shield f - the mark of quality

Bottles and Extras Winter 2006 13

A Family AffairAsk people about the Federal Glass

Company and chances are they’ll scratch theirheads and answer the question with a question,“It was mostly a bottle and jar factory, wasn’tit?” Certainly bottles and jars made up a largepercentage of the early output, but over a79-year life span, the Federal made a wide arrayof products.

By the 1960s, this company hadmushroomed into the undisputed industrialbehemoth of the South Side of Columbus, Ohio.Nearly two decades later, multiple forces fromboth the inside and the outside felled thisglassmaking giant.

The factory site, bustling since 1900, isuncharacteristically quiet today. The hiss andclang of automatic glassmaking machines areonly memories for those who still remember lifeat the old Federal. The physical plant, with itsconglomeration of once tightly packedbuildings, has been largely eviscerated to cleara thoroughfare for an industrial park that stillbears its name—Federal Industrial Park.

The story of this major player in theAmerican glass industry must also include theachievements of the Beatty family, pioneerglassmakers whose lives were inexorably linkedto the trade starting before the Civil War.Family members built and managed glassfactories in five cities—Steubenville, Tiffin, andColumbus, Ohio; Dunkirk, Indiana; andWashington, Pennsylvania.

Just as Beatty sons followed their fathers tothe Federal, so did the sons in many otherfamilies. They considered co-workers theirextended family. After working hours,employees joined in sporting and social events,and in times of illness or bereavement,comforted and supported one another. This “citywithin a city,” this Federal Glass Companyacross all departments, became the home awayfrom home for thousands of workers for almosteight decades.

The Early Beatty FactoriesLong before the Federal Glass Company

started up in Columbus, a small glassmakingoperation built about 1830 near the banks ofthe Ohio River in Steubenville beckoned toJoseph Beatty. Together with his partner,Edward Stillman, they took over the previouslyunsuccessful glass factory in 1845 when onlyabout 5,000 people lived in this thriving

Shield F - The Mark of Qualityby Marg Iwen

Mary Gill, then 19 years old and theyoungest of the four Beatty children, continued,“We went to the factory very early in themorning stopping for mail on our way. Afterbuilding a fire in the stove and thawing out ourfingers in the cold weather, George would goout to the factory and I would open all the mail,laying the letters upon his desk ready for himand copying all the orders myself into the orderbook. After that I made out the invoices forwhat was shipped the previous day.

“I remember very clearly the puzzled andincredulous look on the faces of elderlybusinessmen from large cities when they wereassured that this boyish, beardless young manof 21 [George] was the sole proprietor of theestablishment in the absence of older brotherage 23 [Robert]. No one but the three of usever knew to what financial extremes we werereduced at the time,” Mary Gill concluded.

Following the Natural GasBy 1887, the Beatty brothers accepted the

relocation offer of $50,00 in cash and land aswell as free natural gas for five years from thengas-rich Tiffin, Ohio. In their new factory,constructed at a cost of $65,000, they made thefirst glass in 1889 from three furnaces of 15pots each. Tumblers and tableware in crystal(clear), colored, and opalescent constituted thebulk of the output from the factory that still boretheir father’s name.

In Tiffin, the Beatty brothers establishedtheir reputation as outstanding glass men,beneficent employers, and hard-headedexecutives. By January 1892, A. J. Beatty &Sons had joined 17 other formerly independentglass companies that merged to form the UnitedStates Glass Company (U.S Glass) combine.

When the natural gas supply in Tiffin largelyran out, in 1896 the Beatty brothers headed westto Dunkirk, Indiana, where the gas still flowedfreely. They bought the abandoned DunkirkLocomotive and Car Repair Works buildings

Early advertisement by Joseph Beatty and EdwardStillman (typo Steelman) who bought the old Kilgore

& Hanna factory, which failed due to brittle glass.(Dohrman, 1884).

Alexander J. Beatty (born November 14, 1811; diedNovember 29, 1875) and his wife, Abbie Ann

Johnson, had four children, Sarah, Robert James,George and Mary Gill.

A.J. Beatty & Sons 1879 catalog from Steubenville,Ohio, offering wares in over 20 categories, includingtable tumblers, ales, bar tumblers, handled jellies and

tin-top jellies.

business community.The partners called their new enterprise

Beatty and Stillman. After they had updatedand operated it for a few years, it passed throughthe hands of several owners until about 1852when Joseph’s younger brother, Alexander,became the new owner.

Alexander J. Beatty, already a successfulSteubenville wholesale grocer and woolmerchant, razed the early glass house buildingsand erected a new factory. Before long, he hadbuilt the business to where 160 workers made36,000 goblets and tumblers daily (Doyle,1910). Although tableware was also made atthe thriving Beatty factory, tumblers establishedA. J. Beatty & Sons’ reputation in the glassbusiness.

When Alexander J. Beatty was struck by alocomotive of the Pan Handle Railroad whilewalking along the tracks in the rain to his home,he received a severe brain injury and died ashort time later in Kenbright’s Hospital inPhiladelphia. His tragic and unexpected deathplunged three of his four children into full-timeglassmaking.

Mary Gill Beatty (Rhodes Patterson) manyyears later described in detail how the untimelydeath of her father affected the family. “A heavyburden fell upon my brothers who were veryyoung and boyish in appearance. Due to thebusiness depression that had affected theglassworks, it was decided that Robert shouldgo on a business trip at the earliest opportunity.In that case, someone should be in the officewith brother George. Since they wished nooutsider to know their state of affairs, Isuggested that they allow me to take that place.”

Bottles and ExtrasWinter 200614

and grounds, which due to lack of funding, neverbecame operational. From two continuous tankfurnaces instead of pot furnaces they beganmaking tumblers, jellies, packers’ goods, fruitjars, and tableware at the factory they namedBeatty-Brady.

In October 1899, Beatty-Brady joined with18 other glass factories to form the NationalGlass Company combine. About a year later,George Beatty sold out to the combine. Nowfree from the controlling combine management,he marshaled his considerable assets, includingplans for a new glass factory, and set out forColumbus, Ohio. At 515 E. Innis Avenue onthe South Side he intended to manufacture low-cost wares from glass melted in continuous tankfurnaces and formed by automatic machinery.

Opened Under Foreign CharterThe Federal was originally incorporated

under the laws of West Virginia by fiveWashington, Pennsylvania, glass men: GeorgeBeatty, Robert James Beatty, Charles NeaveBrady, James Kuntz, Jr., John W. Donnan, andattorney H. M. Hussel of Wheeling. State lawrequired that a West Virginia lawyer beappointed and present at the incorporationproceedings. Kuntz was also the president andchief stockholder in the Mississinewa GasCompany, Marion, Indiana. Donnan had servedpreviously on the Beatty-Brady board ofdirectors.

The new company’s first officers includedGeorge Beatty, president; James S. Bracken,vicepresident; William C. Bracken, secretary;and James Kuntz, Jr., treasurer. To cover thecost of new buildings and machinery, the initialamount of capital stock was increased from$175,000 to $275,000.

The West Virginia charter under which thecompany had operated for about four years wasretired when the Federal was rechartered inOhio on May 28, 1904. The Ohio corporation

purchased the West Virginia corporation for$245,000 and assumed all unpaid obligations.Incorporators included George and RobertJames Beatty, James S. Bracken, George T.Everett, and George W. Davis. The capital stockof $250,000 was divided into 2,500 shares of$100 each.

There is a Beginning . . .Ground was broken for the new factory on

June 1, 1900. Two Columbus contractors,William E. W. Cherry and D. W. McGrath,secured the contract for the two-story officebuilding, mold shop, mixing room, finishingroom, and a galvanized (zinc-plated sheet steelover a wood frame) structure for the engineroom. Herman Laub of Pittsburgh won thecontract for the factory buildings.

James Cuthbert, Sr., a life-long Federalemployee originally hired at Tiffin, reported thatGeorge Beatty had rented an old stove works inTiffin where “gathering-blowing machines, wireand gas cut-off machines, grinding machinesand melting machines” were built. When thefirst Federal buildings neared completion,George Beatty shipped these machines toColumbus on December 17, 1900. He hadsuccessfully patented several of them.

By the end of the following year, the Federalhad acquired 17 acres of “...ground as level asa floor”(China, Glass and Lamps [CGL] ,November 7, 1901). The factory site wasbounded by Woodrow Avenue on the north, AnnStreet, Innis Avenue, and Wager Street on thewest, and Marion Road on the south. “If thesize of the factory and thorough equipment areany criterion, they will be one of the largestproducers of tumblers in the U. S. once theyget into full operation,” declared CGL.

Federal Rises in the OutbackAt the turn of the century, the area

surrounding the budding Federal, mostly locatedin the Township of Marion, Franklin County,lay largely unimproved. Many residents plantedtheir gardens near the factory at Woodrow andParsons Avenues; corn fields abounded southof Innis Avenue.

“There was a baseball park on JenkinsAvenue east of Parsons which gave the saloonsthe business, then there were these signs, goingout of town ‘Last Chance’ and coming into town

‘First Chance,’ according to Cuthbert.Columbus numbered about 125,000 residentsin 1900.

When the Federal started up, Innis andParsons Avenues were nothing but dirt roads.Helen Everett Fisher (daughter of George T.Everett, a Beatty faithful who was the plantmanager at Dunkirk and a Federal stockholderas well as a factory supervisor) recalled thatworkers going to and from work often becamemired in mud. Out of necessity, an earlyconstruction project entailed building asidewalk of planks measuring eight feet long,four inches wide, and two inches thick, runningfrom Parsons Avenue to the factory. Soon after,workers erected an eight-foot-high board fencearound the factory buildings, a common practiceamong factories running non-union.

Fisher recalled that “After Parsons Avenuewas paved we always knew when it was 8o’clock because Mr. W. C. Bracken would passin his black Packard, then Mr. Jim Brackenwould pass in the same kind of car. Later Mr.George Beatty passed in a great White steamer[a steam-powered automobile built by the WhiteCompany from 1900 - 1911].”

No. 49 1/2 Eng. 136

Manufacturers ofTumblers, Beer Mugs and Fine Tableware.

The largest line of Blown Tumblers, Plain, Cut, Handled,Etched and Engraved in the market.

A.J. Beatty & Sons Tiffin, Ohio, advertisement.Engraving cost 15 cents a dozen, or $3.00 for lettermonogram (China, Glass and Lamps [CGL], April

29, 1881).

By 1896, George Beatty was making tableware, such as this sugar and butter, from continuous tank furnaces.No. 106 is now known as Spiralled Triangle (CGL, March 31, 1899).

George Beatty, Federal’s founderand first president.


According to Fisher, “People in the SouthEnd could always set their clocks by the Federalwhistles. Factory people started to work aboutsix in the morning. The noon whistle blew at11:30 a.m. At 12:15 p.m. the first whistle blewand promptly at 12:30 p.m. the second whistleblew, and that meant everyone had to be thereon the job. During the early months ofoperation, the night shift began at 5:30 p.m. andended at 6 a.m. with a lunch hour at midnight.”

Fisher confided that her father “...felt closeto the people who worked for him and all theirfamily woes were his. He often told abouthaving to paddle this boy or that one, havingcaught him smoking cigarettes.” She continued,“Also he had a lot of trouble during the hotweather because the men drank too much ofthe ice-cold well water which constantly gushedfrom an open pipe in the factory. For this reason,he made them all eat salt.”

Her father presumed he had assembled acomplete first aid kit. He kept it supplied withcheese cloth bandages—which she cut, rolled,and wrapped in newspaper. “He also alwayskept on hand a box of baking soda, a bottle ofturpentine to use for cuts, and of course, thesalt,” Fisher added.

“I recall how often Mabel [Fisher’s sisterand first stenographer] took me with her to theoffice on Saturday and I was permitted to walkquietly up and down the little iron stairwaywhich is still there (1951) but was allowed tospeak to no one unless Mr. [George] Beattyspoke to me first.” She was amused thatstudents from Ohio State University who touredthe plant during summer vacation aggravatedGeorge Everett by taking notes and asking “darnfool” questions.

President George Beatty and Vice presidentJames S. Bracken established their first officesin an old tollgate house located at Parsons andInnis Avenues while the two-story officebuilding was being built (a buff brick structurewhich later became the central core of the newoffice building).

James Cuthbert and the other workers whoarrived in Columbus on Thursday, December20, 1900, were met at the car line which

terminated at Innis Avenue by George Davis(stockholder and incorporator under the WestVirginia charter, and later Federal mold shopforeman). He took them to Henry “Hen” Reeb’sfor dinner. “First good thing we had to say forColumbus,” remarked Cuthbert.

