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[faODl 0037122 &
DATE DUE
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THE STORY OF
SANDWICH GLASS
AND GLASS WORKERS
By FREDERICK T. IRWIN
Copyright 1926
By Frederick T. Irwin
Privately Printed
Printed by the Granite State Press, Manchester, N. H.
Engraving (mostly from plates by the writer) by Union-Leader
Publishing Co., Manchester, N. H.
T 'ABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD HORACE B. WILLIAMS
Chapter
Page
I.
HISTORICAL
9
II.
SANDWICH GLASS
16
III.
TRANSPORTATION PRODUCTS
... 24
IV.
PREPARING THE FUEL
... 29
V.
POTS AND POT MAKING
... 32
VI.
GLASS MAKING .!
... 39
VII
PRESSED GLASS
... 53
VIII
CUT GLASS
... 56
IX.
ENGRAVING AND ETCHING
... 66
X.
PAINTED AND GILDED GLASS
72
XL
THE ORIGIN OF GLASS
... 77
XII.
MARKETING THE PRODUCT
.... 85
XIII.
THE PERSONNEL
... 89
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
ENTRANCE TO THE FACTORY FRONTISPIECE
OLD WOOD ENGRAVING OF WORKS AS
APPEARED IN 1829 5
FORMER MANAGERS OF WORKS 14
ONE OF THE OLD FURNACES 19
PRESS AND MOULD 21
VIEW FROM INSIDE OF THE YARD IN 1900. .. 23
REAR VIEW OF THE WORKS 25
PLATES, CUP PLATES AND SALT-CELLARS. ... 28
"TREADING" THE CLAY FOR THE POT MAKER 33
BUILDING A POT 35
COMPLETED POT AND BUILDER 37
OPALESCENT CURTAIN KNOBS 38
GLASS MAKERS AT WORK 41
LENGTHENING STEM OF WINE GLASS 43
SHAPING FOOT OF WINE GLASS 45
COOLING THE BLOWPIPE 49
LOOP AND JEWELL PATTEN 54
HORN OF PLENTY, BEEHIVE AND THISTLE. . . 55
CUT TUMBLERS 62
MARKING THE PATTERN 63
GLASS CUTTER ROUGHING 64
GLASS CUTTER SMOOTHING 65
ENGRAVER AT WORK 67
DUTCH PIPE 69
EPERGNE ENGRAVED 70
ETCHED CANDLESTICKS 71
CUT GLASS LAMP, DECORATED SHADE 73
RUBY AND FLINT LAMP WITH ENGRAVED
SHADE 74
PAPER WEIGHTS 75
SOME EARLY SANDWICH GLASS 76
SAMPLE PAGES FROM BOOK FORMULAS 84
BOSTON OFFICE AND SALES ROOM 88
EARLY CUP PLATES 96-97
ANCIENT SUGAR BOWL 98
SYRUP PITCHER AND EGG CUP 99
Most of these illustrations are of articles in the possession
of the family of the writer and were photographed by him.
FOREWORD.
THE following brief history of the
Boston and Sandwich Glass Fac-
tory and its methods of manufacture by
Fred T. Irwin will be welcomed by the
numerous collectors of "Sandwich Glass."
The author is thoroughly competent
to tell his story. He comes from a family
that has been identified with the glass in'
dustry for many years.
His paternal grandfather was pro-
prietor of an "out-cutting shop"" in Dud-
ley, England. A great-uncle, Theodore
Kern, has a prominent place in this story,
while William Kern, reputed to be the
oldest living glass maker in the United
States, is a cousin.
[Page Six]
The author's father, after serving his
apprenticeship with the grandfather in
England, found employment in this coun-
try. In 1851 he entered the employ of
the Boston and Sandwich Company, and
except for a short period he remained with
that company as long as it continued in
operation. The author himself learned glass
cutting under the supervision of his father.
This story will not only preserve the
record of an industry whose wares are
justly famous. It has a sociological value.
It reveals the comradeship that existed be-
tween the employer and his employees in
the old days. It shows also the incentive
communicated to the workman to create
something of worth and beauty through
his work. Work was an art, and the
worker an artist.
[Page Seven*}
In these days when the personal rela/
tion is so largely eliminated from industry,
and the workman regards his work merely
as a job, this story may point a lesson.
Horace B. Williams.
Manchester, N. H. s 1926,
[Page Eight}
I HISTORICAL.
THE glass factory, whose product has
attracted most attention, and whose
wares are most sought today, was built
at Sandwich, Massachusetts, more than a
century ago.
The dense pine forests on Cape Cod
determined the location of this factory,
since wood was the fuel generally used
for manufacturing purposes in early days.
The manufacture of glass in this coun-
try dates almost from the first arrival of
the English Colonists. One of the earliest
attempts, if not the first, at manufactur-
ing in the original colonies was directed
toward the production of glass. Works
erected for that purpose, in 1608 or 1609,
about a mile from Jamestown, Virginia,
[Page T^meJ
was probably the first factory built in
America by the English colonists. In 1608
the London Company sent glass workers
to America to operate this plant. In the
following- year some of its product con-
stituted a part of the first cargo of goods
ever exported from this country. This
factory probably produced bottles exclu-
sively. Its career was brief, as in 1617 it
was reported fallen into decay, and later
it was swept entirely away in the Indian
massacre of 1622.
In 1620 a subscription list was started
in Jamestown to erect a factory for the
production of glass beads, the currency
used in trading with the Indians. This
factory seems to have been situated some
distance from Jamestown, as it escaped the
massacre of 1622, and it is referred to as
[Page Ten]
late as 1623. In 1621 it was furnished by
the London Company with Italian wort
men, who were especially skilful in making
beads. In 1639 a glass factory was
started in Salem, Massachusetts, and pre-
vious to this, although the exact date is
not known, glass was made in New York,
on Manhatten Island.
The scarcity of glass during the Revo-
lutionary War stimulated factory erection,
and early in the 19th century the indus-
try assumed much prominence, being con-
fined largely to Massachusetts, New York,
Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
Maryland. These early factories were
usually situated within easy access to
forests, from which the fuel supply was
obtained. Not until the erection of the
first factory west of the Allegheny Moun-
[Page Eleven*}
tains, at Pittsburgh,, in 1797, was coal used
as a fuel in glass making. It was many
years before coal came into general use.
