Background And Points About Libby Glass
The Libby glass Company, one of the largest manufacturers the United States, has been in business since 1818. It was originally named the New England Glass Company and was located in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. During 1873, the company experienced a period of slumping sales due to the depression. William Libbey purchased the company in 1878 and it was renamed to the New England Glass Works.
Ten years after relocating to Toledo, Ohio, it was renamed again. This time it was given the name it still uses today. In 1882, Joseph Locke was hired to create new styles of glassware. He is the one that has been credited with the creation of beautiful styles such as Pomona, Amberina, Peach Bow, and Maize such as water pitchers.
These were all made by hand and each featured an expensive material that gave it its unique style and beauty. One example is Amberina. The look of amber that goes to red was made with the use of gold. The Brilliant Cut Glass that Libby is so well known for had lead incorporated into it, sometimes as much as sixty percent.
An inventor named Michael Owens was hired in 1916. He is credited with being the first person ever to invent a machine that was able to produce tumblers, chimneys, and bottles automatically. This allowed the company to cut out some of the costs of manufacturing and allowed them to eliminate some of their employees. This resulted in a higher margin of profit for them. This new machine allowed them to produce large quantities of their products with fewer people.
Libby gained in popularity in the early part of the twentieth century, just as the popularity of automobiles was increasing. Not only was this company credited for being the first ones to produce machine-made stemware or glassware that is heat-treated for use in hotels or restaurants, but they were also noted for being able to mass produce the windshields for the new automobiles. Thanks to this, Toledo, Ohio became known as the world’s glass capital. With this increase in business and profit, they were able to open more production plants in California and Louisiana in theUSA and a plant in the Netherlands.
In the 1920′s, during World War I, Libby began to manufacture items that did not require as much labor. One of the products that they introduced was glassware known as Safedge. This product was produced in large quantities for use in hotels and restaurants. During 1935 Owens-Illinois and Libby combined forces and worked doing research and creating innovative new products.
During the World War II era, the company turned their focus on the needs of the country. Glassware that we now know as tumblers was developed during 1945. When they were originally introduced, they were immediately very popular.
During 1993, Libby glass became public which allowed them to participate in trade in the New York Stock Exchange. They have continued to grow and merge with other well known companies including Crisal, Crisa, Royal Leerdam, and Traex. Following the merger with Syracuse China in 1995, they became in international company. Today their product lines include bake, beverage, and serve ware along with home decor, food service utensils, tabletop products,water pitchers, and more.