“Later Mr. George Beatty met us at the officedoor and showed us through the plant, and askedif we wanted to go to work then or start in themorning. One of the boys being superstitioussaid it was bad luck to start on Friday, so hewent to work,” Cuthbert reported. Apparentlyit was a long-held belief among glassmen thatstarting to work on Friday, but not working thatday as part of a normal shift, was unlucky.

A critical housing shortage prevailed inColumbus around 1900. The Beatty brothershad already dealt with a similar shortage whenworkers moved with the factory fromSteubenville to Tiffin. Now, in this place, theyhad to find housing, preferably on the SouthSide, for the immigrants who arrived fromBelgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, andIreland, as well as for the regional workers whocame from Pittsburgh and the lower Ohio Valley.

The first cohort of workers, while searchingfor room and board, discovered they would haveto live two to a room, use kerosene lamps forlight, bathe in a wash tub, and make do withoutrunning water or sewer. Most of them boardedat “Hen” Reeb’s on Reeb Avenue whereCuthbert reported the meals to be “extra good.”

Tumblers and Jellies First OutputThe No. 1 continuous tank furnace was built

in 1901; No. 2 furnace was added the followingyear. A third tank furnace was fired in 1905.At various times in its history, the Federalworked from one to six tank furnaces. It mayhave been the first U.S. factory to make handblown wares from glass melted in a continuoustank furnace.

James Means Beatty, the son of RobertJames Beatty, briefly described the structure andoperation of a typical continuous tank furnaceat the Federal, built of clay blocks 12 inchesthick. The melting end, charged with the batch,averaged approximately 27 feet by 16 feet. The

depth of the molten glass in the melting endequalled 42 inches.

From the melting end the molten glasspassed through a 24-inch-square aperturelocated at the base of the tank furnace into thesmaller working end. The act of passing throughthis “hole” allowed “seeds” or small bubblesand other impurities to rise to the top. Thesmaller working end of the tank furnace wasrounded to permit more even spacing of thedelivery spouts that carried molten glass to theforming machines.

Although American glass factories wereslow to accept the tank furnace, once theyrecognized its fuel efficiency and need for fewerworkers, it became the standard for the industry.By 1919, nearly 600 tank furnaces operated inU.S. glass factories, compared with about 200when George Beatty installed them at theFederal (Scoville, 1948).

The No. 630 tumbler was the first blownware made in the No. 1 plant (blow factory) inFebruary 1901. An early advertisement, amongthe Federal’s first in trade papers, listed blowntumblers, plain and engraved (China,Glassware, and Pottery Reporter [CGPR],August 1901). The same issue noted “ ...acatalog of tumblers and price list will be senton request to the Federal Glass Company.” TheCGPR, December 1902, stated that the “latestcatalog sent out by Federal ...has the latestshapes in tumblers and stemware, plain andengraved styles.”

The first press, driven by steam, turned out1/3- and 1/2-pint round bottom jelly tumblers.The first pressed tumblers belonged to the No.200 line, and included No. 201 with a star inthe bottom, No. 202 with a horseshoe in thebottom, and No. 226 with an engraved bandthree-fourths of an inch from the top. Duringthe early days, the company shipped all tumblersin excelsior-filled barrels made in the coopershop. Packers’ goods left the factory in woodenreshipping crates assembled in the samebuilding as the barrels.

Fisher recalled that fruit jars (both pints andquarts) constituted the main output of FactoryNo. 2, supervised by her dad. According to

Robert James Beatty, Federal’s co-founder and chieffinancier (photo courtesy of Patricia Patterson Allen).

James Means Beatty, son of Robert James Beatty, andFederal’s second president.

Edmund A. Donnan, Sr., Federal’s thirdand longest-serving president

(photo courtesy of Russ Hughes).


Fisher, her mother often called the factorytelephone number, Ma. 2404, during thecanning season and requested that a boy delivera couple of dozen fruit jars. “In those days noone ever thought of paying for ware,” sheconfessed.

Residual Litigation RanklesWhen the Dunkirk plant sold to the National

combine in 1899, George Beatty allegedlyentered into a contract stating he would notmanufacture pressed tableware for five years(CGL, February 15, 1902). (Other referencesinclude jellies and tumblers as well astableware.) Based upon this condition, hereceived an all-cash settlement rather than partstock and part cash for his plant.

The National Glass Company, withheadquarters in Pittsburgh, filed suit in U.S.District Court in Columbus in 1902 to restrainBeatty from manufacturing tableware inviolation of the contract alleged to have beenentered into between Beatty and the Nationalin 1899 (CGL, October 4, 1902). However,Federal made the first tableware in 1906—beyond the time limitation allegedly specifiedin the contract.

The National Glass Company, poorlymanaged and already faltering shortly after theindividual factories merged, possessed limitedresources to devote to this suit, falling intoreceivership by 1907. The outcome of the suitremains unknown; it may have been droppedor settled out of court.

Fuel Shortage—Well, Well, WellThe faltering supply of natural gas as early

as 1902 prompted the Federal to build a gasproducer plant to make gas from coal a yearearlier than George Beatty had planned.Throughout the Federal’s primordium, growth,and maturation, the natural gas supply wouldebb and flow, a phenomenon dreaded but wellunderstood by those who chose to make glassfor a living.

In his 1906 report to the stockholders,George Beatty warned that the gas companywhich had supplied natural gas to the factorywould probably increase the price by at least20 percent. The supplier further notified that

the existing contract would be valid for only ayear at a time. More unsettling still, the suppliergave preference to residential customers,threatening to take the Federal off line beforeprivate customers suffered a shortage.

Given the tentative natural gas situation, theboard of directors decided to search for anindependent fuel supply. Together with theBuckeye Steel Castings Company (a Columbusfoundry specializing in castings for the railroad),the Federal leased 8,000 acres in LickingCounty, Ohio, to drill for natural gas. The firstwell turned out to be a dry hole. Well No. 2showed some promise, but not enough towarrant pumping. Well No. 3 was a total failure.Well No. 4 also showed promise, but the Federaldirectors decided to halt speculation until itproduced enough natural gas and oil to justifyfurther investment. Sadly, the entire drillingoperation was a bust, and in 1907 George Beattytold the stockholders the Federal had resumedmaking producer gas from coal.

The neighborhood housewives as well asGeorge Beatty would have preferred a cleaner-burning fuel supply. The early gas producerswere not only inefficient, but also notoriouslypolluting. The soot buildup, cleared by a weekly“blow out” or “burn out,” settled an oily blackfilm over everything in the vicinity. Imagine thehousewives’ dismay when the blow out andhanging wash out took place on the same day.

Federal Displays its WaresThe Federal showed its wares at least as

early as the January 1905 Glass and PotteryExhibition in Pittsburgh. James Means Beatty,previously seasoned by 18 months of sellingglassware for the U.S. Glass, staffed the firstone-room display at the Hotel Henry.

A year later he was joined by Julius (Jule)Braun, an experienced glass salesman oftendubbed “jovial” or “jolly” by the trade paperreporters who covered the show. By 1907, intwo rooms at the Fort Pitt Hotel, pressedtableware occupied a prominent place in theFederal display. Included were imitation-cuttableware (No. 1910 line) and plain ware (No.140 line) as well as blown tumblers, sodas,nappies, and packers’ wares (CGL, January 12,1907).

The 1908 display included a plain line (No.140), a grape line (No. 507), and a vine orwreath line (No. 508) as well as the limitation-cut line (No. 1910). The display also featuredjugs (pitchers), molasses cans, bar goods, andberry sets (CGL, January 18, 1908).

Judging from trade paper commentary, salesof Federal glass were keeping therepresentatives hopping. “It took longer to seeMr. Beatty than it does to see J. P. Morgan,”said the CGL reporter in the January 25, 1908,issue. “But,” he continued, “Mr. Beatty oughtto have buyers and ought to sell glass becausehe has stuff that is salable. The ‘lightness’ and‘brightness’ of it are distinctive. Mr. Beattydoes not know when he will get away. Certainlynot while buyers are keeping him as busy asthey are now.”

In subsequent years, displays includedtableware patterns originally made by othercompanies, notably Kokomo/Jenkins, U.S.Glass, and possibly Indiana Tumbler andGoblet. After the initial run, or slow sales, manycompanies sold the molds to companies suchas the Federal, which made the glass morecheaply from tank glass than other companiescould make it from pot glass. This may helpexplain some of the variation in quality foundbetween items of the same pattern.

Morris G. Woodhull, husband of RobertJames Beatty’s daughter Emma, assisted Braunwith the 1910 display. By the 1920s, U. L.Conway appeared for the Federal, whichcontinued to participate in various trade showsat least into the mid-1950s.

Financial Picture Looks RosyIn spite of growing pains punctuated by cut-

throat competitors and vacillating fuel supplies,the Federal made money. The Beattys remainedthe principal stockholders in the early years,holding slightly over 50 percent of the stock.An early Federal advertisement announcing its wares to the trade (CGL, October 19, 1901).

No. 630 blown tumblers, the first madeat the Federal, with various engravings

(October 1914 catalog).


In 1903, the company reported $338,651 intotal sales. By 1904, sales had increased to$492,193 and rose to $652,133 during 1905.George Beatty gave no exact sales figures in1906, but in his annual report he stated thatsales had not increased much over 1905. In1907, he said only that sales had “largelyincreased over the previous year.”

The company officers received a salaryincrease in late 1911. President George Beatty’sbase salary rose from $8,000 per year to$13,625. Vice president James S. Brackenrealized an increase from a base of $6,000 to$10,015. Secretary James Means Beatty sawhis salary increase from $6,000 to $9,705, andTreasurer William C. Bracken’s salary wentfrom $4,000 to $7,205. If it’s true that salariesdouble about every 10 years, these officialscould have become wealthy men.

At the end of the first decade, the Federalproperty supported at least 45 structures,ranging in size from the individual factorybuildings which housed the continuous tank

furnaces and lehrs to the smaller buildings suchas sand bins and hay storage sheds. Eachbuilding was numbered for easy identification.The American Appraisal Company, Milwaukee,Wisconsin, valued the company at $410,959,of which $355,580 was covered by insurance.

The Hercules Is BornBased upon successful operation of the

factory for a decade, officials saw the wisdomof creating a subsidiary to fabricate shippingcontainers. Such a move, they reasoned, couldhelp alleviate problems previously encounteredwith paperboard suppliers.

When he spoke to the Federal stockholdersin August 1911, President George Beatty said,“We have added a corrugating and paper boxmanufacturing plant, wherewith we are able tomake all of our paper boxes and corrugatedfillers for our wooden reshipping cases that areso largely used now by the packing trade.” Hecalled the subsidiary the Hercules BoxCompany. In later years, it would markcontainers with the “Shield H.”

President Beatty felt that building a boxplant benefitted the Federal enormously becausein the past the company “ ...had to purchasepaper from manufacturers and have had to beentirely at their mercy as to the time of delivery,and in many instances have lost customers orhad unpleasant contentions through this delay,and we expect as well to furnish these boxeson a cheaper basis than we can now buy themfrom the outside manufacturers.” Moreover,wrapping glassware in tissue paper andcarefully nesting it in excelsior-filled barrelshad become outmoded as well as more costly.

In 1912, the Federal improved its machinerywhen the company purchased the rights to theMiller Semi-automatic Press from EdwardMiller, owner of the Miller Machine & MouldWorks, Columbus (mechanical patent No. 787,050 granted December 6, 1904). The semi-automatic-machine replaced some, but not all,workers in a shop. One Miller machineincreased pressed ware production from onearticle per minute to 20 articles, and later to 35articles per minute. Earlier Miller hadcollaborated with Robert James Beatty on glassmaking machinery in Tiffin, Ohio, andWashington, Pennsylvania.

Strike Number OneOn July 17, 1913, the Federal suffered its

first strike when Local No. 122 of the AmericanFlint Glass Workers Union (AFGWU) soughtrecognition following months of agitating. Asa result of the strike, the factory shut down theoperating departments, but later advertised forhelp that would work non-union. Many fromthe Pittsburgh area answered the call, only tobe taunted by strikers who called them “scabs.”

These workers were housed in barrackserected on the Marion Road site that laterbecame the Hercules Box Company office, andfed at the company commissary. Some workedin production but output was minimal. Othersinstalled new machinery, repaired existingmachines, or made improvements to the facility.The plant resumed limited production in the fallof 1914, and continued operating non-union asit had before the strike occurred.

Advertisement in the 1907 Thomas WholesaleGrocery and Kindred Trades Register

(courtesy of Bracken Library, Ball StateUniversity, Muncie, Ind.).

No. 140 Ware (plain ware) four-piece set, berrybowls, tumbler and jug (1914 catalog fromKlopp, 1982, with permission from DavidRichardson, The Glass Press, Marietta, Ohio).

