subject: Fostoria Glass Company [print this page] Early years Early years
Fostoria built a furnace in 1891 that could fire 14 pieces of glass at a time, considered exemplary for the period. During the early years of 1887 through 1909, Fostoria advertised that it manufactured "tableware, colognes, stationers' glassware and candelabra", as well as inkwells, sponge cups, vases, fingerbowls and fruit jars. Many of the stemware designs were needle etched or wheel cut, popular styles during the early 20th century.
By 1925, five additional furnaces were added and the company was in its heydey, manufacturing stemware, container glass, and decorative lamps, before adding a colored stemware and dinnerware product line. Fostoria struggled through the Great Depression and World War II, but survived, producing milk glass and depression ware, and the notable patterns of Chintz (1940), Colony (1940), Romance (1942), and Holly (1942). .
Production peaked in 1950 when Fostoria manufactured over 8 million pieces of glass and crystal. The company expanded in the 1950s, adding the crystal patterns Century (1950), Rose (1951), Wedding Ring (1953), and Jamestown (1959). In the 1960s and 1970s, the company's marketing campaign expanded to include boutiques and display rooms within jewelry and department stores. In addition, Fostoria published its own consumer direct magazine, "Creating with Crystal" during this period.
All U.S. Presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower through Ronald Reagan ordered glassware from Fostoria.
Later years
Foreign competition increased during the 1970s. In 1983, Fostoria sold its factory to Lancaster Colony Corporation of Columbus, Ohio. By 1986, Lancaster Colony closed the factory and sold the remaining stock directly to consumers.
Fostoria's best-selling pattern was American, introduced in 1915. After the factory closure, Lancaster Colony contracted with Dalzell Viking Glass Company of New Martinsville, West Virginia, to continue manufacturing some Fostoria patterns, including American. Thereafter, L.E. Smith Glass Company of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, bought the American molds.
Fostoria stemware and dinnerware continue to be popular collector items, with colored pieces valued higher than clear ones of the same pattern. Earlier American pieces are more valuable than later ones.
The Anna B. Smith House in Moundsville was purchased by the Fostoria Glass Society of America and turned into a Fostoria museum in 1990.
Competitors
Fostoria's chief competitors included:
Cambridge Glass, Cambridge, Ohio
Hazel-Atlas Glass Company, Wheeling, West Virginia
^ a b c "MUSEUM - The Anna B. Smith House". fostoriaglass.org. http://www.fostoriaglass.org/fgsamus.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
^ "Fostoria Glass Company Advertisements". National Depression Glass Association. April 14, 2008. http://www.ndga.net/advertising/advfostoria.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
Further reading
Kerr, A. (1994). Fostoria: an identification and value guide of pressed, blown & hand molded shapes. Paducah, Ky: Collector Books. ISBN 0891455647
Pia, L. A. (2006). Fostoria American: line 2056. A Schiffer book for collectors. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub. ISBN 0764324691
Weatherman, H. M. (1972). Fostoria: its first fifty years. Springfield, Mo: The Weathermans. OCLC 410096
External links
Photos:
Advertisements
Etching
Stock certificate
Tableware
Fostoria Glass Society of America
Lancaster Colony Corporation official website
L.E. Smith official website
vde
Glass makers and brands
Contemporary
companies
Anchor Hocking Arc International Ardagh Armashield Asahi Aurora Glass Foundry Baccarat Blenko Glass Company Bodum Corning Dartington Crystal Daum Edinburgh Crystal Fanavid Fenton Art Glass Company Firozabad glass industry Franz Mayer Glava Glaverbel Hardman & Co. Heaton, Butler and Bayne Holmegaard Glassworks Holophane Hoya Kingdom of Crystal Kokomo Opalescent Glass Works Kosta Glasbruk Libbey Owens Ford Liuli Gongfang Iittala Luoyang Johns Manville Mats Jonasson Mlers Moser Glass Mosser Glass Nippon Sheet Glass Ohara Orrefors Glasbruk Osram Owens Corning Owens-Illinois Pauly & C. - Compagnia Venezia Murano Phu Phong PPG Pilkington Preciosa Quinn Group Riedel Royal Leerdam Crystal Saint-Gobain Samsung Corning Precision Glass Schonbek Schott Shrigley and Hunt Steuben Glass Sterlite Optical Technologies Swarovski Tyrone Crystal Val Saint Lambert Verrerie of Brehat Waterford Watts & Co World Kitchen Xinyi Glass Zwiesel
Historic
companies
Bakewell Glass Belmont Glass Company Boston and Sandwich Glass Company Carr Lowrey Glass Company Cambridge Glass Chance Brothers Clayton and Bell Dunbar Glass Fostoria Glass Company General Glass Industries Alexander Gibbs Grnvik glasbruk Hazel-Atlas Heisey Hemingray Glass Company Knox Glass Bottle Company Lavers, Barraud and Westlake Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs Morris & Co. Old Dominion Glass Company James Powell and Sons Ravenhead glass The Root Glass Company Sneath Glass Company Ward and Hughes Westmoreland Glass Company Whitall Tatum Company White Glass Company Worshipful Company
Glassmakers
John Adams Richard M. Atwater Frederick Carder Irving Wightman Colburn Henry Crimmel Henry Clay Fry Friedrich A. H. Heisey Libbey Antonio Neri Alastair Pilkington Salviati Otto Schott S. Donald Stookey W. E. S. Turner John M. Whitall
