The Fostoria Glass Company was a manufacturer of pressed, blown and hand-molded glassware and tableware. It began operations in Fostoria, Ohio, on December 15, 1887, on land donated by the townspeople. The new company was formed by men from West Virginia who were experienced in the glassmaking business. They started their company in northwest Ohio to take advantage of newly discovered natural gas that was an ideal fuel for glassmaking. Numerous other businesses were also started in the area, and collectively they depleted the natural gas supply. Fuel shortages caused the company to move to Moundsville, West Virginia, in 1891.
After the move to Moundsville, the company achieved a national reputation. Fostoria was considered one of the top producers of elegant glass. It had over 1,000 patterns, including one (American) that was produced for over 75 years. Showrooms were located in New York, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and other large cities. The company advertised heavily, and one of its successes was sales through bridal registries. Fostoria products were made for several U.S. presidents. The company employed 1,000 people at its peak in 1950.
During the 1970s, foreign competition and changing preferences forced the company to make substantial investments in cost-saving automation technology. The changes were made too late, and the company's commercial division was losing money by 1980. The plant was closed permanently on February 28, 1986. Several companies continued making products using the Fostoria patterns, including the Dalzell-Viking Glass Company and Indiana Glass Company—both now closed.
Background
In the last half of the 19th century, labor and fuel were the two largest expenses in U.S. glassmaking. People with the knowledge necessary to make glass were difficult to find. Management at Wheeling's J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company had a policy of using skilled glassworkers from Europe, who would train the local employees—resulting in a superior workforce. In the 1860s, Wheeling, West Virginia, became a "hub for chemical and technological improvements to the composition of glass and the development of furnaces, molds, and presses" for making glass. By the end of the 1870s, the Hobbs glass works became the largest glass maker in the United States. One of the earliest places to which the Hobbs glass making talent spread was Bellaire, Ohio, located in Belmont County, across the river from Wheeling and Ohio County. Former employees of the Hobbs glass works became the talent that established many of the region's glass factories, and many became company presidents or plant managers.
Transportation resources were also important to the glass industry. Waterways provided an efficient and safe way to transport glass, especially before the construction of high-quality roads and the railroad system. As the railroad industry developed, it also became an important transportation resource. By 1880, almost all of the nation's top ten glass producing counties were located on a waterway. Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, (which includes Pittsburgh) was the nation's leading glass producer based on value of production. Ohio's Belmont County and West Virginia's Ohio County, separated by the Ohio River, ranked 6th and 7th.
Since fuel was one of the top two expenses in glassmaking, manufacturers needed to monitor its availability and cost. Wood and coal had long been used as fuel for glassmaking. An alternative fuel, gas, became a desirable fuel for making glass because it is clean, gives a uniform heat, is easier to control, and melts the batch of ingredients faster. Gas furnaces for making glass were first used in Europe in 1861. In early 1886, a major discovery of natural gas occurred near the small village of Findlay, Ohio. Communities in northwestern Ohio began using low-cost natural gas along with free land and cash to entice glass companies to start operations in their town. Their efforts were successful, and at least 70 glass factories existed in northwest Ohio between 1886 and 1900.
Beginning The Fostoria Glass Company was incorporated in West Virginia in July 1887. The founders of the Fostoria Glass Company were drawn to Fostoria, Ohio, to exploit the newly discovered natural gas. The new firm also received cash incentives of $5,000 () to $6,000 (). The plant was located on Fostoria's South Vine Street and the town was served by multiple railroads. The factory's furnace had a capacity of 12 pots, and originally employed 125 workers. Production of tableware, bar goods, and lamps began on December 15, 1887.
The glass men that formed the new company had gained their experience from working at the Hobbs, Brockunier and Company glass plant in Wheeling. Lucian B. Martin, the company's first president, had been a sales executive at the Hobbs works. William S. Brady, the company's secretary, had worked as a financial manager there and more recently managed a glass plant in Wellsburg, West Virginia. James B. Russell and Benjamin M. Hildreth had worked at the Hobbs plant, and Russell had also worked at a Pittsburgh glass works. German-born Otto Jaeger had been head of the engraving department at the Hobbs works. Former Ohio governor Charles Foster, son of the city of Fostoria's namesake, was added to this group of glass industry veterans to form the new company's board of directors.
Henry Humphreville, who had worked at Brady's Riverside Glass Company in Wellsburg, was hired as plant manager, and offered some diversity with his additional experience working in Pittsburgh—the nation's other center of glassmaking innovation. Many of the employees hired for the startup were from the Wheeling area. At least 20 "first class workmen" joined the company from Bellaire, Ohio, which is across the Ohio River from Wheeling. Henry and Jacob Crimmel were "key craftsmen in the early period of the company" and both had worked at Belmont Glass Company in Bellaire and the Hobbs plant in Wheeling. The Crimmel brothers had also been involved with the startup of the predecessor to the Belmont Glass Company. Crimmel family recipes for glass were used in the early days of the Fostoria Glass Company.