No. 1910 line imitation-cut tablewarecomprising some 30 forms (1914 catalog fromKlopp, 1982, with permission from DavidRichardson, The Glass Press, Marietta, Ohio).

No, 507 line, Federal’s Grape, has shapesidentical to No. 508, Federal’s Vine. Glass mayhave a slightly cloudy, grayish cast. (1914catalog from Klopp, 1982, with permission fromDavid Richardson, The Glass Press, Marietta,Ohio).

No. 508 line, Federal’s Vine tableware withpattern on the inside of the form pressed withdesign on the plunger. (1914 catalog fromKlopp, 1982, with permission from DavidRichardson, The Glass Press, Marietta, Ohio).


Fisher reflected on the Federal’s first laboruprising: “It seemed that when the strike started,none of the men wanted to strike. Up to thattime we had been a contented family. The menall felt they were making ‘big money,’ especiallythe blowers, who sometimes made as much asfifty dollars weekly. I vividly recall my specialhatred for the union organizer by the name ofJoe O’Malley, who was aided in his efforts byEd Zimpher [Edward S. Zimmer], who went bythe nickname of ‘Liver.’ These two men, to mynotion, were hardly human.”

During the mid-summer strike, the moldshop operated with only a few men, one ofwhom was John Moeller. He suffered severeburns when a freshly-filled gasoline torch hewas carrying exploded, enveloping him inflames.

Fisher detailed the events following theexplosion: “We saw the No. 14 fire departmentrushing over to the factory and everyone...jumped to the conclusion that the strikers hadset fire to the plant. However, in a few minutes,Cook’s Ambulance came rushing down Parsonsheaded for the factory. Someone came runningover to the mother of John Moeller. ...and toldher that John had been burned. As theambulance passed, John’s mother said, ‘My boycan’t be badly burned or he would not be sittingup.’

“John Moeller died two days later at GrantHospital. On the day of his funeral, all thestrikers, union organizers, non-strikers, in facteveryone in the South End joined the funeralprocession to the Lutheran Church on ReebAvenue,” reported Fisher. The plant remainedclosed that day in honor of John Moeller.

Fisher continued, “The only violent incidentof the strike, which I believe lasted about twoyears, took place opposite our home on ParsonsAvenue. Two strikers attacked a man whoworked for my father and a short scuffle ensued.I told my father about it and he reported it toMr. Jim [James Means] Beatty. The next dayMr. Beatty came to our home to get my versionof the story.

“As my father so frequently predicted thefactory never seemed the same to him after thestrike ended. The men he knew so well werereplaced, for the most part, by machines andmany of them have never worked in a glass plantsince.”

George Beatty Reflects on StrikePresident George Beatty elaborated on the

strike in his August 1915 report to thestockholders: “Gentlemen: We have justfinished two years’ business which was largelyinterrupted by our strike and the hostilities ofunion labor that have pursued us ever since July17, 1913. At that time, we were midwaythrough a year’s business that seemed destinedto be the most prosperous in the history of ourcompany. We had a fine working force of skilledmen, our books full of orders for immediate andfuture shipment and everything favorable for asatisfactory year’s run.

“The going out of our entire work force, ofcourse, completely upset our manufacturingbusiness and while we were able to get someassistance from outside manufacturers in fillingour orders, it did not amount to a great deal

Tumbler and jug sets. Top row: PeacockFeather, Kansas. Bottom row: CannonballPinwheel (Caledonia), Boxed Star. (1914catalog from Klopp, 1982, with permission fromDavid Richardson, The Glass Press, Marietta,Ohio).

Federal’s packaging glass, ca. 1914. Left:Dewdrop and Raindrop sherbet (also Kokomo/Jenkins, 1901); Center: Stippled Arrow toy mug;right: Ribbed Leaves variant mug (Patricia Klarphoto).

Packers jelly tumblers (top row) and tabletumblers (bottom row) in Federal’s Grape,Boxed Star, No. 102 and Austrian (1913 catalogfrom Klopp, 1983, with permission from DavidRichardson, The Glass Press, Marietta, Ohio).

Wabash toy sets. Top row: Fish set with FederalVine border. Bottom row: Grape stein set andTulip and Honeycomb forms (1914 catalog fromKlopp, 1982, with permission from DavidRichardson, The Glass Press, Marietta, Ohio).

Scarce Wabash toy ice cream set, 1914, withFederal Vine pattern border on large center plate(Patricia Klar photo).

Twisted Optic machine-blown packers’ waregoblet. Design patent granted to George S.Dunbar, July 2, 1929 (CGL, June 11, 1928).


and it seemed that the majority of them seizedthe opportunity to dump a lot of inferior goodson us, on which we had to make allowances toour customers before we could get them to retainthe goods.

“We were able, after a long struggle, to getour factory full of workmen again, but there isa great difference between having a factory fullof skilled workmen accustomed to the businesswe have always done and filling their placeswith new material that are either green to thetrade entirely, or in any event green to ourmethods and machinery. It took a great numberof months to get a production again that wouldcover our heavy expense, which was very muchgreater during the strike and for some timesubsequent to it, than ever before,” said Beatty.

He concluded his report with the followingsummary on labor relations: “The past twoyears have been the most unsatisfactory to themanagement of the company ...and we trust thatthere will be no further labor trouble in thisline for many years to come. It is our opinionthat our help have learned a lesson that theywill not soon forget.” (And labor relations didremain peaceful for some 30 years. The strikesthat occured in the 1940s were less detrimentaland of much shorter duration.)

The weather as well as the labor forceappeared to have turned against the company.That August, George Beatty also told thestockholders “The summer of 1915 was thecoldest and dampest for many years. As a result,blown tumblers which sold best in hot dryweather sold only slowly.”

Further, the Macbeth-Evans Company,Pittsburgh and Marion, Indiana, could makeblown tumblers on the end of lamp chimneys,but made only those that corresponded to theNo. 0, No. 1, and No. 2 chimneys. (The Marionplant had become the largest lamp chimney-producing plant in the world by 1892-93,capable of blowing 12 million chimneys a year.)

In what would be his last August annualreport before his death from heart and kidneyfailure in October 1916, the 62-year-old GeorgeBeatty spoke plainly regarding activities ofunion organizers: “We are still annoyed byunion agitators, who are constantly endeavoringto get hold of our employees, and it as beennecessary ...to discharge workmen ...on accountof their union affiliation.” He concluded that“...the interests of the company are much betterserved by continuing in operation as a non-unionplant rather than submitting to the dictation ofan irresponsible body of workmen.”

Enter the Gob FeederHow to automatically transfer molten glass

from the continuous tank furnaces to theautomatic blowing and pressing machinesbaffled the best minds in the business for years.Although the continuous tank furnace wasinvented in England, it was an American,Homer Brooke of New Jersey, who invented thefirst truly workable automatic feeder madepractical by the automatic forming machines.

Simply described, a gob feeder consists of atrough or spout leading from the working endof a continuous tank furnace to an area abovethe automatic forming machines. As the moltenglass flows down the spout, automatic shears

cut the stream into gobs of the right size andshape, which then drop into a mold on theforming machine.

As early as 1910, the Federal had used theBrooke feeder, but with limited success. In1916, two Federal employees, Oliver M. Tuckerand William A. Reeves, built an apparatuswhich fed uniform weights or gobs of moltenglass into the automatic machines. JamesMeans Beatty also worked on the feeder’sdevelopment, later named the Tucker, Reeves,Beatty (TRB) gob feeder. Before his death,George Beatty deemed the TRB feeder superiorto the Brooke device in making pressedtumblers, jelly glasses, fruit jars, and packers’wares.

In the early 1920s, the Hartford-EmpireCompany (formerly Hartford-Fairmount),Hartford, Connecticut, developed a gob feederconsidered superior to the TRB feeder. In 1926,Hartford-Empire bought out four TRB patents.The following year, the Federal struck its firstlease agreement with Hartford-Empire for oneof its gob feeders and an annealing lehr. After1940, the Federal replaced all of its TRB feederswith those made by Hartford-Empire, laterEmhart Manufacturing.

James Means Beatty Takes ChargeFollowing the death of his uncle George in

1916, James Means Beatty resigned as theFederal secretary, after which the board ofdirectors elected him president. Even as thisnewly elected 42-year-old came to office, hefound himself at once faced with a naggingrecurrent nightmare—the unreliable natural gassupply coupled with a non-enforceable gascontract.

James Means Beatty told the stockholdersat the August 14, 1917, meeting that “At first,the loss of time due to the shortage of gas waslimited to one or two days, at intervals, withlonger periods of idleness. To sum it up in afew words, the result of the natural gas shortageamounted to practically five weeks total loss ofproduction and at least five months of reducedoutput.” He further emphasized that “...it wassuicidal to place any dependence on a supplyof natural gas.”

The Federal hastily rehabilitated the old gasproducer built in 1902 to provide fuel to theNo. 1 factory. The Toledo & Ohio CentralRailroad brought in coal at 70 cents a ton tomake producer gas. From the rail siding, thecoal was transported to the producer house bya large traveling crane. No. 2 factory wasoutfitted with an underground oil storage tankwhich held 300,000 gallons.

James Means Beatty confessed, “Being...ignorant in the use of either of these fuelsand being unable to secure competent men ...wehad to operate as best we could and were greatlyhandicapped by the quality of coal we were ableto buy and combustion problems with oil.” Hecalculated that the new fuels cost $75,000 morein five months than natural gas during the sameperiod when natural gas cost 30 cents perthousand cubic feet.

To further alleviate the gas shortage, theFederal dismantled the old power plant that hadrun on natural gas in favor of one run byelectricity. The used power plant equipment

Corded Optic machine-blown table tumbler.Design patent granted to George S. Dunbar, July2, 1929 (CGL, February 27, 1928).

Triple-lipped cooking cup patented by Dr.Samuel R. Scholes and George S. Dunbar, June25, 1929. Made in crystal, amber and green.Pouring lips were shaped in the hand shop witha special tool (John Schoessow photo)

Depression-era mold-etched pattern Georgian(Lovebirds) sugar and creamer, made in greenfrom 1931-1936

Depression-era pattern Diana demitasse cup andsaucer, made 1937-1941, named by Gunter H.Kuse, marketing vicepresident, after hisdaughter, Diana (Patricia Klar photo).


sold for about the same amount the companypaid for it originally.

A jubilant James Means Beatty furtherreported to the Federal stockholders in August1917 that five years of discussion withcompetitors in the pressed tumbler, jellytumbler, jar, and packer tumbler trade resultedin adopting standards for these lines. Thecapacity of individual items ranged from 2ounces to 16 ounces with a difference of 1 ouncebetween each item.

Regarding this money-saving measure, hesaid: “We have ...for many years made hundredsof different designs and shapes to suit the whimsand demands of the trade.” Standardizationmeant fewer molds to make, repair, and store.An added benefit included warehousing asmaller inventory with fewer odds and ends ofaccumulated stock.

The Federal Under JMBDuring the first year of the James Means

Beatty presidency, the company issued a15 percent dividend to its stockholders. Thefollowing year, capital stock was increased from$250,000 to $2, 500,000 divided into 25,000shares of $100 each. After the increase theFederal declared a stock dividend of threeshares for one of the original stock. During the1920s, Beatty family members continued tohold over 50 percent of the Federal stock.

That any growth at all occurred during theyears of 1914-18 when World War I, the “Warto end all wars,” was being waged abroad spokefavorably for the managerial skill shown bythose in charge. Shortages of raw materials,compounded by undependable freight delivery,interrupted normal production schedules.During the war, the federal governmentcontrolled railroad operations, setting prioritiescommensurate with aiding the war effort.

Workers of any kind, skilled or “green,”were hard to get and harder to keep, demandingwages considered to be high for the times.“What a hurrah it caused when the first coloredwomen took the places of boys in the factory,when the boys were called to World War I,”Fisher wrote.

Labor organizers continued their relentlesspressure to unionize the plant across alldepartments. The company sought to offsettheir activities by sending letters to workers’families enumerating company benefits and bysponsoring social events.

One of these events was a company-hostedpicnic in 1923 to help promote betterunderstanding between the employees in thevarious departments. Fisher described a Sundayouting to Sandusky, Ohio, on a train charteredby the company for all workers and their friendsand relatives: “We met at Union Station aboutfive in the morning and had a wonderful timeup on the train and on the boat trip to CedarPoint. Returned that evening about midnight.”

Fisher described a second social eventplanned for employees. “Another favoriteincluded a moving picture of activities at thefactory, beginning when the workers entered thewatch house and continuing through the dailyoperation in every department. Homer Steelehad charge of running the film at the oldSherman Picture Show located at Innis Avenue

and Fourth Street. Homer provided a lot oflaughs by speeding up the film at certain places,making it appear that the turning-out andcarrying-in boys were walking at breakneckspeed.”

