The cooperative venture of Union Glass Works, Kensington, Pennsylvania 1826-1842
Date
1995
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
In 1826, seven glassworkers joined to form Union Glass Works in Kensington, north Philadelphia. Their venture was the first cooperative flint glass factory in America. These men, like many other Americans of the early nineteenth century, perceived the dream of economic and social advancement through labor, prosperity and the consumption of luxury goods as an attainable reality. Until its close in 1842, Union Glass Works competed successfully with the major glasshouses of the time, exhibiting at the Franklin Institute, marketing through a network of agents, and using the newest technology available. Union produced cut, engraved, molded and pressed glass for a growing market of people eager to purchase elegant glassware to express their refined gentility. ☐ This paper examines the history of the company and the glass it produced. Much of the text is based upon court cases involving Union Glass Works and account books of Philadelphia merchants. Objects discussed include part of the Synar collection at The Corning Museum of Art, as well as glass from other collections. ☐ This work is significant in that it brings together for the first time the most important data available concerning Union Glass Works and many of the major pieces attributed to the factory. Although some of the attributions are tentative, it brings to light the importance of glass manufacturing in Philadelphia during the early nineteenth century. In the past, glass scholarship of this period focused upon a few glasshouses in Pittsburgh and New England. Most fine cut and engraved glass was attributed to these factories. This research shows that Union Glass Works was producing comparable costly cut and engraved wares in the popular patterns of the day, as well as less expensive products for the mass market.