The Atlantic seaboard long held su-
premacy in the manufacture of glass, but
with the westward spread of population
and the discovery of rich fuel resources in
Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia,
Ohio and Indiana the center of the indus-
try moved steadily westward and the bulk
of the production has been for some time
west of the Alleghenies.
The numerous forms of glass may be
grouped into four classes, known as win-
dow glass; plate glass the purest silicate
of lime and soda or potash; green glass, the
coarse or bottle material used chiefly for
cheap bottles and insulators for electric
wires, etc.; and flint glass, including the
[Page Twelve^
great bulk of decorative and useful articles 3
both blown and pressed. The peculiar
brilliancy of flint glass is derived from
lead, which ingredient distinguishes it from
all other glass. The true English flint,
which is the same as the French crystal, is
a silicate of potash and lead. It is very
heavy, rings like metal, and is the choicest
material for table and cut ware.
Each of these four kinds of glass is
produced in a special establishment where,
generally, nothing else is made. At Sand-
wich, however, nearly every kind of glass
was at some time manufactured.
[Page Thirteen]
'**.
v , >
[Page Fourtee?j]
The portraits on the preceding page are of some of the
former Managers of the Works. Upper left is that of Sewall
Fessenden one of the earlier Managers and for many years
Agent of the Company with his headquarters in Boston. At his
right Theodore Kern, who was in charge of the works at Sand-
wich, following the resignation of Capt. Wm. Stetson whose
picture is in the lower left corner. Theodore Kern in his day
was regarded as one of the foremost glass manufacturers in this
Country and many of the formulaes used in the Manufacture
of Sandwich Glass originated with him. It is claimed he used
more "cullet" or old broken glass and produced better and less
expensive ware than any of his contemporaries. On another
page is shown some of the formulaes from the book of formu'
laes of the old Company.
The last portrait in this interesting group is that of George
Lafayette Fessenden, to whom further reference is made in an-
other part of this book.
[Page Fifteen}
H. SANDWICH GLASS.
THE Sandwich Glass factory was
founded by Deming Jarves, Esq. in
1825. Mr. Jarves was business manager
for many years, and to him belongs the
credit for the success of the Sandwich
Glass industry.
The first glass was blown from an
eight pot furnace on July 4th. This was
the flint and transparent form, used al-
most exclusively for table ware, mirrors
and window panes.
Soon, the trade demanded colored
glass of various kinds, black, blue, canary,
opal and chrysoprase, for pomade and
ointment jars^-mostly for the Philadel-
phia market, and another small furnace
was built called the "canary furnace."
Gold ruby glass was also needed for signal
{P#ge Sixteen]
lanterns and railroad use. These two fur-
naces were located in a building known as
the "Upper House."
With the increase of business, a sec-
end building known as the "Lower House"
was erected. This also contained two fur-
naces. All four furnaces were operated
for a number of years, until the westward
spread of the industry so reduced the de-
mand that the fires in the furnaces of the
"Lower House" were allowed to go out,
and the building was used as a store house
for surplus product and discarded machin-
ery, and finally was torn down.
When the works started there were
five crews or "shops." Wages were
scarcely magnificent compared with modern
standards. The "gaffers" received from
$14 to $17 weekly; the "servitors" $14,
[Page Seventeen}
the "footmaker" $6, and the boys $3 each.
For unskilled adult work the blacksiniths 3
wood dryers and "laborers" received $6.
The expert workmen who were hired to
start the business were imported to some
extent from England, Germany and Bel-
gium. Many of them were articled for a
term of years. The Boston-Sandwich Com-
pany was the first in this country to make
the priced opal glass, one Rice Harris be-
ing brought from England to teach the pro-
cess. Experts in those days, as now, were
recognised and although Mr. Harris re-
mained at Sandwich but six months, he
received for his services $5000 and expenses.
There were no spare hands in those
days, and if anyone failed to come to work
some man on the opposite turn would
work over time. Boys who worked over-
Eighteen]
SHOWING ONE OF THE . FURNACES OF THE "LOWER
HOUSE." THIS PICTURE WAS MADE IN THE EARLY 9(Ts
AFTER THE BUILDING HAD BEEN TORN DOWN. THE
OPENINGS AT THE BASE OF THE CHIMNEY'S SHOW WHERE
THE "POTS" WERE PLACED.
[Page
time received tickets and were paid once
in three months. The company was never
unmindful of the future of the boys, for
there was in effect a policy of permitting
them to "gather" and work glass in their
spare time. A boy who simply wished to
amuse himself and wasted glass was soon
deprived of this privilege,, but one who
actually wanted to learn the glassmaker's
trade ^ was given every encouragemnt. If
an article turned out by one of the boys
was considered worthy, the manager
would have it cut for him and permit him
to keep it.
In the early 6(Ts the business was at
its height. There were at that time in
operation four furnaces of twelve pots
each., producing about two tons of glass
per pot per week.
Twenty']
' Most kinds of glass then in use were
at some time manufactured here. In the
recent ruins one might see windows whose
x sashes were filled with the ancient diamond-
shaped panes which were manufactured
on the premises.
For this factory is claimed the honor of
making the first "pressed ware." It is re-
lated that in 1827 a car-
penter employed about
the works wanted a piece
of glass of a particular
si2;e and shape. He con-
conceived the idea that
the molten glass could be
pressed into any form,
much the same as lead.
Up to that time all glass
ware had been blown, GLASS PRESS AND
MOULD.
[Page Twenty One"]
either off 'hand or in the mould. Consider-
able skill was required, the process was also
slow. The glass manufacturer laughed at
the carpenter, but he went ahead and built
his press, and now the United States is the
greatest pressed glass producing country in
the world.
The illustration is of the latest type
of presses and moulds used in the Boston
and Sandwich Factory. The first press,
claimed to have been invented by a car'
penter, was of a very different style and
resembled an old fashioned cider press, the
pressure being applied by a screw which
was turned by means of a long bar.
{Page ^Twenty-Two'}
[Page TtwenyThree'}
IIL TRANSPORTATION OF
PRODUCT.