Early products
The company advertised as a manufacturer of pressed glassware, and specialties were candle stands, candelabras, and banquet lamps. The first piece of glass pressed at the plant was a salt dip, pattern number 93. A popular early pattern called Cascade looked like a swirl and was used for candelabras and ink wells. It was also used for tableware such as containers for sugar, cream, and butter. Cascade was the first tableware pattern made, and it continued through the years under different names.
The company had many talented designers. Among them was Charles E. Beam, who was the head of the company's mold shop and eventually added to the board of directors. Beam's specialty was designing dishes with animals as the covers, and one of his creations that is "highly-prized" by today's collectors is a dish with a dolphin covering. Beam received a patent in 1890 for a glass mold that would enable pieces of chandeliers and candelabras to have small holes.US patent 442,599, "Glass-mold", issued 1890-12-16. Company president Martin was also a talented designer, and he patented the Cascade ink well (called an inkstand) in 1890 and a paper weight with swirl sides in 1891.US patent 19,953, "Inkstand", issued 1890-07-01.US patent 444,647, "Paper Weight", issued 1891-01-13.
The company's first Virginia pattern was introduced around Christmas in 1888. This pattern was quickly stolen (or "pirated") by a rival company. Fostoria Glass copied the copy, and named this purportedly new pattern Captain Kidd. Eventually this same Virginia/Captain Kidd pattern was also called Foster or Foster Block in honor of Charles Foster. An advertisement for the Captain Kidd pattern featured a butter dish, spoon dish, a sugar bowel, and a creamer.
Fostoria's Valencia pattern, number 205, is often called Artichoke because of the shape of the overlapping leaves on the bottom half of the glassware. This pattern was advertised in China, Glass and Lamps magazine in early 1891.
The Victoria pattern is popular with collectors, and a wide variety of products were made with this pattern. It is the only pattern that was patented by the company. Its appearance has a strong resemblance to a French company's pattern, and Fostoria Glass had some employees from France's glassmaking region. When the company moved to Moundsville, all of the molds for this pattern mysteriously disappeared. The missing molds were never found, and the Victoria pattern was never produced again.
Move to Moundsville
Northwest Ohio's gas boom was short lived, as gas shortages started occurring during the winter of 1890–91. During April 1891, Fostoria Glass executives decided to move to Moundsville, West Virginia, because of the availability of coal as a fuel for the plant—and $10,000 cash () offered by the community. In addition to the cash incentive, the company was also offered a 10-year supply of coal at a low price. The move was announced in September 1891. The Fostoria plant was sold to a group of investors led by Fostoria Glass executive Otto Jaeger, and his new company was named Seneca Glass Company.
In early December, the move to Moundsville was delayed by a restraining order when several members of the Crimmel family, who owned stock in the company, filed suit. The Crimmels, who were also employees of the company, claimed shareholders should have been consulted for the move. The attempt to stop the move was unsuccessful, and the restraining order was lifted to enable the company to move by the end of the month.
The company's first Moundsville furnace had a capacity of 14 pots. Coal was not used directly as a fuel for the furnace. Instead, the furnace burned coal gas made from the local supply of coal. About 60 workers from the Fostoria glass works moved with the company to the Moundsville location.
Moundsville operations
In 1899, the company became associated with the National Glass Company, which was a corporate trust. Co-founder Lucien Martin left the firm in 1901 to work in Pittsburgh for National Glass. Another co-founder, William Brady, also moved to the Pittsburgh firm a short time later. Despite the association, Fostoria Glass Company did not become part of the National Glass Company.
William A. B. Dalzell joined the company as general manager in 1901. Dalzell was from Pittsburgh, and his initial experience in the glass industry was with Pittsburgh's Adams and Company. The Dalzell brothers had been involved with the glass business as owners and management in West Virginia and Ohio. When Fostoria Glass became associated with National Glass in 1899, Dalzell was working at the trust as manager of the western department. When he joined Fostoria Glass, he brought Calvin B. Roe, who had been a bookkeeper and plant superintendent at Dalzell's Ohio plant. Dalzell quickly ascended to vice president. Under Dalzell's leadership, the Fostoria Glass Company gained a national reputation. Dalzell served as president and/or chairman from 1902 until his unexpected death in 1928.
In 1903, the company already operated two large furnaces when it added a three-story brick building that housed a new 14-pot furnace. One trade magazine believed that the addition made the company "probably the largest independent flint glass concern in the country...." By 1904, the company had 800 employees. Products made as of 1906 included decorated lamps, globes, shades, blown and pressed tableware, high grade lead blown tumblers, stemware, and novelties. At that time, a trade magazine said that the company "makes so many lines of glassware, all so perfectly, and markets its output so successfully to all classes of buyers, that no name is better known to all classes of trade."
Moundsville Products