Hi! My name is David Whitten. I’m interested in the general history of the glass manufacturing industry in the United States, but especially within the sphere of container glass, electrical insulators and tableware (both pressed and blown).
EAPG (Early American Pattern Glass), bottles, jars, insulators, fishing net floats, mugs, and other items are some of the forms of glass I enjoy studying. There is a huge body of information already available on the web, as well as in books and magazines, but I’m trying to gather some of the very basic info together onto this site, in particular, concentrating on identification marks on bottles, insulators and tableware. I’m also in the process of adding various articles to this site, discussing different types of glass and glass items.
The glassmaking industry in the US is a huge field that dates back to the 1600s, and covers a vast array of items and applications, including both handmade and machine-made glass.
According to historian Rhea Mansfield Knittle (Early American Glass, 1927), one of the earliest glass manufacturers in the United States (not counting the unsuccessful attempts at Jamestown in 1607 and 1621) who may have produced considerable quantities of glassware and actually met with some degree of success, was Johannes Smedes (or Jan Smedes), who operated an establishment (probably making bottles for the most part) sometime in the period of 1654-1664 at New Amsterdam (now known as New York City) .
Every glass object, even the most lowly, commonplace glass bottle, has a story behind it, although all of the precise details may never be known. Where was it made? What was the name of the company or factory where it was produced? How old is it? Is it handmade? Was it mass-produced by machine methods? What type of glass is it made of? What elements/chemicals are included in the glass “recipe”? Why is it a certain color? If an older hand-blown bottle, who was the glassblower who fashioned it? Who was the last person who used it and handled it before it came into your possession? Where was the physical location of the sand supply that eventually was turned into the glass piece that you hold in your hand? Is it foreign-made, or a product of the US? Can the company / maker be identified by the markings on it? What do the markings mean?
All of these questions might come to mind to the collector, or layman, historian, archaeologist, or casual hobbyist……..and my site attempts to answer, in at least in some cases if possible, one of these questions: Where, perhaps, might this item of glass have been made?
Three of the webpages within this site list glass manufacturers’ identification marks (alphabetically listed) found on container glass (bottles, jars, flasks, etc) and, in some cases, on other types of glassware. Examples would be “I G CO” , “OWENS”, “B in a circle” and “K in a hexagon”. Click here which will take you to the first page: GLASS BOTTLE MARKS.
On this site are several individual webpages with basic information on a number of glass factories that operated in the United States. To read any of the “glass manufacturer profiles” I have written (so far), and other articles pertaining to glass, please look along the right-hand side of any page for the list of Glass Manufacturer Profiles, and click on any link in that list. I hope to add more information as time and energy permits!
One page in particular within this site is a list of glass factories that manufactured, or are believed to have produced, glass electrical insulators for telegraph, telephone and/or power lines. Although mainly listing U.S. factories, a few Canadian and Mexican factories are listed also. Click here to go directly to that page.
If you have additional information, please contact me (at the email address listed elsewhere on this site) as I’m continually looking for the most accurate data available on these companies. Sources of some of the information is included after each entry if I have it available. This is an ongoing project, started in 2004, and I’d appreciate any additions, corrections, or suggestions you may have!
Some of the information on glass insulators is from research originally compiled by N. R. Woodward, creator and administrator of the “CD” (Consolidated Design) numbering system now used worldwide by collectors for identifying and cataloging insulators.
A portion of the info in this site pertaining to insulator manufacturers is drawn from various articles in the 2-volume reference book “INSULATORS: A HISTORY AND GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN GLASS PINTYPE INSULATORS ” by John & Carol McDougald (published in 1990).
The glass insulator pictured on the right, an aquamarine CD 257 “Mickey Mouse”, a type made principally for electric power lines, was made by Hemingray Glass Company at their factory that operated in Muncie, Indiana and dates between 1900 and 1920.
I hope this site will be a help in your quest to discover more information concerning the wide world of glass manufacturing. Please be sure to bookmark this site, and return often!
Thank you!
David
David:
C in a triangle: If it has one of its points pointing up, and all three corners are rounded, it is Consumers Glass from Canada. In print, the solid triangle is to represent a molten gob of glass, and is printed in red..with a white C. I worked there from 1969 to 1973, at the Kipling Avenue facility in west end Toronto. They purchased Dominion Glass while I was with them, and later, with debt problems came into the world of Owens Illinois.
Hi Ken, thanks alot for your info!! David
David,
what do you or your readers know about bottles embossed with “J Wittmann Woodhaven New York”? On the alternate side of the bottle it has a “J” overlapped with a “W”.
Any information would be great!
JK
Hi JK,
I’m not familiar with that bottle, but I would assume that it contained soda, mineral water, beer or ale. There are thousands of different bottle variants known just from the state of New York.