AMONG the interesting incidents oc-
curring during the management of
Mr. Jarves was the building of a railroad
from the factory to the harbor half a mile
away. This was probably the first rail"
road built in Massachusetts if not in this
country. It was used for transporting the
casks of ware from the factory, and ma'
terials which the packets brought from
Boston. The storekeepers of Sandwich
and adjacent towns also got their supplies
by this means.
In the building of this road Mr.
Jarves showed his enterprising spirit. A
four-wheeled vehicle, called a "bogy" was
constructed for carrying freight, and a pas-
senger car added for transporting the
Twenty '
w
>
JO
3
o
ffi
W
jx)
>
o
w
[Page Tu>ent;yFn;e]
passengers who arrived or departed with
the packets.
A few years later the "Old Colony"
Railroad was extended to Sandwich. The
rapid increase of the business of the com-
pany, together with the introduction of
coal to take the place of the failing wood
supply, made this necessary.
Another incident reveals the enter-
prise of the agent. Wishing to cut ex-
penses, Mr. Jarves went before the direc-
tors of the Railroad Company and re-
quested a reduction in rates. Upon their
refusal to comply, he told the directors
that he would build a steamer to run be-
tween Sandwich and Boston, which would
carry both passengers and freight. One
of the directors replied that "the acorn
was not planted from which the tree was
[Page? Twenty 'Six]
to grow to build the steamer." Mr.
Jarves at once had a model made., and a
fine small propeller built in Philadelphia,
which he named the "Acorn." This was
put on the route and did a good business
for the Company, and was finally sold
South and became a blockade runner at the
time of the Civil War.
Another enterprise of Mr. Jarves was
the opening of a new harbor for Sandwich.
The old one was fast filling up, and was
becoming unfit for traffic. By digging
a new passage through the beach, Mr.
Jarves overcame this handicap. All the
townsmen were invited to give one day of
labor, and a passage was made large enough
for a boat to go through. This was en-
larged to accommodate the larger boats
and a lock was built., confining the water at
{Page Twenty-Seven^]
high tide, and opening to let the water out.
This passage, with 'the tide running in and
out daily provided the entrance to a harbor
which would accommodate a vessel draw-
ing six or seven feet of water.
TOP Row LEFT TO RIGHT: CUP PLATE, LACY.
TINY LACY SALT CELLAR.
BOTTOM Row STRIPPLED PLATE. PLATE WITH
WAFFLE PATTERNED CENTER.
[P#ge Twenty Eight]
IV. PREPARING THE FUEL.
AN interesting process in early glass
making was the preparation of the
wood for the furnaces. The company had
four large teams, or "Bull wagons 11 with
two yoke of oxen, one horse and a
teamster for each. These four teams Went
into the woods and brought back to the
yards two loads of pine wood every other
day (Sundays excepted) , and on the alter'
nate days one load each, making twenty
four cords every two days. This wood
was split up about the si2?e of a small man's
wrist, in the full length of four feet, and
taken to ovens where it was dried until it
could be lighted from a candle or lamp.
It took two men called "teasers 11 to keep
the furnace running with this wood.
[Page TuienfryT^me]
They relieved each, other every twelve
hours and did nothing else.
In the construction of the furnace
the principal objects to be kept in view
were not only the production and main-
tenance of an intense heat., but its uniform
distribution through the furnace, and the
bringing of the charges of glass material
directly under its fusing influence.
For plate or sheet glass making, the
furnace was usually square or rectangular,
while that for flint glass or table ware was
circular. The fire space or grate occupied
the center of the furnace and the fire was
fed from both ends or raised up from under
the bars. The fire grate was usually on a
level with the floor of the house in which
it was placed, but underneath was an
arched subterranean passage forming the
[Page Thirty]
"cave" or ash pit, both ends of which ex-
tended to the open air. The fire grate
bars were placed at the top of this arched
passage., which thus served as a canal for
the air required to maintain combustion
within the furnace, and for regulating the
admission of air and so controlling the heat.
There were doors at both ends of the
archway. In some cases two such arches.,
at right angles to each other, and inter-
secting at the fire bars were constructed
so that either or both could be used.
In recent years these arches have
been a source of much interest, as diligent
search has been made for pieces of molten
glass which escaped from broken pots and
mingled with the ash. The variety most
eagerly sought is the opal from which
unique pieces of jewelry are made.
{Page Thirty'One]
V. POTS AND POT MAKING.
After the pots were placed in position
in these arches, they were closed in with
fire-brick and clay. These pots required
for their manufacture the most tedious and
exacting work of the entire industry.
The slightest flaw in the structure or
material was sufficient to waste all the
precious contents. They were also a costly
item in the manufacture, as each pot was
worth from forty to one hundred dollars.
They were delicate articles and required
the most careful handling.
The pots were made of clay. The
clay was prepared for the pot maker by
being "treads or kneaded. This was
accomplished b placing the required
amount of clay and water in a large trough
[Pdge Thirty-Two]
'"TREADING" THE CLAY FCV -HE "POTMAKER"
[Page Thirty-Three]
and having a man "tread" the mass with
his bare feet until it was worked into the
right consistency.
The illustration shows a man tread"
ing or kneading clay. Many devices have
been invented for doing this work, but
nothing has yet been found so satisfactory
as the method here shown. This kneading
process required about a month's time to
prepare the clay for the potmaker. The
manufacture of the pot was begun with
the utmost care in a room that was con-
stantly warm and moist, the work being
done entirely by hand.
First the bottom was formed, about
four inches thick. The sides were grad-
ually shaped from the tough sticky ma-
terial, through a period of from six weeks
to two months, tapering to a thickness at
[Page Thirty Four*}
o
>
[Page
the top of about three inches. The
ary size of one of these pots or crucibles
was about 33 inches high and 42 inches
wide, and each held about 1500 pounds of
melted glass.
When finished, the pots were dated
and left to stand from two months to a
year, the longer the better, in the "pot-
room" to dry. They were then baked in
the anealing oven, or small furnace, where
the temperature was gradually brought up
to that of the melting furnace. In spite of
the utmost care, a pot occasionally broke
after a brief trial. As soon as a crack was
seen the fires in the furnace were grad-
ually slackened, as much as could be safely
done, the casement of brick and clay was
battered down, and the broken pot re-
moved and replaced by a new one. While
[Page Thirty-Six]
COMPLETED "Pen?" AND IT'S BUILDER
[Page Thirty -Seven]
this work was in progress the men were,
in a measure, protected from the intense
heat by means of screens, which were
sometimes made of barrel staves, held to-
gether by barrel hoops. These were thor-
oughly soaked in water before being used,
but despite this soakage, soon took fire and
had to be replaced.