To improve the quality of its output,particularly the clarity, the Federal hired its firstglass chemist, Mr. Adams, in 1920. After thehire, officials reported “consistently goodglass.” In 1923, Mr. Adams was replaced byDr. Samuel R. Scholes, who in turn wassucceeded by Walter J. Power in 1927. Scholesleft the Federal to accept a professorship in theDepartment of Glass Technology, New YorkState College of Ceramics, Alfred.

Pivotal resignations from the board ofdirectors took place in 1928. James S. Bracken,a director since 1904, resigned as did MorrisG. Woodhull from his position as assistantsecretary. These resignations created anopening on the board for Robert James (Bob)Beatty, the son of James Means Beatty andgrandson of Robert James Beatty. He waselected to fill the vacancy created by Bracken’sresignation, and also was named assistantsecretary following Woodhull’s resignation.

President James Means Beatty heartilyendorsed these actions by the board, whichpaved the way for a fourth generation Beatty towork in Beatty-owned factories. He genuinelywanted his son to become familiar with theworkings of the company “...to give him theopportunity of broadening his scope of trainingto fit him for responsibilities in the future.”

Colored and Crackle Glass AddedAt least as early as 1925, the company had

begun to pioneer a process whereby coloredglass as well as crystal (clear) could be madein continuous tank furnaces. Green was the firstcolor made. Cuthbert reported that “green glasswas melted in a U-tank [horseshoe-shaped] withone spout [automatic feeder] and one gatheringhole.” Thin blown tumblers were offered forsale in the 1927 catalog in a color the Federalcalled “Springtime Green.”

Other thin blown tumblers, made onautomatic blowing machinery, came in fancy“optic” patterns named “Diamond Optic,” “PearOptic,” “Corded Optic,” “Polka Dot Optic,” and“Twisted Optic.” Weatherman (1970) reportedthat “these earlier issues carried the Federalmark (the letter F in a shield).” They wereshipped in corrugated cartons that held 12 dozentumblers, made by the Federal’s subsidiary, theHercules Box Company. The suggested retailwas 5 cents for a water tumbler and 10 centsfor an iced tea tumbler.

In 1927, the Federal received patentprotection on its crackled or crazed glasswaretrade-named “JACK FROST” (mechanicalpatent No. 1,739,825, issued December 17,1929), developed by employees Virgil O.Cornwell and Fred J. Blackburn. By theCornwell-Blackburn method, the hot glassblank was chilled by streams of water hittingagainst it, cooling it sufficiently to produce thecrackled surface, but not changing thetemperature so drastically as to prevent propershaping in the mold. Forms made includedwater tumblers, tankard pitchers, iced teatumblers, ice tubs, and juice sets.

Park Avenue line showing “The most famoustumbler ever made,” ca. 1940-1971 (1941Federal catalog).

Heritage pattern pressed tableware 8-inchmaster berry bowl made in crystal, green, pinkand blue from 1950 to 1955 (Patricia Klarphoto).

Star tumbler (left) with gold band decoration,ca. 1948. Park Avenue tumbler, iridized (right),ca. 1940. The Park Avenue can be identifiedby the square bottom (John Schoessow photo).

Star pattern tableware in crystal and Sun Gold,salad plate, tumbler, bowl and whiskey (spelledwith an “e” by Federal), ca. 1948 and later.


The Great Depression HitsIn addition to tumblers, glass aficionados

probably remember the Federal best for thecolored, machine-made glass that graced thetables during the 1930s and beyond, now knownas Depression Glass. Widely collected today,prices have escalated unbelievably from thatpaid by homemakers of the time, who oftenreceived pieces free in boxes of soap or cereal,

or with admission to a movie. Most of what weknow about this class of Federal-made ware hasbeen thoroughly researched and written aboutby authors whose works appear in thereferences.

Company papers make scant mention of the13 major patterns of tableware produced incrystal, amber, green, blue, and pink between1927 and 1942. Nevertheless, company officialsmust have recognized something inherentlyunique in these wares, as the 1931 board ofdirectors’ minutes recorded a $100 honorariumto Harold Nicholson and the same amount toVernon Nicholson, both mold shop employees,for designing new tableware. No furtherinformation was given regarding the linenumber, pattern name, or number of formsmade.

Weatherman (1970) reported that Haroldand Vernon Nicholson were etchers who workedon all of the Federal’s mold-etched tablewarepatterns. These patterns and the date of firstissue include: “Georgian,” 1931; “Parrot,”1931; “Madrid,” 1932; “Patrician,” 1933; and“Normandy,” 1933. (By April 1943, HaroldNicholson had advanced to Art Departmentsupervisor, and Vernon Nicholson had takenover the silk screening operation.)

In the early 1930s, pay cuts affected workersin all departments. Officers salaries were cutby 5 percent. Beginning on January 28, 1933,production workers earning between $13 and$20 per week saw a 5 percent reduction in theirpay. Over $20 and up to $25 meant a 7.5 percentpay cut. Those earning $25 or more weekly gota 10 percent cut, as did all those on piece work.

Hourly workers also suffered pay cuts; thosewho earned less than 25 cents received noreduction. Workers earning over 30 cents anhour took the largest cut, 10 percent. Thesesalary cutbacks, the company said, came duringa time when cost containment was a mustbrought on by slow sales exacerbated bycompetitor undercutting.

King Kong Looms LargeIn 1935, Robert James (Bob) Beatty, assisted

by local designers and Federal engineers, builta machine for blowing paste-mold tumblers. Henamed it “King Kong.” George and RobertJames Beatty had been interested in using sucha device even before they founded the Federal,but their early attempts to get one functioningfailed.

The paste-mold machine eliminated seamsor mold lines from the blown wares. The molds,usually cast iron, were coated with a speciallyprepared paste, often a mixture of charcoal andlinseed oil, and lubricated with water. Thusthe glass object being blown could rotate in themold, removing the mold lines and giving it apolished surface. The obvious benefits of sucha blowing machine lay in vastly increasedproduction, greater uniformity in wares, andremoval of high priced help from the payroll.

With this machine, the Federal developedand marketed the first machine-made heavy-bottom (sham) tumblers, said to be equal inquality to handmade wares. In subsequentyears, factory managers became discouragedwith the slow speed of the King Kong andprojected costly improvements to the machine.

They abandoned it in 1950.

Changes at the HelmFederal’s second president, James Means

Beatty, died on November 22, 1937, at age 61,following a short illness. His grandfather,Alexander, died at age 64; his father, RobertJames, and uncle, George, both died at age 62.The obituary in CGL, December 2, 1937, read:“To an unusual degree, Mr. Beatty was theFederal Glass Co., and the steadily growingbusiness of the company was a reflection of hisactivity and leadership. His ability to selectassociates of skill was marked and many of his‘young men’ rose to high places in thecompany.” After he graduated from theSheffield Scientific School of Yale Universityin 1896 he entered the glass trade.

The Federal, during his years at the helm,produced some 300 tons of wares daily. By1937, output had increased so greatly that oneman could put out 14,000 tumblers in one day.In his grandfather’s Steubenville factory, oneman made about 225 tumblers in a day.

The board of directors met in special sessionon December 10th to elect a new president,Edmund A. Donnan, Sr., who received an annualsalary of $15,000. Previously Donnan had beenthe Federal’s assistant treasurer and presidentof the Hercules Box Company. Other officersand their annual salaries included: Morris G.Woodhull, vice president ($12,500); U. L.Conway, vice president ($12,500); Edmund W.Hillman, treasurer ($12,500); and Walter J.Power, secretary and general manager($12,500).

When the 1930s ended, the companyoperated 14 sales offices and display rooms inmajor cities including Atlanta, Baltimore,Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, NewYork, St. Louis, and Seattle. Sales offices hadbeen opened in three foreign countries: Havana,Cuba; Montreal, Canada; and Panama City,Panama.

Employees Enjoy Sporting EventsThe Federal’s Welfare Department promoted

athletic and recreational activities for theworkers including baseball, basketball,bowling, and football. Two employees, Fred J.Blackburn and Charlie Dunbar, were creditedwith organizing the championship baseball andbasketball teams. While Blackburn and Dunbarwere the acknowledged powers behind manyof the pre-World War II teams, sporting eventsat the Federal actually began about 1913 withthe first baseball team.

Play was largely curtailed during the strikeof 1913-14, but by 1916 the baseball team wasreorganized and that year won the leaguechampionship, the first of many to come. TheFederal team captured the National AmateurChampionship in 1931. The next season itfinished runner-up for the same title. During1938-39, the Federal basketball team won itsleague championship. Employees playedfootball in the open field behind the HerculesBox Company.

Many employees played more than one sport,some receiving tryouts with major league teams;several actually made it into the majors. TheWorld War II draft called up many of the

Popular Zombie 13 oz. beverage tumblers ofthe ‘50s and later. Center, Cock-cro pattern(John Schoessow photo).

No. 2563 Horse Heads bookends or mantlepieces sold for 15 cents each in 1940, often asa premium, and No. 2565 Mopey Dogpaperweight sold retail for 5 cents (Above:Patricia Klar photo. Below: 1940 Federalcatalog).


employees, vastly diminishing sportingactivities during the early and mid-1940s. Inthe post war period and up to the time of closing,renewed interest in sporting activities,especially bowling and golf, continued to helpcement the sense of “family” among theemployees.

Federal Goes Closed ShopProceedings of the AFGWU annual meeting

in Toledo in 1942 devoted a large section to thesuccessful June 1941 unionization of theFederal, a process that had been in the worksfor many years. The proceedings also notedthat the rival Congress of IndustrialOrganization (CIO) leaders had tried to lureFederal workers away from the AFGWU andtoward their organization.

The proceedings further reported that onJune 10, 1941, the National Labor RelationsBoard, Ninth Region, supervised the choice-of-union election at the Federal. Of the 1,517eligible voters, 1,349 cast their ballots. TheAFGWU received 872 votes. The Federationof Glass, Ceramic, and Silica Sand Workers ofAmerica, CIO, received 459 votes; 18 workersvoted “no union” and 10 ballots were spoiled(Rowe and Cook, 1957).

While the AFGWU proceedings summarizedthe numbers, Russell H. (Russ) Hughes, formercontroller and plant manager, gave a livelieraccount of an early step in the unionizationprocess. It seems that Russ, fresh out of highschool in the spring of 1941, had just startedhis first full-time job in the Federal office. Theother office workers, seeking respite from thesummer heat, had already left for the day whenPresident Edmund A. Donnan, Sr. enteredsearching for someone to type seven copies ofthe labor agreement between the Federal andthe AFGWU. Hughes said he could do it, nevermind that he had never typed anything of thatmagnitude before. A little over an hour later,the copies were ready, requiring only signaturesfrom officials of the AFGWU and the Federal.

The group then left for a restaurant on HighStreet to enjoy dinner. Even though the contractneeded only signatures, AFGWU officialscontinued to pick at details. Tired of theprolonged discussion, President Donnan’s usualcomposure evaporated as he exhorted the(expletive deleted) union officials to get the(expletive deleted) union contract signed.

Donnan, always the consummate gentleman,so shocked the union officials, and hiscolleagues as well, with his earthy language thatthey sprang into action and signed the contract.By 6 p.m., with all signatures in place, theFederal became a closed shop. All productionworkers were required to join the union byOctober 1, 1941. New employees were allowed60 days from their date of employment tobecome members.

Certain groups of employees were notincluded in the union contract: executives,department heads, office and plant clericalemployees, foremen and assistant foremen,supervisors, draftsmen, laboratory workers,watchmen, gatekeepers, technical andengineering staff, art department staff,restaurant workers, medical department staff,and office janitors.

To bargain effectively with the union andvoice the company’s position on labor issues,the Federal board of directors approvedcompany membership in the NationalAssociation of Pressed and Blown GlasswareManufacturers (NAPBGM) with headquartersin the Conestoga Building, Pittsburgh. On July14-15, officials from both the national AFGWUand the NAPBGM met in Columbus to negotiatean agreement that would satisfy both the uniondemands and the Federal’s stipulations.

The employees of the Hercules BoxCompany became members of the United Pulpand Paper Workers of America, CIO. about thesame time the Federal glass production workersjoined the AFGWU, AFL.

Pearl Harbor Forces ChangeAfter the December 7, 1941, bombing of

Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, life at the Federalchanged dramatically. When President Donnandelivered his annual message to thestockholders in 1942, the U.S. had been fightingWorld War II for about eight months. Donnansaid, “ We need hardly touch upon the manydifficulties encountered ...in labor problems,material shortages, sales, and administrationsituations which war brought to us. Thesedifficulties are continuing and are growing morecomplex with each day’s passing.”

