. Alas, only a few cuts.
	Among the Glass-Makers, Chapter 3 of Lawrence's Adventures Amoung the Ice-Cutters, Glass-Makers, Coal-Miners, Iron-Men, and Ship-Builders by J. T. Trowbridge (1870), is the story of a kid's tour of a glassworks. It has interesting details not usually bothered with in adult descriptions of glassmaking.
	From the height of the industrial revolution in 1880, this Harper's article, The City of Pittsburgh, gives a brief history of Pittsburgh but mostly wants to talk about industry (coal, coke, petroleum, steel, glass). The author insists that in "the Smoky City", people revel in the "all-pervading soot and smoke" because pollution equals industry, so lots of smoke means lots of business: everyone's making money; noone seems concerned about health. It was a capitalist free-for-all and reminds of me of the China of 2010, 130 years later. Alas, badly written, but there is good artwork on every page.
	This 1889 article in Harper's New Monthly Magazine called A Piece of Glass is #8 in a series on "Great American Industries". It's a great overview of glassmaking during that period, with numerous cuts, some history, and interesting speculation about the future.
	This 1891 kids' series-- Stories of Industry-- is a little too brief, just 11 small pages, and confusing too-- it mixes up crown and cylinder window glass; I'd still have plenty of questions after reading it. But it has the merit of an illustration on almost every page. Worth a nosh just for the "cunning little curly feet."
	Archibald Williams' undated (ca1900) book How It Is Made describes in simple terms the manufacture of many common goods, including The Manufacture of Glass. Says he in the preface, "I have therefore been encouraged to make a tour of inspection among our industrial centres, and to record in these pages what I learnt from personal observation."
	This 1909 booklet-- Experimental Glass Blowing For Boys by Carleton J. Lynde, PH.D.-- was included with the Gilbert Glass Blowing set (reprinted numerous times, most recently as ISBN 1410102726). A.C. Gilbert is He of Erector Set Fame; he also made model trains and various science experiment sets: all educational in nature. Glass Blowing tells how to blow glass tubing into various shapes using an open alcohol flame, gives a bit of background of glassmaking, and proposes 80 experiments. Please note, this book is FOR BOYS ONLY, NO GIRLS ALLOWED. 300DPI scan: JPG ~34MB tar\|zip\|pdf, PNG ~115MB tar\|zip\|pdf.
	LEARN ONE THING EVERY DAY exhorts The Mentor, and they mean it! Volume 7, Number 5 (Serial No. 177) in this series is Glass and Glass-Making by Esther Singleton (1919); a history of glass with several small photos of ancient glassware. Comes with six large gravures: The Portland Vase, The Luck of Eden Hall, Venetian Glass, Bohemian Goblets, English Cut Glass Bowl, and Tiffany Landscape Window. 300DPI scan: JPG ~35MB: tar\|zip\|pdf, PNG ~279MB: tar\|zip\|pdf
	Volume 7, Number 14 of The Mentor continues educating about glass with Serial No. 186, The Story of the Lens, by Floyd L. Darrow (1919). Floyd never uses one word when five will do, but the historical information and general overview are useful. However, pay no attention to talk of the æther! Gravures are: Glass Grinding, Packing 100-inch Telescope Mirror, Telephotograph, Ultramicroscope, Nebula in Andromeda and Periscope.
	1919 was the year of Mentor glass education it seems. Volume 7, Number 20 (Serial No. 192) is Stained Glass, by Ida J. Burgess. Ida's also wordy, but I learned something, so perhaps you will too. Gravures: Rose Window (Rheims), East Window (Gloucester), Choir Window (Santa Maria del Popolo), Moses and the Law (16c Flemish), St. Roch. with Donor and Angel (16c Rhinelands), and Floral Window by John La Farge.
	This little book, Flat Glass, was written in 1924 by Arthur E. Fowle of The Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Co. of Toledo. It features many nice color illustrations of glassmaking, both hand and machine, but alas, the writing is atrocious. I am reminded of Mencken's "string of wet sponges". Was Fowle paid by the word? He never uses one word when ten will do. Still, I did pick up a few things from this quick read. 300DPI scan: JPG ~41MB tar\|zip\|pdf, PNG ~252MB tar\|zip\|pdf.
	Transcription of a talk by Major R. M. Weeks of Pilkington Brothers, titled The Making of a Sheet of Glass, given to the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1933. It's a bit more technical than most of the other material here, and has a few nice photos of cylinder sheet glass production (both manual and automatic).
	How Glass Bottles are Made by Elizabeth M. Bacon was produced in 1935 by Whitall Tatum Co. It gives a brief overview of glassmaking's origins, and describes fully automatic bottle production.
	Coal (1940) by Mary K. Chapin is a kid's booklet explaining about the types of coal, coal mining, how coal was formed, etc. Lots of nice photographs. Included here since coal was an important fuel for glass furnaces.
	The Romance of Glass (1955) by the Owens-Illinois Glass Co: The Romance of Glass Through the Ages — One of Man's Oldest Materials enters a New Era of Usefulness in our Everyday Living. 300DPI scan: JPG ~33MB: tar\|zip\|pdf, PNG ~159MB: tar\|zip\|pdf
	The History of Glass Containers (1955) by the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. Starting with information on 'Obsidian,' a natural glass used by the cave men for their arrowheads and knives, the booklet tells how man accidentally discovered a glassmaking process and learned to put it to use in the form of bottles and jars. 300DPI scan: JPG ~25MB: tar\|zip\|pdf
	The Story of Glass Containers (1955) by the Glass Container Manufacturers Institute, Inc, reprinted from Grade Teacher Magazine, tells The story of glass—the oldest of man-made materials—stems from ancient days, reflecting its influence on everyday living through the ages. From a legendary beginning, its actual history can be traced back thousands of years. 300DPI scan: JPG ~50MB: tar\|zip\|pdf

Liebig Chromos
"A concentrated meat extract was developed by Justus von Liebig around 1840 and promoted by Liebig's Extract of Meat Company (Lemco) starting in 1866. The original product was a viscous liquid containing only meat extract and 4% salt. In 1899, the company introduced the trademark Oxo for a cheaper version; the origin of the name is unknown, but presumably comes from the word 'ox'. Since the cost of liquid Oxo remained beyond the reach of many families, the company launched a research project to develop a solid version that could be sold in cubes for a penny. After much research, the first Oxo cubes were produced in 1910 and further increased Oxo's popularity. During World War I 100 million OXO cubes were provided to the armed forces, all of them individually hand-wrapped." —wikipedia From early in its history (1872?), Liebig added sets of chromolithograph trading cards ("chromos") to the packaging of "Liebig's Extract of Meat" products, usually in sets of 6 cards (sometimes 12 or 18), sized 7 × 11 cm. Most series were issued in more than one country, and can therefore be found in several languages. A vast number of cards were produced: about 11,500 overall, covering a myriad of topics: science, nature, art, history, etc. The last lithographed series came out around 1939. Following are three sets devoted to glassmaking.


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