OPALESCENT CURTAIN KNOBS WITH PEWTER MOUNTINGS
{Page Thirty 'Eight]
VL-GLASS MAKING.
After the broken pot had been re-
moved, a new one put in place and the
furnace had been restored to the proper
temperature, the new pot was filled with
the "batch" or mixture to be melted. As
soon as this was melted down, a second
filling was put in, and lastly a third, which
generally filled the pot. In case it did not, a
few shovels full of broken glass called "oil'
let" were added. Some glass makers held
that a certain percentage of this "cuUet" or
broken glass gave a superior metal The
entire melting required about sixteen hours
and was carefully watched by the master
melter, who urged the furnaces to their ut-
most intensity, and was on the alert for the
signs which showed that the metal was
ready for working.
[Page ThinyKtine]
The temperature, which reached from
10 to 12 thousand degrees, was then grad-
ually lowered to make the glass less fluid,
and the work of the glass makers began.
These were a muscular set. The tem-
perature of the work room compelled
them to abandon all superfluous clothing.
Each one was trained to do a special part.
The tools used by glass makers have
varied but little in many years. They are
a blow-pipe, a pair of shears, a trowel-like
tool with a handle used for shaping, and a
straight iron rod about four feet long called
the punty rod.
In addition to his chair, glass maker
has a strong iron table with a smooth top,
called a marver, on which he rolls into the
desired shape the portion of glass which
has been "gathered" from the furnace.
[Page Forty*}
Q
C/3
[Page Fort^-One]
The first process in glass making is
known as "gathering." The workman
takes a blow-pipe, which is a hollow iron
tube, flatened at one end. He dips the
flat end into the pot and turns it care-
fully., withdraws- it until it is slightly
cooled, and repeats the operation until
he has a sufficient amount of glass on the
end of the tube. This gathering process
looks very simple, but it really is a delicate
one. The "gatherer" must know just how
to do it; otherwise, the glass will be "cordy"
and full of air bells, known as "blisters."
After he has gathered the necessary
amount of glass, he passes the tube to the
"blower," who blows, and makes a good
si2;ed bubble.
During this process the glass gradually
becomes cool and has to be 'taken either
[Pdge Forty '
[Page Forty-Three^
to the mouth of the furnace or to a small
furnace known as the ""glory hole 11 where
it is reheated sufficiently to allow further
manipulation.
When the bubble is blown into its
required si^e and partially shaped, another
workman, with a punty rod, which is an
iron rod about four feet long, slightly en-
larged at one end, places a 'small piece of
semi-moulten glass at the top of the bubble.
Then a piece of steel shaped something like
a knife-blade, moistened in water, is drawn
around the part of the bubble nearest the
"gathererY" 1 iron, and a sharp blow is
struck, which causes the bubble to become
separated from the blow-pipe, leaving it at-
tachd to the punty rod, with one end open.
This is now taken to the "glory hole"
again and reheated. The workman seats
[Page Forty-Four']
>
r
C/5
03
[Page FortyFii/e]
himself in a "chair" which is made some-
thing like a shoemaker's bench, with two
long arms extending. He proceeds to
work the piece of glass into the required
shape, with the aid of a few very simple
tools.
When the article is intended for cut-
ting, great care must be exercised to keep it
of uniform thickness. After the article is
completed, it is taken to the annealing oven
"or leer. This oven is from one to two
hundred feet in length; is open at both
ends, and is fitted with a small track run-
i
ning completely through it. On this track
are placed small flat iron trays or cars, and
on these cars the articles to be annealed.
These trays are fastened together and are
slowly drawn through by means of a. chain
attached to a windlass at the rear end. At
[Page Forty 'Six]
the front of the leer there are fires which
keep the temperature just below the melt-
ing point, and as the trays pass to the rear 5
the heat gradually decreases in intensity
until reaching the end of the oven when it
is taken out cold.
Although but little window glass was
made at Sandwich, the process of manufac-
ture is very similar to that of table ware, the
glass being gathered in the same way, only
in larger quantities. The window glass
blower takes the pipe from the "gatherer/'
and blows a huge bubble of air into it.
Then alternately blowing and manipulating
he enlarges the bubble and shapes the mass
into the form of a great decanter with a
short neck and very thick bottom. The
thinnest part of the glass next to the pipe
quickly hardens into the fixed foundation
[Page Forty'Seven*]
from which the remainder is to grow into
a cylinder of the same diameter.
In front of the blowhole is a long
narrow platform at right angles to the fur-
nace; this is the blower's post. Standing
there he swings the swelling bulb into
o o
the "abyss" before the platform like an
enormous hollow pendulum carved from
the flame, coaxing it to expand with fre-
quent timely blowing. When the bulb
stiffens, he rests the pipe on a handy prop
and softens the refractory end in the fur-
nace. When the glass flows too freely, he
tosses the cylinder into the air until it
settles together in the proper consistency.
By repeated blowing, swinging and heating,
he extends the bubble to nearly his own
length, and the glass becomes a round-tipped
[Page Forty-Eight]
o
c
o
O
cylinder resembling a hot-water reservoir
attached to the kitchen range.
As the cylinder is a foot in diameter
and five feet long and the tube is as much
longer, the most delicate skill must be
coupled with steady muscle for this work.
When the cylinder is finished, it is
placed on a ""horse." The pipe is detached
by touching the neck with a piece of cold
iron. To cut off the remaining portion of
the neck the cylinder is encircled with a
thread of hot glass, and touched with a
cold iron, after which it is cracked open
lengthwise by passing a red hot iron along
its inner surface.
It is next to be flattened. The flat-
tening oven has a turn table large enough
to carry four "stones" 40 x 80 in. made of
fire clay. After a preliminary warming the
[Page Fifty]
flattener places the cylinder upon the
"'stone" nearest him, and as soon as it is suf'
fiently warm to yield under its own weight
he opens it. It looks then something like a
rumpled sheet of paper. He smoothes it
out by passing a wooden block over it.
The wheel is turned and the "stone" with
its sheet passes into the cooling oven or leer.