When the war broke out, the Federalemployed 1,600 people. One year later, as moreworkers entered the military, the work force hadshrunk to 1,100. Donnan remarked that theFederal could not keep some departmentsstaffed, and unloading sand and other rawmaterials often fell to men working overtimeand after their regular duties were finished.

“Before Pearl Harbor, we were making metalaircraft parts on a sub contract in our mouldand machine shops. At present, over 50 percentof the man hours in these shops are devoted toprecision work of the most confidential nature,”Donnan reported. The Federal was selling moreof its output to the armed services and less toits civilian customers.

The Sales Department, headed by U. L.Conway, developed an equitable plan to rationoutput among the Federal’s civilian customers.The sales staff hoped that by treating all civiliancustomers as fairly as possible, the companywould retain their business not only during thewar years, but into the recovery period as well.

Throughout most of World War II, theFederal operated under Presidential Order No.9240. The order covered all work relating tothe prosecution of war, including all workperformed by prime contractors on governmentwar contracts, and those who made the materialsnecessary for honoring those contracts. If anyemployer engaged in both war and non warwork, the order would apply.

If anyone doubted that the Federal qualifiedas a war plant they had only to observe the WarPlant posters printed by the War Departmentblanketing the entire factory. Moreover, allplant watchmen were sworn in as members ofthe U.S. Army, an action carried out only in warplants.

A war hero tumbler featuring the World WarII flying ace, Eddie Rickenbacher, was a specialorder filled by the Decorating Department.

Individual berry bowls sold in a set that alsoincluded a master berry, ca. 1948. Oftenconfused with Shell and Jewel (Westmoreland,1890s) that has a patterned rim (Patricia Klarphoto).

No. 2517 handled whiskies (1 oz.) covered withtin lids and sold as salt and pepper shakers,and enamel-decorated with red and white dots.Also in Sun Gold, pink and iridized Made1940s to closing Marked Shield F (PatriciaKlar photo).

Assorted 9 oz. table tumblers, ca. 1950s, withenamel and gold silk-screened designs, just afew examples of hundreds of designs available,selling wholesale for about 60 cents a dozen(John Schoessow photo).

“Shield F” trademark use was claimed sinceAugust 1, 1932, but it had already appeared onsome Depression-era wares and on the cover ofthe 1927 catalog (U.S. Patent Office Gazette,December 16, 1947).


According to a report in the July 1945 Shield(employee newsletter), Captain Rickenbacherbegan his working life as a cracking-off boy atthe Federal. That summer his life story in filmwas about to premier in Columbus. In honor ofthe event, the Federal produced 6,000 souvenirtumblers. The silk-screened messages on therestaurant- and hotel-style tumblers read:“Welcome Captain Eddie, Columbus, Ohio,August 1, 1945” and “Compliments of theFederal Glass Company, Columbus, Ohio,Captain Eddie’s First Employer.”

Federal’s subsidiary, the Hercules BoxCompany, became a major supplier of boxes tocompanies whose goods aided the war effort.By August 1943, it began supplying containersdirectly to the armed services. Hercules in-house staff designed the cartons that heldammunition, aircraft parts, food stuffs, clothing,and all sorts of miscellaneous equipment. TheWar Production Board controlled the Hercules’paperboard allotment, invariably granting lessthan required. To combat the shortage, theHercules bought up used boxes, overruns, andmisprints.

Shield F Trademark RegisteredThe Federal trademark, “F in a Shield” or

“Shield F,” was filed at the U.S. Patent Officeon December 6, 1944, and published in theOfficial Gazette on December 16, 1947. Thecompany claimed use since August 1, 1932, butthe trademark already had appeared on companycatalogs at least as early as 1927. Additionally,certain patterns of Depression Glass carried themark, as well as some measuring tumblers, shotglasses, and salt and pepper shakers(Weatherman, 1970).

A brief note in the October 1942 Shield shedlight on the Shield F trademark’s originator, ifnot on the exact date of origination. John C.Peters, the sales representative in the Federal’sBaltimore sales office, reported: “About 35years ago we made fruit jars. The H. A. [Hazel-Atlas] and Ball Brothers had their trademarkon their jars, and one of my jobbers suggestedwe adopt a symbol on our jar. The Shield Fwas suggested by me and was adopted by theFederal.”

However, to date, no pint or quart fruit jarsor bottles embossed with the Shield F have beenreported. This might be explained, at least inpart, by the notation accompanying thetrademark in the U.S. Patent Office OfficialGazette—”For glass tumblers, glass tableware,and glass kitchenware not including glassbottles and jars.”

About 1906, the Federal did mark a clearjar embossed on the base with DIAMONDFRUIT JAR TRADE MARK around a diamondwith IMPROVED in the center. It was reportedto have been produced for Smalley, Kivlan &Onthank jar jobbers of Boston (Roller, 1983).Another jar thought to have been made byFederal, but of uncertain manufacturing date,was a clear tumbler-shaped jar with an 8-10ounce capacity. The embossing on the base readFEDERAL VACUUM JAR PAT. APPLIED FORWARM CAP PUNCTURE TO OPEN (Fruit JarNews, May 1998).

In the 1907 Thomas Wholesale Grocery &Kindred Trades Register, a Federaladvertisement appeared for “The Federal Jar.”The ad copy continued “The only sanitary allglass jar on the market. No rubber or metalused to seal this jar. Pronounced by all whosee it to be without an equal. The seal iscomposed of chemically pure mineral matter.If used properly perfect satisfaction isguaranteed. The most simple and effective sealever made. Jars made in all sizes. We alsomanufacture the famous ‘Federal Vacuum Jar’and Seal, as well as a complete line of tumblers,jellies and packers’ goods.” This jar, intendedfor packers, might have been a jelly jar.

Some jar collectors have postulated that awire bale fruit jar embossed with SECURITYSEAL and FGCo in a triangle on the side (RedBook No. 2608) might have been made by theFederal rather than by the Fairmount GlassCompany. They base their assumptions on thename change of Fairmount Glass Company toFairmount Glass Works around 1890, and thiscompany’s lack of glass blowing machines tomake this machine-made jar.

The Federal discontinued fruit jarmanufacturing sometime during the late 1920sor early 1930s. Packers’ ware, however,continued to be made at least into the 1960s.During the 1950s, company papers suggest thatthe Federal stepped up packers’ ware prodution,selling to the Great Atlantic and Pacific TeaCompany (A & P) and Welch Foods, Inc. (juicebottles, jelly jars).

Postwar Profits and ProblemsRecord breaking sales and net profit marked

1945 as the best year ever for the Federal. Thefollowing year, sales and profits continued toclimb even though the company shut down onecontinuous tank furnace that had previouslyproduced 110 tons of glassware every 24 hours.The furnace shut down was forced by the 1946strike occurring among silica sand workers inOttawa, Illinois, who were asking for an hourlyincrease of 18 cents, a closed shop clause, anda dues check-off system.

At that time, three Ottawa pits producednearly all the silica sand for Midwestern andPacific Coast glassware manufacturers. TheFederal preferred this pure white sandhydraulically blasted from St. Peter Sandstonebecause no decolorizing agent was needed toclear the glass made from it. (Otherwise,manganese dioxide or selenium added to thebatch offset the pale green color in finishedglassware caused by iron compounds found insome sand.)

The timing of this strike was particularlyunfortunate for the Federal, as the company hadjust initiated a new advertising campaign forthe “Park Avenue” pressed tumbler and the “Hi-bright” blown shell tumbler. The Park Avenuecontinued to be the company’s best seller at 5cents or less. President Donnan reported that

Sheet music for the Federal Shield Song withmusic by Robert James (Bob) Beatty and lyricsby Malcolm Havens.

Celestial giftware designed by George Wood,director of design assisted by Thomas Turner,chief mold designer. In crystal and iridized,ca. 1955 and later. Below: the box thatcontained the set.

Popular No. 299 Beer Stein made in clear,opaque white and opaque white iridized, ca.1958 to closing (photo courtesy of RussHughes).


“One in every four tumblers made and sold inthe United States is a Park Avenue” (Retailing,July 24, 1947).

The 1946 railroad strike also contributed toproduction problems at the Federal. Of the24,000 freight trains normally operating, fewerthan 300 ran (Atleson, 1998). At that time, theFederal depended upon the Toledo & OhioCentral and the Chesapeake & Ohio to deliversand and other raw materials to the plant’sstorage facilities.

Nevertheless, for the first time in its historythe company reached a milestone of $40 millionin gross sales, with a net profit of over $1million. Reaching this milestone shortly afterthe war, and in spite of strikes in the soda ash(sodium carbonate) industry as well as in thesand and rail industries, makes it a trulyremarkable achievement. Soda ash, which actsas a flux to speed melting, often accounted forup to 33 percent of Federal’s total batch, secondonly to sand, depending on the grade of glassbeing made.

The company took a bold step toward costcontainment in 1946, prompted in part byincreasing foreign competition, when iteliminated the costly hand shops. Here skilledblowers withdrew molten glass from the ringhole in the working end of the continuous tankfurnace to fashion the wide variety of stemwaresold by the Federal. By this time, Henry H.Blau, Ph.D., formerly employed at the CorningGlass Works, and his team of Federal engineerswere hard at work on a machine that couldproduce stemware totally by machine.

When the war ended, the companywelcomed back veterans, 206 in number, toresume their old jobs or positions of greaterresponsibility. Of the 592 Federal employeeswho served in the military, 19 lost their liveswhile serving their country. They werememorialized at a ceremony on Thursday, May29, 1947, when a brass plaque bearing theirnames was mounted on a rock in front of theoffice building and a memorial Oak wasplanted. Four veterans, representing the fourbranches of the military, placed a wreath and19 white carnations at the base of the plaque.Fearing vandalism, the plaque was removed in1979 to a still undisclosed location.

By now, the Hercules Box Company, whichhad outgrown its original quarters, overflowedinto several adjacent buildings. A new additioncosting $400,000 increased manufacturingspace by 60,000 square feet. A mere five yearsafter this addition, a new buiding west of theoriginal building was added for $1 million. Thework force, up to 200 by mid century, produced10 carloads of corrugated products daily.

With increased capability, the character ofthe containers was transformed, punctuatedwith die cuts, colored boxes, foil cartons, over-sized boxes for appliances, and ingeniousdisplays for supermarkets and other outlets. Asthe Hercules grew, it became largelyautonomous, controlling its own sales office andsales force.

Worry Over the “P” WordEven though President Donnan asseverated

“Glass is Better,” by the end of the 1940s moreand more plastics were entering the market,

especially in kitchen wares. That the dreadedword “plastic” had become a topic of graveconcern is evidenced by a poem in the July 1943Shield entitled “Plastics are not Glasses”credited to S. R. S. Glass Industry. Four versesextracted from the 10-verse poem reflect themood prevalent among glassmakers:

The plastics are products artificialBut we’ve reached a pretty passWhen their makers name them “Glass”And glass men rise to call it prejudicial.

The plastics have organic compositionThey do not very well resist ignitionThey are formed when chemists wiseMake some stuff polymerize.

And so it is with plastics we averIn hardness quite inferiorDurability is low—Solvents make them yield and flowAs lenses they produce a dismal blur.

Elastic, hard, of splendid durabilityAnd washable because of hot ductilityIs this substance so uniqueAmong useful things men seekAnd calling plastics “Glass” is mere futility.

Sued and SuingThe Corning Glass Works, Corning, New

York, sued the Federal in August 1949, alleginginfringement on two patents, both relating tohow the Federal heat-treated or tempered itsstrengthened tumblers, sold under the tradename “STURDEE®.” Almost six years afterCorning brought the suit, the case was finallytried in May 1955.

After seven years of legal action, on August1, 1956, the court dismissed the suit andawarded the Federal court costs plus the$15,000 retainer the company had paid toattorneys. Concerned that Corning might

emerge the winner, however, President Donnanprudently established a cash reserve fund ofabout $260,000.

In other legal action during 1949, the Federalbrought a suit against another glassmanufacturing company, the Federal GlassCompany, Inc., of Dover, Delaware. TheFederal requested that this glass company stopusing the name “Federal” in its title and refrainfrom selling glass under that name. TheColumbus-based Federal named no set amountof money it wished to recover, but contendedthat its “ trade reputation and goodwill are worthhundreds of thousands of dollars” (AmericanGlass Review, October 22, 1949).

The Delaware firm rejected the request tochange its name, preferring instead to have thematter heard in court. The case was tried andsettled in favor of the Columbus-based Federalin 1952. No report of a financial settlementwas discovered. The court, however, awardedthe Columbus-based Federal the opportunity tochoose a new name for the Delaware-basedcompany.

