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Revision as of 13:21, 24 May 2016
Information on the glass-making industry in Licking County and the associated industries
Contents
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.
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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".[1]
"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."[2]
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.” [3]
At one time Holophane had three plants in Licking County at Newark, Pataskala and Utica.[4]
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.[5] In 2008, Holophane’s parent company, Acuity Brands Lighting, announced they were moving two assembly lines to their Acuity Operations in Mezquital, Mexico.[6]
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Utica Glass Company
From 1903-1929 five hand-made window glass firms operated in the village of Utica, Ohio. Utica was in the center of a large gas field, which was the main reason the first four factories were established there.[7]
The first of these factories was The Utica Glass Company, organized in 1903 by a group from Indiana headed by O.C. Teague. The company was an incorporation with regular dividend accrual in it’s early years of glass-making. A furnace tank burst creating a fire on May 10, 1909 which caused production to cease until the summer of 1910. The company then operated until it’s closure in 1928.The next four factories in chronological order were: The Central Window Glass Company, which operated from 1905 until 1912 when there was a fire in the main building; The Advance Glass Company beginning in 1906 and ending in 1911 due to a fire; The Licking Window Glass Company also began in 1906 and operated until a fire in 1922; and The Corl-Erie Glass Company, which bought the Licking Window Glass Company in 1928 but closed in 1929 due to various factors including the Great Depression. The plant was sold and moved to Barberton, Ohio.[8]
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References
- ↑ Holophane Annual Report, 1997.
- ↑ Randy Wooden, “The Legend Visits Holophane”, The Legend Magazine, March 1996
- ↑ Kristopher Armstrong, “Holophane Co. keeps the Lights On.” The Newark Advocate, June 29, 1998
- ↑ Kristopher Armstrong, “Holophane Co. keeps the Lights On.” The Newark Advocate, June 29, 1998.
- ↑ Mark Szakonyi, “Holophane Moves Offices to Granville Business Park”, Granville Sentinel , June 14, 2007.
- ↑ Kent Mallett, The Advocate, June 5, 2008
- ↑ Edward M. Noyes, The Window Glass Industry of Utica, Ohio Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio Bulletin, July 1954 Vol. XII, No. 3
- ↑ Dwight Jewett, Window Glass Made in Utica, The Newark Advocate, January 29, 1984