The exact shape/style of the bottle can give info on approximate date range. If there is no makers’ mark, it won’t be easy to find out exactly what glass company manufactured the bottle. Information on the “J Wittmann” (owner of the bottler or brewery) might be found with a google search. The “J overlapping a W” is the monogram for Wittmann, and does not give any info on glassmaker. If you have a clear pic of the bottle (entire profile) please send it to davidrussell59@att.net. (If any readers of this site have concrete info on the bottle, please submit your comments!) THANKS! David
Awesome site, Very useful and helpful resource for sure I greatly Appreciate your hard work!
Thank you Aaron!
David
Great site! Just wondering if you add makers marks to the pages when you find or have new ones sent to you? I have a bottle embossed Red River Mfg & Bottling Co. Denison, Tx. Makers mark on the base is a large “R”. I’ve only been able to find a short paragraph about the company, that was taken from a booklet in 1907.
Hello Greg!
Yes, sometimes I do add information to the site that has been sent in by readers. I should try to clarify something here, however. Most of the “makers’ marks” listed on this site are marks indicating the glass bottle manufacturer (itself), not the bottling company. I’m not familiar with that company, but am assuming that Red River Manufacturing & Bottling Company was a soda producer, and filled the bottles which were made by a glass company. (Are there any markings along the lower heel of the bottle which would indicate glassmaker?). There have been literally tens of thousands of soda, mineral water, and/or beer bottlers in business in the US for which bottles were made (by a glass manufacturer) with the name of the bottling company (or brewing company, etc) marked on the front. In many of those cases, there will also be a letter (or set of initials) on the base which corresponds to the name of the bottling company. So, in this case, it is not exactly a “makers’ mark” as defined by the average bottle collector, and these types of base markings are not usually listed (I mention this in my “introductory comments” on page one, but I’m sorry to say it is somewhat “buried” in the text!) In any case, I honestly don’t have the time, energy, or knowledge to list all of these bottling company names on this site. Nevertheless, I would like to see a pic of the bottle (I was wondering what style of bottle it would be………”hutch”, “crown-top” etc ) If you wish to, you are welcome to email a pic to davidrussell59 “at” att.net.
Thanks very much for your post!!
David
Hello David,
I went for walk with my dog this morning and happened to find an interesting bottle. Round top, with four curve bottom. Letters on bottom patd, H mark with letter A under middle line, 9 on same line and numbers at bottom 6214 set up as patd
H with A under middle line 9
6214
Can you give me any info on this find? Bottle is approx 5-6 inches tall with narrow lightbulb shape on each side-wide on top narrows to bottom with 4 curved bottom.
thank you Terry
Hi Terry,
Your bottle was made by Hazel-Atlas Glass Company; please see my page on Hazel-Atlas. However, I’m not sure from your description what type of bottle it is, or what it might have contained. Can you send me a picture of the bottle (to the email address mentioned at the bottom of the page).
Thanks for writing,
David
I have an amber bottle about quart size -looks like an applied top. On bottom is round smooth indentation about an inch in diameter. Around that it says “New Albany Glas Works” (The one S in glass intentional) Can you tell me about when it was made-is it relatively common?
David: Concerning L52- Lamb Glass Co. The L52 is found on more than milk bottles: I have a bottle labeled: “Breakstone’s Sour Cream one pint” with the L52 on the heel.
Jeff
Hello Jeff, Thanks alot for the information! I appreciate your taking the time to submit it.
Take care, David
Hi David,
Just want to thank you for your wonderful site. I volunteer at a Thrift Shop in Malibu and research a wide range of items from couture and fine china to vintage bottles and memorabilia. Guess I love learning new things especially those pertaining to history. I have one of the AB bottles with the connecting AB and have read the page on this mark. I guess these are quite common here in the west. What I can’t figure out is what the “X” stands for at 7 o’clock on the bottom. At 5 o’clock there is the number “5″ which I am going to assume is the year.
Thanks again and keep up the awesome work you’re doing!!
Best,
Lianna
Hi Lianna,
Thanks for your kind comments about the site! Concerning the letter/number pair combination situated directly underneath the AB mark: No one, as far as I know, is absolutely certain what their purpose was. However, I am of the opinion (repeat: opinion) that they are mold and/or “shop” identifiers. Meaning, they identified a particular bottle mold and/or the “shop” (group of several workers assigned to producing bottles from that mold).
When a number of identical molds were being used simultaneously to produce bottles, each mold carried a different number to identify it. If problems developed with the finished bottles, the defective mold could be quickly pinpointed.
Many letter and number combinations are found on these bottles. I don’t know if a list of these markings exists on the internet (yet) but it is likely someone, somewhere is currently compiling such a list as we speak! I think there are many dozens (maybe over a hundred?) of letter/number combos that have been seen or recorded. Also……I am quite sure they are NOT date codes. If there is a date code on these bottles, it would be situated on the heel, not the very bottom.
THANKS for writing!
David