Celebrating 50 Years of ProsperityThe Federal marked its Golden Anniversary

in 1950. At the annual meeting that year,President Donnan told the stockholders: “June30th marked the end of Federal’s 50th year ofexistence. No particular fanfare was made ofthis milestone, it being our conviction that thebest possible celebration of the anniversarywould be to turn in favorable earnings reports,provide steady work for our employees, andimprove our products and plants. We believeyou will agree that those goals were attained.”

Nevertheless, the company did showcasewares in a new celebratory color introduced tothe trade as “Sun Gold,” comprising 27 formsincluding tumblers, mixing bowls, tableware,and giftware.

One year after celebrating its 50th

anniversary, the Federal increased capital stock

Aerial view of the sprawling Federal Glass Company, ca. 1965, with batching toweron the left and large warehouse on the right (Shield, date unknown).


to $3,500,000 divided into 175,000 shares of$20 each. An exciting event occurred inFebruary 1951 when the company launched itsnew stemware machinery developed by Blauand his team of company engineers. With thisfully-automatic machinery, stemware could bemade completely by machine under a patentedprocess. The first output consisted of cocktailsand wines for both commercial and home use;14 other forms followed soon after.

Not long after the company announced thisremarkable achievement, Robert James (Bob)Beatty died on April 28, 1951, at age 47, beforea promising career in both the glass and musicindustries could be fulfilled. He had served onthe board of directors and had been an employeesince 1927. He headed a group of engineerswho designed and built the Federal’s first paste-mold machine, the King Kong, which operatedfrom 1938 to1950. He was granted, atminimum, five mechanical patents and twodesign patents. Also an accomplishedmusician, he wrote the music for the “FederalShield Song,” published by the Edwards MusicCompany, New York. Malcolm Havens ofFederal’s Chicago sales office won the contestfor writing the best lyrics.

(Almost) Peaceful TimesAlthough a decade earlier, labor relations

between management and the AFGWU localshad been somewhat contentious, the 1950sstarted peacefully enough with both sidesseemingly acclimated to terms of the contractthey had negotiated. “Throughout the year,relations with our labor unions were amicableand generally satisfactory. In view of a splendidattitude and remarkably good production, wevoluntarily increased certain benefits for a largenumber in the glass division,” said PresidentDonnan. In the postwar period, industrial peacewas sought not only at the Federal, but becamean overriding principle in labor relationsindustry-wide.

Federal officials were becoming noticeablyalarmed by the increasing freight rates by bothrail and motor truck companies which oftenamounted to as much as 50 percent of the valueof the finished wares. Generally, the rates perton ran higher on finished and packaged glassthan on bulk commodities such as sand andother raw materials necessary in the batch.

The freight hikes forced small merchants tobuy in uneconomical quantities, or cut outselling glassware entirely. The Federal Traffic

Department tried its best to forestall the latter,while engineers continued the quest for waysto reduce the weight of wares while stillmaintaining durability. This weight-reductionresearch was originally begun by the late RobertJames (Bob) Beatty.

Hoping to cut operating expenses, theFederal accomplished successful annexation tothe City of Columbus in 1956. Prior toannexation, only 3.4 acres fell within thecorporate limits of Columbus, while some 35acres lay outside in the Township of Marion,Franklin County. President Donnan indicatedthat petitioning the city was an arduous three-year process, but one that saved the company$14,000 in the first year in formerly purchasedservices including fire and police protection,water, and sewer.

By the end of the 1950s, President Donnanhad spoken warningly numerous timesregarding the influx of glassware from foreigncountries. “We are beginning to have verysevere competition from German, Japanese, andFrench firms...” His message would play overand over again in the minds of Federal officialsbefore the doors closed for the last time.

A large warehouse was completed in 1955,equal in size to two football fields and costing$220,000. The company installed the sixthHartford-Empire No. 28 paste-mold machine forwhich it paid $165,000. President Donnan toldthe stockholders to expect no let up in plantimprovements. Furthermore, he intimated thatadditional upgrade plans had already beendrawn to help keep the Federal competitive.

The Urge to MergeLate in 1957, Federal officials were

approached by executives of the Federal PaperBoard Company, Inc., Montvale, New Jersey,regarding a possible merger. According to RussHughes, the Federal Paper Board was mainlyinterested in acquiring the Federal’s subsidiary,the Hercules Box Company. After many get-acquainted meetings, plant visits, and studiesby both companies, a merger was agreed to bytwo-thirds of the stockholders, and was carriedout on June 30, 1958.

The former Federal Glass Company becamethe Federal Glass Division of the Federal PaperBoard, Inc., organized under the laws of NewYork. The Federal Paper Board madecorrugated boxes, packing cartons, andmachine-made glassware, parallel lines that, atthe time, seemed well suited to a merger. And

The popular Homestead snack set of tray andcup, packaged in sets of four, ca. 1951 to 1975(Patricia Klar photo).

Gather Ye Roses … silk-screened Rose patterntumblers, ca. 1950s, in 5 oz. juice, 9 oz. tabletumbler and 9 oz. old-fashioned (JohnSchoessow photo).

Georgetown ash tray set giftware, ca. 1960-1975, in gold foil box lined with black made bythe Hercules Box Company (Patricia Klarphoto).

Supermarket display of Moon Glow heat-proofdinnerware in ten forms, cartons by the HerculesBox Company, ca. 1967 (photo courtesy of RussHughes). Artist’s sketch of new warehouse and shipping facility with 23 loading docks (Shield, October 1968).


both companies already used the name Federal.At the time of the merger, the Federal Glass

Company’s balance sheet showed that it pouredmore than $13 million worth of assets into themerger, clearly a financially healthy company.About half of the $13 million was in cash,government securities, accounts receivable, andinventories of finished wares and raw materials.The other $6.5 million represented land,buildings, machinery, and mold sets.

A Towering AchievementThe hallmark technological achieve-ment of

the sixth decade involved constructing the 40-foot-square automatic batching tower, a 130-foot-high monolith that still dominates theSouth Side skyline. It cost $600,000 to buildin 1964, accommodating freight-car-loads ofglass sand, soda ash, lime, and other ingredientsnecessary to complete the batch.

In the tower, each element was storedseparately in roof-high hoppers and released inprecise amounts through large pipes. Blendingthe elements was done electronically by anoperator seated at a console pushing a series ofbuttons. Once thoroughly mixed, the batch wastransferred automatically through large tubesto the melting end of the continuous tankfurnaces which ran at 2700° F.

By May 1966, another new warehousecosting $1 million and adding another 120,000square feet of storage space was completed.This warehouse sat on a former residential areaand parking lot that had been purchased earlierfor just such an expansion.

Shortly after, the company beganconstructing a vastly improved shipping facilityadjacent to the newest warehouse. This facilitycomprised 23 truck loading docks and 7 rail cardocks. Since it extended across Innis Avenue,a new plant entrance was required andsubsequently opened on Woodrow Avenue.Once the new entrance became functional, thecompany’s address changed to 555 E. WoodrowAvenue.

In 1965, Edmund A. Donnan, Sr. retired asthe Federal Glass Division president afterserving in that office for 28 years. Oliver F.Runde, formerly the vice president in charge ofmanufacturing, became only the fourthpresident to head the Federal Glass Division,by now a mature 65-year-old factory.

The Declining YearsThe beginning of the end for the Federal may

have been accelerated by the 1973 OPEC oilembargo when the Middle Eastern oil producingcountries cut the flow of oil to the U.S. About40 percent of Federal’s business during the1970s came from the major oil companies thatgave tumblers and other premiums to customerswho filled their tanks. When the gas shortagehit, long lines formed at the pumps. The lureof free glassware became a ploy of the past.

Federal’s sales plummeted. Businessdropped from $39 million in 1972 to $34 millionin 1973. The company lost money in both 1974and 1975. During 1976, the company markedthe first profitable year among several previousyears on sales of $50 million. It clungtenaciously to a 12 percent share of the machine-made glassware market.

What officials previously had touted as a“perfect fit” between the Federal GlassCompany and the Federal Paper Board in themid-1950s started to fall apart a couple ofdecades later. By 1977, Federal Paper Boardofficials decided that making glass no longerfit into the overall corporate structure.

“Federal Paper Board is primarily in thepaper business,” said President John R.Kennedy, Jr. “We were overdue in getting outof the glass business. Our first choice was asale to Lancaster Colony,” added Kennedy(Garvey, 1979).

When the Federal Paper Board gave noticethat it wanted to sell the Glass Division toColumbus-based Lancaster Colony Corporationin March 1977, it put a $45 million price tagon the plant. Lancaster Colony’s President,John C. Gerlach, was eager to acquire theFederal at that price. Once the purchase becamefinal, Gerlach would have added both a blowingand a pressing operation to his plant. Whatshould have been a straight ahead salebenefitting both companies turned into a majormuddle that fermented for nearly two years and,in the end, benefitted no one.

Who Bungled the Sale?Most analysts agree that the Federal Trade

Commission (FTC) came off as the heavy; somesay the cause of the whole debacle. Partneringwith the largest U.S. glass makers, AnchorHocking and the Libbey Division of Owens-Illinois, the FTC effectively blocked the sale toLancaster Colony. The FTC charged that thesale would violate anti-trust laws by reducingthe number of glass companies producingtableware. By the FTC’s own estimate, theFederal owned only 11 percent of the market.Lancaster Colony held onto 7 percent. Togetherthey realized less in annual sales than Libbey,and far less than Anchor Hocking.

In spite of the FTC blockade, Kennedypersisted with his efforts to sell the GlassDivision. What followed the FTC’s firstinjunction escalated into an on-again off-againtale of failure to sell to other glass makers, andheroic but unsuccessful attempts by a group ofFederal employees to buy the plant.

In its defense, the FTC maintained that threemonths after it had filed the sale-stoppinginjunction, Federal officials said they plannedto upgrade the now antiquated plant and operateit as in the past. By March 1978, the Federal

Paper Board, still hoping to attract a buyer,petitioned the FTC to re-evaluate its initialobjection to the Lancaster Colony sale.

Kennedy stressed that the Glass Divisionhad been failing for some time, the reason hehad decided to shut it down. When the FederalPaper Board’s annual report covering 1977surfaced, it showed declining earnings thatofficials attributed to severe weather. The nextannual report presaged a gloomy financialoutlook for the year, with an anticipateddownturn in sales possibly attributable to newsof a pending sale. Shortly after this annualreport was released, Kennedy placed aliquidation value of $30 million on the plant,$15 million less than Gerlach would have paidto acquire it.

The FTC further charged that the FederalPaper Board had failed to make a good faitheffort to sell the plant. It commissioned theHarvard Business School to review theFederal’s books, beginning with 1959 (after themerger) through July 1978 (six months beforeclosing). Based on the Harvard study findings,the FTC determined that the Federal GlassDivision was not a “failing company.” It arguedthat large corporations can tolerate a weaksubsidiary at break-even or low profit marginswithout meeting failing company criteria.Federal never argued failing company in its ownbehalf until four days before the plant closed.Perhaps the company didn’t make the argumentsooner for fear of turning away prospectivebuyers.

During 1978, Kennedy agreed to enlist thehelp of the investment banking firm, FirstBoston Corporation, to find another buyer,acting upon the FTC’s promise to reconsiderthe Lancaster Colony sale. If no buyer wasfound during the 60-day searching period, theFTC said it “might reconsider” the sale toLancaster Colony. First Boston contacted 79potential buyers. Only J. G. Durand of Arque,France, expressed interest, but never made anoffer.

Sixty days later, Kennedy told the FTC hewanted a decision on the Lancaster Colony sale.

Moon Glow heat-proof dinnerware, 1968.

Recollection tableware, a 1976 Centennial reissue ofthe Depression-era Madrid pattern made in 1932.Indiana Glass later acquired the molds and removed the1976 date, creating confusion among collectors of theearly Madrid pattern.

Continued to page 72.


“Shield F - The Mark of Quality”Continued from page 26.

Hoping for the best, and since no other buyerswere waiting in the wings, Kennedy andGerlach agreed on a reduced sale price of $40million.

By October 25, 1978, the FTC hadcompleted its Federal liquidation estimates,valuing the Glass Division at $20 to $24 million,considerably less than Kennedy’s assessmentof the plant’s value. At the end of the month,the FTC halted the sale to Lancaster Colonyfor the second time. It further warned Federalofficials they must give notice before taking anydrastic action such as closing down the plant.At this point, angry Federal officials wonderedif the FTC had overreached its authority inmaking such a heavy-handed demand.

