Glass-making

Information on the glass-making industry in Licking County and the associated industries

Heisey Glass

A.H. Heisey & Co.

Mr. Augustus H. Heisey emigrated from Hanover, Germany at 1 year of age to Pennsylvania. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War (155th Pennsylvania Infantry). He founded A.H. Heisey & Company in 1895 and chose Newark, Ohio for the plant’s site due to the availability of natural gas and cheap labor. The factory was built on the old Penny Farm on the east side of Newark, currently the site of the Holophane plant. Production began in April 1896 and Heisey’s slogan was “The finest glassware in America.” During it’s time of peak production (around 1920) the plant employed 700 workers who belonged to the American Flint Glass Worker’s Union. When Mr. A.H. Heisey died in 1922 his son E. Wilson Heisey took over the company and began the production of colored glass. The colored glass includes Moongleam (green) and Flamingo (rose-pink) which are two of the most popular colors. The Heisey animal figurines began with the horsehead bookends in 1935. In 1942 when E. Wilson died, another son T. Clarence assumed control until 1957. The plant closed for its’ usual Christmas holiday in 1957 and surprisingly never reopened due to foreign competition, spiraling costs, and lack of skilled help.

Heisey & Holophane

Heisey manufactured the glass used by Holophane in lights that sold throughout the world early in the 20th century. The quality of the glass contributed to Holophane’s fame. Holophane helped restore some of the original Heisey molds for the 100th anniversary of A.H. Heisey and Co. The molds are now used to make authentic reproductions and are marked as such. To distinguish them from an original piece they are not made in the original colors.

Heisey’s Trademark

During the first 4 years of production, Heisey glass did not have the trademark “H within a diamond.” From 1901 to the mid-1920’S almost every pressed piece of Heisey glass was marked. From mid-1920 and beyond, the mark was seen less often as it was thought to detract from the piece. Heisey’s blown glassware is the largest unmarked category due to the method in which it is manufactured.

National Heisey Collectors of America

The National Heisey Collectors of America, Inc. (HCA) was formed on Oct. 15, 1971 to collect and preserve Heisey products. The Licking County affiliate’s most ambitious project was the National Heisey Glass Museum which opened in Newark, Ohio in Sept. 1974.

LW

Holophane

"Holophane is a leading, vertically integrated, international manufacturer and marketer of premium quality, highly engineered lighting fixtures and systems for a wide range of industrial, commercial and outdoor applications".

"Holophane manufactures glass reflectors and refractors and plastic lenses which cover a light source” and put “that light exactly where it is needed.” Holophane was founded in France in 1895 by two factory workers who “came up with the idea of using prismatic glass to surround a light source and thus achieve a more effective, useful and smooth illumination."

A Holophane plant opened in Newark in 1902 and began producing lighting fixtures. Newark was chosen due to “the presence of A.H. Heisey Glassworks, the availability of a pure silica sand and natural gas with which to melt it,” as well as “a large population of German workers with the glassmaking skills to operate the plant.”

At one time Holophane had three plants in Licking County at Newark, Pataskala and Utica.

Initially, the Newark plant included Holophane’s administration offices, customer service department, research and development, shipping and warehousing, glass production, and product assembly. Over the years some of these divisions were relocated to other areas of Licking County and even to other parts of the world. For example, in 2007, Holophane’s administrative offices were moved to the Granville Business Park in order to set up a larger customer education center for prospective clients. In 2008, Holophane’s parent company, Acuity Brands Lighting, announced they were moving two assembly lines to their Acuity Operations in Mezquital, Mexico.

LW

Utica Glass Company

Formed in 1903, The Utica Glass Company was the first of several glass manufacturing companies opened in Utica following the discovery of rich natural gas reserves in the area. Workers from glass manufacturers in Indiana in the late 19th century had traveled to Ohio to open a window glass manufacturing facility in Utica near natural gas reserves just as they had successfully done in Indiana.

A rich supply of natural gas was needed to produce glass in quantities afforded by the newer tank-type furnaces rather than the older pot furnaces. Compared to the older pot furnaces, the gas-powered fixed-position tank furnaces enabled a more continuous process leading to 24-hour operations and increased production.

The new plant prospered with the addition of buildings, increases in production and inventory until May 10, 1909 when a tank burst releasing molten glass, causing a fire. Operations resumed in mid-1910 when the factory was repaired and improvements in cooling the plant were made that would allow year-round production, making the company stronger. In the years following the fire, the Utica Glass Company was reported not only to be the most profitable glass company in the nation but also to be producing more glass than other similar glass manufacturers in the United States at that time.

The death knell of the hand-made window glass industry was drawing close in the period leading up to and after World War I. Machine-made glass flooded the market reducing hand-made glass production by more than half. Labor difficulties including worker shortages and reduced wages made finding workers extremely difficult. During the war, restrictions were placed on the fuel needed to run the plants, forcing them to adhere to assigned periods of operation. These restrictions were left in place for a time after the war ended, making production more difficult. Along with labor issues, governmental restrictions, and competition from machine-made glass works, the company closed in 1928.

K.W.