The manufacture of plate glass dif-
fers very materially from that of the
ordinary table ware or window glass.
Instead of being like them, the result of a
blower's breath, the plate glass is cast into
a flat sheet, and is then ground and pol-
ished, which at once accounts for its ex-
pensiveness. In the selection of the crude
materials great care is taken to secure
purity. The melting is carried out in large
open pots, the furnaces differing in their
[Page Fifty-One']
construction only in their greater si^e, and
in the substitution of iron doors lined with
tiles for the customary gathering holes.
When the melting is completed, the
door nearest the pot to be emptied is
opened, and a two-pronged fork, mounted
on wheels, is inserted in the furnace. The
pot of metal is removed from the furnace
and carried on a low truck to the casting
table. Each table is provided with an iron
roller; strips of iron on each side of the
table afford a bearing for the rollers, and
determine the thickness of the plate to be
cast. The pot of molten glass is lifted by
means of a crane and its contents poured
quickly on the table. The heavy iron
roller is then passed from end to end
spreading the glass into a layer of uniform
thickness.
[Page Fifty-Two']
VIL PRESSED GLASS.
The most common glass in everyday
use is what is known as pressed glass. This
differs from cut glass from the fact that the
plastic material is dropped into a cast iron
mould, and forced by hand pressure into
the fixed shape within,
Imitation cut glass is one of the com-
mon products of the pressing machine, but
it can readily be distinguished from the
genuine article by the inferior lustre and
the unavoidable rounded edges. In recent
years, however, the manufacturers of
pressed glass have resorted to the practice
of smoothing out these rounded edges,
mould marks, etc., and by using a superior
quality of metal have been able to produce
ware which very readily deceives one un-
[Page Pvfty-Three]
familiar with the genuine article. One of
the best tests to determine whether an
article is blown and cut 5 or whether it is
pressed, is to strike a light, sharp blow with
a lead pencil or some similar object. If it
be the real cut glass it will give a clear,
metallic ring, but if it is pressed glass, the
ring will be dull and the vibration slight.
The following illustrations show some
much priced pieces of Sandwich Pressed
table ware.
LOOP AND JEWELL PATTERN
[Page Fifty Four]
s?
g
g
~
d
> ^
o
w "-d
O IT 1
?0 W
a 3
O :
^ w
w w
_ tn
M
8*.
VIII. CUT GLASS.
In cut glass the greater expense comes
in the cutting, the plain glass being worth
10 to 12 cents a pound. After a rigid in-
spection for flaws and various imperfec--
tions, the perfect pieces are put into the
cutter's hands, going first to a ""marker,"
who marks the outline of a design on the
outside of the plain, smooth surface with
a peculiar gummy red fluid. The pattern
is then "roughed" or "ground" with iron
wheels or discs, kept wet with a constant
stream of sand and water. These iron
wheels vary in diameter, thickness and the
shape of their edges, according to the pat'
tern to be cut.
Indeed, wheels of great variety are
used, not only in the roughing, but in the
{Page Fifty-Six]
smoothing and polishing. Sometimes ten
or a do2;en wheels are needed in cutting a
single piece of glass. The "roughing" be-
ing completed, the article is given to a
"'smoother/'' who follows the rougher "s
lines with a "Craig leitL," "blue Mitre/" or A
other kinds of stone wheels, on the edge of
which water constantly runs. These
wheels must be frequently trued and
sharpened with a piece of flint, otherwise
the cuts will be coarse and fail to bring out
the lustre and other beauty of the pattern.
Of course the edges of these wheels must
be shaped to conform to those of the iron
wheels with which the roughing is done.
The smallest portions of the design are cut
entirely by the stone wheels, without pre-
vious roughing.
Among the things that a cutter must
[Page Fifty-Seven*}
constantly guard against is the presence of
even the tiniest pebbles in the sand with
which the roughing wheels are fed. Other-
wise, the piece may 5 in an instant, be cut
entirely through, and sometimes even shat-
tered into bits. So sensitive must the cut-
ter's touch be that he will feel to what
depth his wheel is penetrating, whether it
be a full half inch into a thick glass bowl,
or a hair depth into the side of a champagne
glass. A little lack of care may cause the
friction to overheat, and so fracture his
object, wasting the labor bestowed upon it.
In cutting punch bowls and other
large articles, lumps of the moistened clay,
(such as the pots are made from) are placed
at frequent intervals to take up and deaden
the vibration which would otherwise
crack and destroy the article.
[PageFiftyEight]
After the smoothing, begins the "pol-
ishing" in which are first used wooden
wheels, made usually of willow, fed with a
mixture of pumice, rotten stone and water.
Next brush wheels., moistened with the
same preparation are used. Then the piece
is brushed with "putty powder" made from
tin and lead. The final polishing of the
cuts is done with a wooden or cork wheel,
moistened with "putty powder" or crocus.
Where flat surfaces are polished, sometimes
crocus powder is used on the cork wheel,
Thick felt wheels moistened with "putty
powder" are also used on plain flat surfaces.
In recent years a process of polishing by
means of acids has been perfected, but this
has been developed since the closing of the
works at Sandwich.
Lapidary cutting, as seen on the stop-
[Page
pers for bottles, is done by first roughing
the glass on the side of an iron wheel,, fed
with sand and water. Then the piece is
smoothed on the side of a stone wheel, fed
with water, and finally polished on a lead
wheel, moistened with putty and water.
Here the workman is able to see the work as
it progresses, a matter of much importance
when working by eye without the guid'
ance of a marked pattern. In lapidary work
the utmost accuracy and care has to be
used, as, if the slightest variation is made,
even in the last facet, it would be necessary
to go over the whole article again in order
to correct it.
There are many qualities of cut glass,
and many persons are pulled to distinguish
the good from the inferior, until after they
have made a few direct comparisons.
[Page Sixty*}
When the lesson is learned, it is never to
be forgotten.
A piece of cut glass transmits light,
colorless as a crystal. Inferior glass usually
shows a tint, yellowish,, or greenish, and its
surfaces are apt to look smoky as you hold
it between your eye and the light. Then
you will notice in fine glass that the pat-
tern is not only better designed, but truer
in execution, that the cuttings are sharp
and polished with perfect evenness. In the
inferior glass you will find, by comparison,
all sorts of irregularities. Until you have
mastered these differences, you will not be
a connoisseur of fine cut glass, and will not
understand why the collector is willing to
pay the necessary difference in price be-
tween good glass artistically designed and
[Page Sixty-One]
cut and inferior .glass made cheaply for
competition.