During the month following, Federalofficials hired a California firm to explore thelikelihood of selling the plant to a select groupof employees. At this juncture, Kennedy agreedto lease the machinery and buildings to theemployee group, and to finance $12 million ofthe $17 million asking price for the inventory.

Throughout the uncertain months of 1977and 1978, yeoman efforts to save the Federalcontinued. Company officials receivedassistance from Columbus Mayor Tom Moodyand Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes, both ofwhom worked diligently to find a buyer or workout a deal whereby employees could buy theplant. The Columbus Economic DevelopmentCouncil explored securing a loan to assist thegroup of 15 interested Federal executives ledby General Manager Jack E. Spengeler.

Concurrently, the California firm continuedits efforts to effect an employee buyout. Itconceded, however, that it would take at least$3 million up front to stabilize the antiquatedplant, invested over a period of four to fiveyears. Following this announcement, Kennedyagreed to sell the plant and contents to theemployee group at the knock-down price of $17million.

The still staggering figure required for plantpurchase and reclamation proved verydiscouraging to the employee group. So muchso, that they never applied for a loan, neitherfederal nor local, even though they qualifiedfor both.

During the pre-closing period Kennedyspoke repeatedly of undue harassment by theFTC, which persisted in gathering more andmore information, particularly as it related tothe plant’s finances and the $3 million lossreported for 1978. He said he had been“litigated to death” all the while he wasspending more than $100,000 weekly just tokeep the plant operating. Because making glassrequires an enormous amount of energy,production costs had skyrocketed. Additionally,the plant’s distance from New Jersey added tomanagement costs.

The FTC interpreted Kennedy’s actions tomean that by now he just wanted to be rid ofthe Glass Division, one way or another. It alsosuggested that he only tried to sell to LancasterColony because Gerlach would pay the highestprice. Furthermore, by unloading the GlassDivision in January, a tax loss could claimed

for the preceding year.Aside from the several-year financial losses

reported by the company, the Federal had a suitpending against it prepared by the OhioEnvironmental Protection Agency (OEPA)citing water pollution emanating from the plant.Due to the plant’s uncertain ownership, theOEPA never filed the suit (Garvey, 1979).

At the same time, the Federal Paper Boardowed $12 million, due in February 1979, inseveral damage suits brought against it and 24other paper carton manufacturers. The FTC hadfound the 25 companies guilty of price fixing.Kennedy denied that he needed the sale priceof the Glass Division to pay off the damagesuits, saying that the money had already beenput aside to satisfy the suits (Garvey, 1979).While purely conjectural, perhaps the FTCalready had its sights trained on the FederalPaper Board, sensitized by the price fixing suit,and mulishly refused to cut the company anyslack.

By February 1979, two other glass makers,Eastcliff Corporation, Reading, Pennsylvania,and Wheaton Industries, Millville, New Jersey,who had expressed some interest in the plant,baled out of negotiations. Frank Wheaton, Jr.,president of Wheaton Industries, onceconsidered buying the plant if money could beborrowed at 2 to 3 percent. Wheaton lostinterest in the deal when he couldn’t securecheap money and when J. G. Durand of France,the world’s largest tableware manufacturer,opted out of a partnership agreement.

Even if Wheaton had gone ahead with thepurchase, he wanted only the factory buildings,not the inventory. He would have sold off mostof the equipment, retaining only 400 employeesto start. In his opinion, “Federal overproduced.We don’t see any future in that business,” hesaid (Columbus Dispatch, [CD], February 19,1979).

Lancaster Colony Nixes TermsOn February 23, 1979, after more than a year

of vacillating and two blockades, the FTCfinally voted to allow the sale to LancasterColony to go forward. The Commissionmembers took this action despite disagreeingwith the FTC’s administrative judge, PaulTeetor, who still recommended against the sale.Teetor explained that the law makes noprovision for considering the impact, negativeor otherwise, on the local economy.

Lancaster Colony’s President Gerlach saidthat his buying the Federal would dependlargely on negotiating a new union contractcomparable to the one that covered some 1,800workers at the Indiana Glass plant in Dunkirk,Indiana. Moreover, the Lancaster Colonymanagement felt it could not put the plant backon its feet if it had to endure continual grievancefilings by the unions.

In the end, Lancaster Colony and Federal’sunions seemingly could find no common groundon wages, benefits, and managements rightsclauses. Ivan Uncapher, the AFGWU nationalsecretary-treasurer, said, “We were willing tonegotiate a clause. They said they had to haveit exactly as they wrote it...they wanted the rightto do about anything they wanted to do. Wewould have no rights whatsoever” (CD, March

19, 1979).Theodore Lazar, legal counsel for Lancaster

Colony, said his company needed concessionsfrom the union because it would need to borrowa great deal of money and operate at a loss for awhile. Further, management rights clauses werealready in place with the company’s otherunions.

Most importantly, Lancaster Colonyintended to hold fast to its right to determinehours and work schedules. Lazar emphasizedthat the Federal lost money in four of five of itslast operating years due to the contractsnegotiated with the unions. Federal’s PresidentKennedy admitted that labor costs amounted toabout 50 cents on every sales dollar.

The final contract proposal Lancaster Colonymade to the Federal AFGWU would have:reduced wages from 50 cents to $1.40 an hour;eliminated pension plans for five years; cut lifeinsurance from $10,000 to $5,000; cut benefitsfor sickness and accidents in half; eliminatedwork incentive bonuses for three years; reducedshift premiums; and eliminated one of eight paidholidays.

A 14-member union bargaining committeerejected Lancaster Colony’s final offer. Theyfelt this company’s position was untenable, notamenable to union rights, and nearly borderedon union busting. However, they proposed thatthe offer be put to a rank and file vote.

That vote took place on April 1, 1979. Whenthe secret ballots had been counted andrecounted, the majority of union members votedto retain their existing contract. At that time,most preferred to be without a contract ratherthan work under the one proposed by LancasterColony. Perhaps the Federal workers believedthat Lancaster Colony would acquiesce, andtheir jobs would be saved after all.

They were wrong. When Gerlach heard theresults of the vote, he backed out of negotiationsfor the last time. Many saddened rank and fileunion members felt betrayed by theirleadership, and in retrospect, admitted that athinner contract with Lancaster Colony mighthave been better than no work at all.

Some said they were confused about whatthey were voting for. A Yes vote meant theemployee supported the union bargaining teamand rejected the Lancaster Colony contract. ANo vote meant accepting the Lancaster Colonycontract and staying employed. The 393 Yesvotes won over the 286 No votes.

The Federal’s seven union locals waiteduntil the June 1979 AFGWU annual conventionin New Orleans to formally disband. Some hadalready divided their treasuries ranging from$3,000 to $6,000 among the members beforethe convention. Union members received noseverance pay, as that had been ruled out duringthe last contract negotiations.

...And There Is an EndingThe death knell sounded for the Federal at

1 p.m., Wednesday, January 31, 1979. GeneralManager Jack E. Spengeler announced that nomore glass would be made after that time.(After the Federal closed, he became a specialassistant to Federal Paper Board President JackR. Kennedy, Jr.)

As the furnace fires died, so did the hopes


of some 1,500 glass workers. The first 1,000were laid off immediately; the remaining 500stayed on temporarily to fill orders from existinginventory, work in maintenance, and tie up looseends. During its 79-year life span, the Federalhad flourished under 15 U.S. presidents, butonly five presidents had led the Federal.

When the Glass Division closed, so did theHercules Box Company (Columbus ContainerCorporation), adding 200-plus employees to theunemployment line where they stood side byside with the glass production workers.

What Really Shattered the Federal?The controversial shut down will probably

spark discussion as long as the cohort involvedhas breath to argue it. Each may see it from adifferent perspective, though all agree it was afrustrating, demoralizing time. If Jack R.Kennedy, Jr. effectively killed the Federal, otherforces both internal and external, contributedto the plant’s demise. One thing seemscertain—there is blame to be shared, but whoor what should shoulder the lion’s share?

Rather than a single individual or factorbeing responsible it appears that the potpourriof plastics, foreign competition, overproduction,fat union contracts, management overkill,absentee landlordism, and the irresolute FTCsynergistically brought the Federal to its knees.

Some think just the financial losses overseveral years, except for 1976, weakened thecompany to the point where it literally fell inon itself. And a major weakness, companyinsiders report, continued to be its shaky fuelsupply. Though officials tried to remedy thissituation over the years, they failed to secure adedicated source. A major competitor, AnchorHocking, benefited from a more stable supplyof fuel, owning its own gas fields near Marietta,Ohio, which supplied the factory through self-owned transmission lines (McCallum, 2005).

Cardboard of directorsSince the Federal Paper Board’s president

readily admitted the corporation’s majorproduction consisted of pasteboard containers,how heavily had he devoted resources to theGlass Division over the years? Why had theFederal Paper Board pressed for a merger inthe first place with a company that primarilymade glass?

Some insiders answer that it was to takeadvantage of the fiscally healthy Federal GlassCompany and its subsidiary, the Hercules BoxCompany. They say “It wasn’t about the glass.”The more candid among them say Federal waslured into the merger, a “cash cow” ready andwaiting. Russ Hughes, former controller andplant manager, sums it up this way: “Withregard to the Federal Paper Board, there werepaper people versus glass people. The paperpeople never took over in Columbus.” In theyears following the merger, major corporatedecisions were made at the Montvale, NewJersey, office, effectively making the FederalPaper Board an “absentee landlord” inColumbus.

Foreign affairsWere marketing officials fully aware of their

company’s niche in the global market? As

foreign imports flowed into the U.S., companyprofits declined. As early as the mid-1940s,President Edmund A. Donnan, Sr. underscoredthe threat not only to the Federal’s well-being,but to other American glassmakers as well. InNovember 2001, the Indiana Glass Division ofLancaster Colony Corporation closed its doorsin Dunkirk, a victim of foreign imports. IndianaGlass, originally Beatty-Brady, had beenproducing glassware at the same site since 1896.

Plastic cultureAnd what about that persistent polymer,

plastic? Plastics, along with imports, becamean overriding issue as Federal entered the1970s. Officials first expressed concern overthe influx of plastics in the late 1940s and early1950s when plastic first appeared in the formof kitchenware. Although many maintainedliquids taste better in glass, plastic possessessome desirable attributes, among them lighterfreight weight and less breakage.

Growing painsOr had the Federal “just gotten too darn

big?” Was market research into the buyingwhims of the American consumer and foreignexport market adequate to support the costlyexpansion program? Many still question thewisdom of the expansion undertaken in the1960s as the Federal at closing occupied some57 acres. The South Side neighborhood watchedwhile more and more Federal structures filledwith newer more costly equipment sprang up,to the point where the manufacturing andwarehousing ability exceeded the market place.

Labor painsOver time, was management’s resolve

gradually worn away during negotiations withthe AFGWU? Or were concessions granted toavoid strikes and maintain a peaceful labor-management relationship? During negotiatingsessions the Federal unions rarely yielded tomanagement’s requests. Characteristically,management granted ever greater concessionsin wages and benefits. At midpoint in thecompany’s lifespan, President Donnan regularlyreported that wages cost the company plenty.

Admittedly strikes were costly to thecompany. Shutting down the continuous tankfurnaces, then cleaning and readying them forthe next fire was no mean task. Further,recruiting and training nonunion workers tooperate the specialized glassmaking machinerywould have been inefficient and costly.

President Kennedy agreed that thecompany’s softness in union negotiations“happened over a period of years. You give alittle away each contract time. In addition tothat, you tend to give away more when you’redoing well. And there was a time when theplant was doing quite well. To some degree itwas a reflection of our own management.You’ve got to take a strong hand and you’vegot to be willing and able to take strikes in orderto maintain your management rights over aplant.” (Garvey, 1979).

Kennedy had apprised the unions in July1978 regarding the eroding financial situationat the plant. At that time, he asked them tohelp out by foregoing the last contractual wage

increase, but they turned him down. Federalglass workers traditionally numbered among thebest paid in the business. In the last contract,the lowest paid unskilled workers made about$5.50 an hour and the highest paid skilledworkers made at least $8.50 an hour, aboveindustry norms at that time (CD, March 19,1979). The company paid fringes, includinglife insurance, health and accident insurance,holidays, vacations, and incentive bonuses.Retirees, or next of kin if deceased, received apension.

Migratory managersThe plant closing, unions said, stemmed

from bad management. Certainly managementwas top-heavy, with one set of officials in NewJersey and another set in Columbus, both setscommanding generous salaries. And eventhough Kennedy assembled managers from timeto time asking them “What’s wrong with thecompany?” he paid little heed to theirsuggestions and major corporate decisionscontinued to come out of New Jersey(McCallum, 2005).

FTCratsDid the FTC show itself to be the biggest

villain of all? Since the injunctions to blockthe sale occurred during a balance of tradedeficit as reported by the U.S. Department ofCommerce, the FTC played directly into thehands of foreign glassmakers and stifledcompetition at home by driving another U.S.supplier out of business, effectively creating themonopoly it sought to prevent.

A former Federal employee placed the blamefor closure directly on the FTC. He said, “Theyare bureaucrats, and the last three letters tellyou they are rats.” The FTC wasted hundredsof thousands of taxpayer dollars to block thesale in concert with the two largest Ohio glassmakers who together already owned 60 percentof the glassware market. (Lancaster Colony wasthe fourth largest, and Federal Glass was thethird largest maker of machine-made soda-limeglass). Clearly the FTC members bought ontothe depositions put forth by the two largestcompanies, supporting their claim that themerger would indeed create a monopoly.

Federal officials insisted that the FTC nevergathered facts about the U.S. glass industry andwhether the Federal-Lancaster Colony mergerwould actually limit competition. Instead, theyinsisted, the FTC’s constant probing forinformation was to support a decision that hadalready been made.

Repeatedly Federal officials told the FTCthey would close the plant if no buyers couldbe found. Whereupon the FTC questionedFederal’s right to close its own plant. It wentso far as to ask the company to reopen inFebruary 1979, to see if any bargain-huntingbuyers might happen along. As it turned out,none did. Further, the FTC prohibited theFederal from selling the specialized glassmaking machinery to Lancaster Colony, butsales to other companies, including the twogiants, appeared to be acceptable.

Loyal Customers Let DownA disappointed Federal customer, William


O. Cutler, Cutler Brands, Ltd., Toronto, saidregarding the FTC blockage, “I was shocked.”His opinion of the FTC contention that theFederal-Lancaster Colony merger would createrestraint of trade “Is absolutelyincomprehensible” (CD, February 9, 1979).

In the past, Cutler’s firm annually boughtin excess of $1 million dollars worth of tumblersand miscellaneous wares. Some were sold asblanks, but the firm decorated others beforeshipment. Cutler said he envisioned buyingmore from J. G. Durand of France, Ravenheadof England, and other glass makers inCzechoslovakia, Germany, and Poland.

Cutler and other long-time customerspraised the Federal’s products for quality,especially the clarity of the glass and the uniquesheer rims (SHEER RIM ®) found on tumblers,rather than the thick bumper rims usually foundon machine-made glass. “We had it all,” saidRobert B. McCallum, Sales Manager of RetailPromotion, who agreed that Federal made thebest glassware. In his words, “Our tumblerswere so uniformly made they would rollforever.” Federal-made glass contained moresoda than average for the industry, making itgood for cutting.

Hersh Harvey, owner of Harvey Industries,Clarksburg, West Virginia, cited Federal’sclosing as “A terrible loss to us.” He boughtabout $500,000 worth of blown glass lightingfixtures from the Federal each year, one-thirdof his total volume. He anticipated having tolay off 40 of his 140 employees (CD, February9, 1979).

Perhaps the best summary statementregarding the FTC’s actions came from SenatorJohn H. Glenn, Jr. (D-Ohio). He told the FTCChairman Michael Pertschuk that “...when wecarry our anti-trust laws to the extent that weare preventing mergers in a still competitivefield and tossing people out on the streetunemployed, that is a ridiculous use of anti-trust powers (CD, February 1, 1979).

Another strong sentiment was voiced by U.S.Representative Chalmers Wylie (R-Columbus)who with Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) also tried to keep the Federal afloat.Wylie said “If I introduced a bill to abolish theFederal Trade Commission, I’d be a hero inColumbus.” (Garvey, 1979).

A Tragedy of ErrorsAlthough there had been plenty of signs and

early warnings, no one really believed that theFederal, a Columbus institution solidlyimbedded in the South Side, would actuallyclose its doors. Russ Hughes, plant manger atthat time, still shakes his head and says, “I wasshocked. We all were.” When a manufacturingplant employing more people than live in manyU.S. cities and has an annual payroll of $25million shuts down, nobody wins.

Add to the lost payroll the $1.2 million theFederal spent annually for goods and servicesin central Ohio. In 1978, the plant paid over$500,000 in property tax; over $375,000 wentto support the Columbus school district.Another $84,000 was paid in real estate tax aswell as over $424,000 for personal property tax(CD, January 31, 1979).

The aftermath of the closing cost the federal

government $4.5 million in special benefits paidto workers who lost their jobs. The benefitsbecame available beginning August 19, 1979,under the U.S. Department of Labor’s TradeAdjustment Assistance Program, and reflectedpayouts made from the benefit start date throughMarch 31, 1980. Benefits to eligible workerswere extended up to 52 weeks past the August19 start date. Employees 60 years or older atclosing realized 78 weeks of benefits (CD,December 10, 1980).

Industrial Park ArisesUnlike some companies that close a glass

plant and either board it up or leave it as fodderfor vandals, the Federal Paper Boardtransformed the old Federal Glass Companygrounds into the Federal Industrial Park.

The specialized glassmaking machinery andmolds were eventually auctioned off. Quite anumber of molds went to Indiana Glass, notablythose for the “Madrid” Depression-eratableware reissue the Federal named“Recollection” in 1976.

Russ Hughes became the manager of thenewly-formed Federal Industrial Park. In thisposition he worked with real estate brokers onleases for a variety of tenants. He reported thatsome of the old glass company buildings had tobe razed to make way for a new parkthoroughfare as well as to meet the needs ofthe new enterprises.

According to Hughes, when the IndustrialPark had operated successfully for about twoyears, the Federal Paper Board decided to sellthe property. Two individuals, one from NewJersey and the other from Florida, bought theIndustrial Park. They operate it as a limitedpartnership, FIP Realty Company, Ltd.

Russ Hughes retired in 2003. He turned theoperation over to son David, the presentfacilities manager, who signs leases and tendsto the overall operation of the Federal IndustrialPark. Now enjoying his eighty-first year, Russlooks back with fondness at how it used to beat the old Federal Glass Company when over1,000 workers sweated under the heat of the2700 ° F furnaces. “There was a regularheartbeat to each machine. The overall planthad a rhythm to it. It’s really depressing not tosee anything like that going on here.” In thenext breath, and with a smile and a distant lookin his eyes, he said, “But it’s been a good lifefor me.”

EpilogueThe Federal Paper Board Company, Inc. was

integrated into the International Papers (IP)family in March 1996, in a $3.4 billiontransaction that also included mills in: Augusta,Georgia; Riegelwood, North Carolina; andVersailles, Connecticut, as well as otherpackaging and wood products operations. JohnR. Kennedy Jr., the former president, secured aseat on the IP board of directors. This hugecorporation makes many products, including amultitude of different papers, pulp products,folding cartons, corrugated containers, andplywood.

AcknowledgementsMany individuals and organizations have

contributed to the Federal story, and I amgrateful to all of them for sharing their specialknowledge: Patricia Patterson Allen, greatgranddaughter of Alexander J. Beatty, WinterPark, Fla.; Gail Bardhan, Reference Librarian,the Rakow Library, Corning Museum of Glass,Corning, N.Y.: Barry Bernas, Gettysburg, Pa.;Roger Boeker, Wisconsin Department ofVeterans Affairs, Madison; Max Brown,Publisher, Columbus Monthly, Columbus, Ohio;Tom Caniff, Steubenville, Ohio; Annie Childers,Bracken Library, Ball State University, Muncie,Ind.: Faith Corrigan, Willoughby, Ohio; TimDeane, Dunkirk, Ind.; Louis E. Ebert, Marion,Ind.; David Hughes, Springfield, Ohio; RussellH. Hughes, Columbus, Ohio; Lauretta F.Huston, Milwaukee, Wis.; Interloan Staff,Madison (Wis.) Public Library; Diana L.Johnson, Madison, Wis.; Patricia Klar, CrossPlains, Wis.; Robert B. McCallum, Columbus,Ohio; Maureen McGavin, Columbus Monthly,Columbus, Ohio; Gini Peloquin, Information,Documents, Etc., Columbus, Ohio; Mark Plank,Syracuse, Ind.; Elizabeth L. Plummer, AssistantHead Research Services, Archives/LibraryDivision, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus;Gail Gibson Ranallo, Wisconsin HistoricalSociety, Madison; Phil Randall, Nortonville,Ky.: Garrett Rea, Mount Juliet, Tenn.; DavidRichardson, The Glass Press, Marietta, Ohio;John Schoessow, Madison, Wis.; Nancy Spitzer,Wendt Library, Madison, Wis.; and JimWildeman Photo Graphics, Madison, Wis.

Notesl. Quoted material, unless otherwise referencedwas drawn from MSS 665, the Federal GlassCompany papers, and is used with permissionfrom Elizabeth L. Plummer, Assistant Head,Library/Archives Division, Ohio HistoricalSociety, Columbus.

2. Dates may vary slightly according to thesource examined.

ReferencesAtleson, James, 1998. Labor and the

Wartime State. University of Illnois Press,Urbana, Ill.

Beatty, James Means. 1935. “The FederalGlass Company.” Courtesy of Russell H.Hughes, Columbus, Ohio.

Beatty (Rhodes Patterson), Mary Gill. Circa1915. Correspondence courtesy of PatriciaPatterson Allen, Winter Park, Fla.

Bredehoft, Tom and Neila. 1997. FiftyYears of Collectible Glass, 1920-1970, Volume1. Antique Trader Books, Dubuque, Iowa.

Collection of Federal Papers, MSS 665.1900-1958. Ohio Historical Society, Columbus,Ohio.

Columbus Dispatch. Various issues 1978-79. Columbus, Ohio.

Dohrman, Sinclair. 1884. PioneerCollection of Jefferson Co., Ohio. CommercialPress, Stephens City, Va.

Doyle, Joseph B. 1910. 20th CenturyHistory of Steubenville and Jefferson County,Ohio. Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co.,Chicago, Ill.

Ehrbar, A. F. July 2, 1979. “The NeedlessDeath of Federal Glass,” Fortune. Time, Inc.,


Rockerfeller Center, N.Y.Florence, Gene. 2004. Collectible

Glassware from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, seventhedition. Collector Books, Paducah, Ky.

Florence, Gene. 2004. The Collector’sEncyclopedia of the Depression Years, sixthedition. Collector Books, Paducah, Ky.

Garvey, Peggy. June 1979. “The Costly,Confusing Death of Federal Glass,” ColumbusMonthly, Columbus, Ohio.

Hughes, Russell H. November 2004.Personal interview. Columbus, Ohio.

Hughes, David. November 2004. Personalinterview. Springfield, Ohio.

Iwen, Marg. 2002. “Glass in Their Veins,”The Glass Club Bulletin, No. 192. The NationalAmerican Glass Club, Inc., Silver Spring, Md.

Iwen, Marg. 2005. The Federal GlassCompany, 1900-1979. In press.

Klopp, Tom. Fall 1982. “Federal GlassExclusive,” The Glass Collector. AntiquePublications, Marietta, Ohio.

Klopp, Tom. Winter 1983. “Federal’sPackaging Glass,” The Glass Collector .Antique Publications, Marietta, Ohio.

McCallum, Robert B. February 2005.Personal interview, Columbus, Ohio.

Paquette, Jack K. 2002. Blowpipes,Northwest Ohio Glassmaking in the Gas Boomof the 1880s. Xlibris Corporation.

Roller, Dick. 1983. The Standard Fruit JarReference. Acorn Press, Paris, Ill.

Rowe, Thomas W. and Harry H. Cook. 1958.History 1878-1957 American Flint GlassWorkers Union. Toledo, Ohio.

Scoville, Warren. 1948. Revolution inGlassmaking. Harvard University Press,Cambridge, Mass.

Warman’s Depression Glass, third edition,Ellen T. Schroy, editor. 2003. KrausePublications, Iola, Wis.

Weatherman, Hazel M. 1970. ColoredGlassware of the Depression Era. Authorpublished. Springfield, Mo.

Weatherman, Hazel M. 1974. ColoredGlassware of the Depression Era 2.Weatherman Glassbooks, Springfield, Ohio.

Welker, John and Elizabeth. 1985. PressedGlass in America. Antique Acres Press, Ivyland, Pa.

About the Author: Marg Iwen began collectingEarly American Pattern Glass (EAPG) afterbidding successfully on an unknown glass plateat a country auction in 1969. Today she collectsa Mc-Kee tableware pattern, but has bought andsold EAPG, novelties, and historical glassthrough her home-based Bear Tooth Antiquesfor the past 14 years. Her research interest isglass factories of the 19th and early 20thcenturies. She has written over a dozen articleson various factories and their wares. She livesin Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband,Frank, and Schnauzer, Data Base.