The following pictures show three of
the cutting processes.
The above shows two tumblers in different stages of cut-
ting. The one on the left has been "roughed" and
""smoothed 11 while that on the right has also been polished.
[Page Sixty-Two]
GLASS CUTTER MARKING THE PATTERN
{ Page Sixty-Three*}
GLASS CUTTER "ROUGHING"
Sixty 'Four']
GLASS CUTTER "SMOOTHING"
[Page Sixty-Five]
IX. ENGRAVING AND ETCHING.
Engraving upon glass differs from the
usual cutting rather in the pattern and the
kind of cut, than in the process by which
it is done. Its results resemble the ancient
intaglio and cameo cutting of gems and
crystals. Instead of the geometrical lines
and patterns in the usual cutting, the en-
graver is free to cut away and model
curving surfaces producing figures, flowers,
or any form of freely playing ornament.
The engraver uses copper wheels or discs
of diameters from the si^e of a pinhead up
to six inches, as thin as a hair or a quarter
of an inch thick. This wheel is attached
to the end of a steel rod fastened in a lathe,
where it is rapidly revolved, receiving from
time to time a drop of oil and emery pow-
der. When the engraver desires to out-
[Page Sixty -Six']
2
o
I
M
I
line the design, he may do so with a white,
ink/like mixture applied with a steel pen 5
but usually he starts directly with the
wheel, developing the pattern as the whee! 5
plays over the piece, changing from time
to time to a finer or coarser tool, to suit the
design. Here is the field of the artist en-
graver, well trained, patient, clear of eye,
firm of hand, and steady of nerve, the sub-
ject in hand admitting of any degree of
elaborating, as with the painter artist.
Engraved designs may also be highly
polished by using similar small wheels. The
term used to designate this work is "rock
crystal engraving"" which is rendered more
and more costly by the unusual work put
upon it.
There is another kind of engraving
known as "mud box engraving." This is
[Pdge Sixty Eight]
done by means of a copper disc revolving
in a box filled with "mud" or sand which
has become too fine to be used for cutting.
In appearance it looks very much like a
piece of rough engraved glass.
Another process of decorating glass
is known as etching. This
is done by means of cut
out patterns, which are
pasted on the clear glass
surface 5 the whole then
being covered with a
preparation of wax. The
paper patterns are then
removed with their coat-
ing of wax, leaving the de-
sign on the clear glass.
The articles to be etched
are then immersed in lead
"DUTCH PIPE"
MADE IN RED WHITE
AND BLUE
[Page Sixty -
vats containing acid
which, eats into the
surface of the glass un-
protected by the wax
covering. Of course
the inside of the article
must also be coated
with the wax.
While many very
delicate and beautiful
designs were produced
i
by this method, they
were not nearly as per-
manent as the engraved, and were mostly
used on lamp shades and the cheaper grades
of table ware.
The hydrofluoric acid employed for
etching is the only acid which will eat into
glass. It is a chemical unfamiliar to the
EPERGNE ENGRAVED
[Page Seventy']
majority of people. The source of the acid.,
the mineral fluor spar is quite abundant in
nature. It is so beautiful a mineral occur-
ring in nearly all the colors of the rainbow,
and in well defined cubes, that it is given
a prominent place in all
mineralogical cab-
inets, and is much better
known than the acid de-
rived from it. The min-
eral itself is a fluoride of
lime, and when treated
with oil of vitriol gives
off fumes of hydrofluoric
acid. These are exceed-
ingly soluble in water,
forming the ordinary
hydrofluoric acid of
commerce.
ETCHED CANDLE-
STICK REFITTED
FOR AN ELEC-
TRIC LAMP
[Page Seventy One]
X. PAINTED AND GILDED GLASS.
ONE product of the Sandwich Glass
factory that seems to have been
forgotten or ignored by most people who
have written about Sandwich Glass is the
decorated or painted ware, of which the
company turned out a great quantity be-
tween 1860 and 1880. The ware that was
used for this purpose was the white glass.
The first of the decorations were done in
gold and the workmen in the department
were known as the "gilders.' 5 ' 1 Later, how-
ever, mineral paints were used; artists of
much skill employed and many beautiful
pieces of ware turned out. They were
mostly in the form of lamp shades and
pedestals, although some table ware, pep
fume bottles and toilet sets were made.
[Page Seventy "
After the designs
were painted o n
the glass and par-
tially dried, the ar-
ticles were placed
in a kiln or oven,
and the - entrance
bricked up with
fire-brick, save for"
a small hole about
an inch or so in di-
ameter called "peek
hole." The fires
were then lighted
and the temperature brought almost to the
melting point. When the fires were al-
lowed to go down, the temperature was
reduced very slowly, until the oven and
contents became cold. Occasionally a por-
[Page Seventy-Three']
CUT GLASS LAMP WITH
DECORATED OPAL SHADE.
tion of the oven would become overheated
and some of the contents would "slump"
or change form and thus be ruined. In
order to prevent this,
great care was exercised
and the workmen in
charge of the kiln fre-
quently inspected the
interior through the
"peek hole" 1 and became
so expert that they
could determine by the
appearance of the con-
tents just when to
slacken the heat.
A red stain was some-
times used to imitate
RUBY AND FLINT LAMP.
ENGRAVED SHADE, CUT the genuine ruby plass.
BOWL AND PEDESTAL.
tfge SeventyFour]
SANDWICH PAPERWEIGHTS
The above shows one^half and" also a complete floral
paperweight. As seen in the broken piece, the flowers are
made up of very small pieces of colored glass, much magni-
fied in the completed article. Many beautiful pieces of both
fruit and flowers were made at Sandwich.
This paper weight "Book" was fashioned from a banker's
broken inkwell
[Page SeventyFive*}
SOME EARLY SANDWICH GLASS
This group shows old fashioned flint lamp. Two ex-
amples of the "dolphin" candle stick, also one of the
numerous cup plates.
[Page Seventy Six]
XL THE ORIGIN OF GLASS.
The art of glass making appears not to
have been discovered and practised by
different nations independently, but to
have gradually spread from a single centre.
The credit of the invention was given by
the ancients to the Phoenicians. Phoeni'
cian merchants, it was claimed, rested their
cooking pots on blocks of natrow (sub-
carbonate of soda) 5 and found glass pro-
duced by the union under the heat of the
alkali and sand of the shore.
This claim is disputed however, by
those who maintain that it is impossible to
make glass in the open air. It is an accepted
fact that the early Egyptians were skillful
glass makers. The Romans are also given
credit for having 'produced some beautiful
glass vases. Some specimens of these from
Seventy ''Seven~j
the First Century B. G. may be seen in the
Metropolitan Museum in New York.
There are in the United States huge
cliffs of what is known as volcanic glass,
the largest of these being located in Col-
orado, where there is a quarry of what is
known as black flint glass (this being the
only glass known on this continent before
the European invasion) . From this quarry
the ancient artisans cut many utensils and
ornaments. The special use for this ma'
terial was for polished mirrors which seem
to have been a favorite household property
among the old Mexicans.
Chemically speaking glass is a fused
combination of two silicates. In other
words, it is a melted mixture of sand with
two oxides from a group of four soda,
potash, lime and lead.
[Page Seventy 'Eight]
The other ingredients found in glass,
as manganese, tin, arsenic, iron, inc, etc.,
are coloring matter, impurities or cor-
rectives of impurities. Glass is usually
named from the principal base. The an-
cient glass was a "soda glass." Bohemian
white and English flint are "potash glass. 1 "
Cheap table ware is "lime glass." While
optical goods and table glass suitable for
cutting are known as "lead glass." The
one staple element of all glass, silica, must
first be pure and minutely pulverised.
The Chinese, like some of the ancients s
get a fine quality of glass by pounding
quartz, crystals into powder.
The best English glass was formerly
made from flints calcined and ground and
therefore named "flint glass."
[Page
Bohemian glass is still made almost
entirely from pulverised quarts rock.
Berkshire County, Mass., supplied
most of the New England and Eastern fac-
tories with the sand used in the manufac-
ture of glass. At Sandwich great care was
used in the preparation of the sand, it being
very carefully sifted and dried before being
mixed with the other ingredients of the var-
ious formulas.
Much has been written about the
peculiar brightness and so-called silver tint
of Sandwich glass. This has been attributed
to various ingredients used in the "batch,"
as the mixture which was melted to pro-
duce the several varieties was called. The
Boston 6s? Sandwich Company had a book
containing many formulas for various kinds
of glass with minute directions, as to how
[Page Eighty]
the ingredients were to be used., where the
best ingredients could be obtained., and the
current prices. Through the courtesy of
Mr. Charles Lloyd, the writer recently had
the privilege of examining this book. In
the days when the factory was in opera-
tion, this book was carefully guarded, and
was only accessible to the manager or su-
perintendent. Apparently many of the
managers have included their own favorite
formulas. Some pages from the book are
reproduced here.
Of the two following formulas of
Theodore Kern the first represents one of
the most costly and the other one of the
more common types produced by the fac-
tory.
[Page Eighty-One]
Ruby No. 1
Sand 3 " "
White Lead 2 " "
Pearlash 8 "
Saltpetre or Nitrate of Potash 1 "
Regulus Antimony 5
Oxide of Tin 2
Oxide of Antimony 2
Manganese 2
Red oxide of Iron O6 oz.
Gold in Solution 0-3
Mode used to prepare the Solution to
dissolve Gold.
For one ounce of Gold dissolve 2 03.
sal ammoniac in 5 03. best nitric acid which
will take 6 to 7 days.
Then drop in one ounce of Gold say
14" to I'Z" at a time, till all is dissolved, but
be careful to have the first piece dropped in 5
[Pdge Eighty-Two']
(say 14" to 1-2" of the ounce) wholly dis-
solved^then go on, part at a time as it dis-
solves, till the ounce is used up which will
require about 24 hours to dissolve the
whole. Then evaporate the solution to
dryness, and then proceed as described in
this book to make purple of Cassus for
Ruby Glass.
Common Flint
Sand 12 " "
Lead 3 " "
Pearlash 25 "
Bi Garb. Soda 2 " "
Nitrate of Soda
Lime 5 "
Arsenic 8
Bone 6
Manganese "'34 02;.
[Page Eighty-Three}
f
-v /A
/' t
SAMPLE PAGES FROM THE BOOK OF FORMULAS OF THE
BOSTON e? SANDU-ICH GLASS COMPANY.
[Page Eighty 'Four]
XII MARKETING THE PRODUCT.
Even in the early days. Sandwich glass
was rated among the best, and was ranked
with the product of the New England
Company as the finest glass made in the
United States. In these days of modern
enterprise and keen competition the sales
methods of the Sandwich Company would
be considered absurdly archaic. The com'
pany did little advertising and it had no
traveling salesmen. Instead it waited for
the customers to seek the glass. As the
glassware was turned out it was stored
away. Twice a year, in the spring and in
the autumn, goods were shipped to New
York, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore
and sold at auction to jobbers. It was
always the policy to make as much glass as
[Page Eighty-Five^
the furnaces would turn out, regardless of
the state of the market. The contention of
the company was that when the market
did rise the Boston 6? Sandwich Company
would be ready to take advantage of it
with glass that had been made as cheaply
as that of any company. To turn out less
than the capacity of the furnaces was held
to be raising the cost of the product.
While the interest in Sandwich glass
at the present time is almost wholly con'
fined to the pressed type, and some author-
ities claim that the pressed ware was the
principal product of the Sandwich factory,
the writer is inclined to doubt this claim.
In the late 6CTs and early 7CTs some of the
best glass cutters in the country were em-
ployed in the cutting shop, as many as.
[Page Eighty -Six]
forty or fifty being at work there at that
time, as well as a number of engravers.
^When work was slack in the cutting
room, the cutters bought blanks from the
Company and cut patterns of their own
design which were submitted to the super-
intendent. If these met with his approval,
they were sent to the salesroom, and the
filling of any orders from these designs
was given to the designer of the pattern.
Sometimes, if officials of the Company were
pleased with a pattern, or it became pop"
ular, the Company bought it from the
originator. This indicates that fine cut
glass filled a very important place in the
Company's output.
[Page Eighth-Seven]
[Page Eighty-Bight]
XIII THE PERSONNEL.
It is interesting to recall the names of
some of those who contributed largely to
the success of the factory, whose product
is now so largely sought.
There was Gapt. Wm. Stetson, the
first superintendent under Mr. Jarves, who
remained in his position until increasing
years unfitted him for his arduous duties.
It is to the credit of the directors at that
time that he was granted a yearly salary
while living, for his faithful services..
George L. Fessenden, familiarly known
as "Lafayette," was the general superin-
tendent for many years.
Mr. Fessenden by his courtesy and
uniform kindness and impartiality so en-
deared himself to the workers in the various
[Page Eighty- 3s[ine}
departments of the works that on Wash-
ington's Birthday in I860, he was sum-
moned into the cutting shop where were
assembled some three hundred of the
operators, less than one half of the total
number employed, and Mr. James Ingraham,
on behalf of the gathering, presented him a
beautiful silver service, suitably inscribed.
In making up the sum necessary to pur-
chase the service, no contributor was al-
lowed to give more than fifty cents.
C. C. P. Waterman was the first clerk
and paymaster. He remained in this posi-
tion until Mr. Jarves' resignation, when he
followed the agent and greatly assisted him
in building up the Cape Cod Glass works.
Deacon Elisha Jones was head book-
keeper for many years. Charles Chapouil
was for a long time clerk in the office at
[Page J\[inety*]
Sandwich and the writer is indebted to him
for many facts relating to the early days of
the Company.
The names of Joseph Hay., Esq.., presi-
dent of the directors, Gorham Rogers,
treasurer, and David H. Coolidge, clerk, are
also worthy of mention.
On the resignation of Mr. Jarves as
agent, Mr. Sewell H. Fessenden (who had
been head salesman under Mr. Jarves V
was appointed agent. Prosperity continued
under his administration for a number of
years, until the competition of the western
factories, the decline of prices, and labor
troubles, began to be felt seriously. Then
Mr. Henry F. Spurr was appointed general
superintendent of the whole concern. He
used his best efforts to bring the company
back to its former prestige, but all in vain.
[Page T^netyOne]
It was too late. At length the directors
voted to close up the business and save all
they could for the stockholders. They
sold all the made up stock of ware to Jones,
McDuffy 6? Stratton, and the whole plant,
including the houses of the workmen, to
a company for $20 9 000^a plant which cost
in the course of time at least $200,000.
A peculiar clause in the charter of this
old company provided that if at any time
the fires were allowed to go out in all its
furnaces its charter should expire. After
the closing down of the factory several at-
tempts were made to revive the industry,
but without success.
The Company never allowed a pay-'
day to be passed over in the hardest times
(and the company passed through many) .
No employee ever had reason to complain
[Pdge
that he was not paid in full for his labor,
and if in case of sickness or trouble in his
family he wanted a barrel of flour, or ton
of coal, of which the company always kept
a stock to be sold to its employees at reason-
able prices, or money to help him out, it was
always advanced. For many years it was
Mr. Jarves custom to give every fall a
barrel of flour to each widow in the factory
village.
There were many first-class workmen
who contributed to the success of the com-
pany in their several departments.
Theodore Kern was foreman of the
cutting shop and afterwards manager of
the glass house. Francis Kern was foreman
of the cutting shop, and was succeeded by.
Luther Drake.
One of the best known glass makers
[Page 7v[inet3/'Three]
was William Kern, who is still living (in
1925) at the age of 94 in New Bedford,
Mass., and is the oldest living employee of
the company. He first went to work for
the Boston and Sandwich Company when
nine years old and remained there for 28
years.
One of the most skillful employees of
the company was Hiram Dilloway, who
was master mechanic, and to whose skill
was due much of the success that attended
the manufacture of pressed glass (the kind
so eagerly sought after at the present
time) . Mr. Dilloway drew the sketches,
made the patterns, and many of the moulds
themselves, for the now famous "Sandwich
pressed glass/ 1
{Page
Among the more eagerly sought speci-
mens of Sandwich glass are the cup plate, of
which many different patterns were made.
The following are some of the best known
of specimens.
The cup plate on the title page is one of
the several "Bunker Hill" designs. It is re-
lated that a group of women had this partic-
ular plate on sale at the dedication of the
monument and so great was the demand for
them that the 2,500 was soon sold and an
order was sent to the factory for as many
more as could be delivered the next day. A
crew was immediately put to work and,
after working all night, 1,000 were sent to
Boston the next morning.
[Page
UPPER LEFT SANDWICH STAR,
UPPER RIGHT THIRTEEN HEARTS. CLAIMED BY
SOME TO BE FIRST PATTERN MADE AT SANDWICH.
LOWER LEFT HENRY CLAY.
LOWER RIGHT LEAFY BORDER,
[Page
UPPER LEFT THISTLE PATTERN CUP PLATE.
UPPER CENTER PRESENTATION SANDWICH CUP
PLATE MADE FOR PRINCE OF WALES IN 1860.
UPPER RIGHT CONSTITUTION, ONE OF SANDWICH'S
BEST.
LOWER LEFT MAN AND BULL.
CENTER STATE CUP PLATE.
LOWER RIGHT GRAPE EAGLE CUP PLATE.
[Page
AN ANCIENT SUGAR BOWL.
This sugar bowl
was made in 1829,
only four years
after the establish-
ment of the fac-
tory by William
Kern, father of
the William Kern
referred to in the
preceding pages
and was a wed-
ding gift to his
sister, Catherine Kern, on the occasion of
her marriage to Frederick Eaton, grand-
father of the writer. It was known as the
"Bee Hive" pattern and is probably one of
the oldest specimens of Sandwich Glass now
in existence. This sugar bowl is now the
property of Mrs. Harry Cheney, of Palmer,
[Page Jfynety Eight]
Mass., a grand-daughter of Frederick and
Catherine Eaton.
The writing of this brief history has
been to the author a work of love. To
preserve the memory of an industry famed
in other days, and with which the fortunes
of his own family and those of boyhood
friends were so long linked, is his desire.
If these pages shall serve this end, the
writer is well repaid.
STIPPLED SYRUP PITCHER
EGG GUP
[Page J^inety 'Jo
118558
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