Several weeks ago John Styler suggested we should promote a commemorative stamp looking forward to Frederick Carder’s 150th birthday. In turn, John proceeded to contact the postal service with this proposition and wrote up a background piece on Frederick Carder, which is repeated at the end of this e-mail. The postal service response is attached, for your information. John fears this is just a bit too bureaucratic a response. John being involved in politics in Prospect Heights, Illinois knows only too well that the best way assure things like this get accomplished is to lobby. John suggests some of the ways to do this and it means we need to ask everyone on this list to participate as best they can. Summaries of Frederick Carder’s impact on the world of art glass that might be composed by participants and shared and sent off are invaluable and strongly encouraged.
Here are some of John’s comments.
I am disappointed in the reply I received therefore I suggest we mount a letter writing campaign to him from Club members. Hopefully members who are affiliated with Museums would use their titles to further the importance that he should be recognized on a Commemorative Stamp issued in 2013, his anniversary. It wouldn’t hurt to solicit the help o members of the Congress & Senate of the State of New York to voice their opinion on it’s importance.
As a collector of stamps issued by our postal service for many years I am appalled at the subject matter of recent years. How many Disney characters do we need to see, the Disney Concert Hall, Cumulus Congestus, it’s cloud for gosh sakes, we know that. Old TV ‘stars’, and the endless —— American Series, which will certainly be endless, heaven only knows where they find them!, This is their goal less we overlook outstanding contributors to industry in our Country. I know many are recognized but why is he not as worthy, I for one wonder?
As I said to Mr. McCaffery in my reply, Steuben objects have been presented to Royalty and Heads of State by past Presidents of our Country as a token of what we are proud to produce in America.

The background John sent earlier to the postal service.

The History of Frederick Carder founder of Steuben Glass
For 100 years, Steuben has been at the forefront of glass design. Founder Frederick Carder was clearly a child prodigy who was born in England and a self trained chemist, physicist, draftsman, and pottery. He became passionate about glassmaking as a child growing up in Staffordshire and spent time sketching, modeling, and playing with clay at his grandfather’s pottery factory. Carder quite school at 14 to work full time at the factory. He realized he made a mistake and started taking courses at night in art, chemistry, electricity, and metallurgy. In 1878, his grandfather died and his father and uncles inherited the factory not appreciating the talents of the ambitious 15 year old. He left and took a job as draftsman and designer at a local glassmaking firm, Stevens & Williams. Here, he was allowed to experiment with colonizing agents and create new designs in colored glass, cameo glass, and engraved glass.

In 1903, Carder met Thomas E. Hawkes, the president of a Corning company that bought glass blanks from Stevens & Williams. Hawkes offered to establish a glass factory for Carder, he named the company Steuben after the county where it was located and began production almost immediately. Steuben Glass Works was almost a one man operation, where Carder designed the ware, supervised production, and dictated sales policies. They specialized in colorful Art Nouveau glass just coming into popularity, and the early years were the most productive. At least half of the more than 100 recorded colors and over 8000 design forms which make up the Carder record from 1903 to 1932 were initiated before World War I. Carder’s innovative experimentation with glassmaking techniques produced important results including iridescent surfaces like their well known “Aurene” glass, murky translucence, and saturated colors. Aurene was the first great commercial success, glass with a golden iridescence whose name was taken from the Latin word for gold, aurum, and the last 3 letters of schene, a Middle English word for sheen in 1913.

Carder was constantly tinkering, taking rods of differently colored glass to make Venetian style millefiori wares. He sandwiched a layer of powdered glass, called a frit, between two layers of clear glass. In about 1928 Carder made what many consider his pioneering achievement in “intarsia” glass after the word intarsiatura, a type of 15th century Italian marquetry. A design is etched in a colored glass casing which is then reheated and covered with a layer of clear glass. A third layer of clear glass is added so it becomes one homogeneous piece. It is a difficult, complicated process and only about 100 known examples were made, each signed “Fred’k Carder” on the front, not underneath.

In 1932, Steuben made one of its most significant technological advances, a glass they named “10M” which had extremely high refractive qualities that permits the entire light wave spectrum to pass through the glass, including the ultraviolet range. In 1933, Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. became Steuben’s new president, and he introduced to the market this clear, pure 10M glass now known as Steuben crystal. This new type of glass was created by Corning researchers and had amazing brilliance, clarity, and surface finish. Houghton collaborated with sculptor Sidney Waugh and architect John Gates. With the introduction of Steuben crystal, colored glass was gradually phased out of Steuben production, and the Steuben Division became known as simply Steuben Glass. Some forms of Carder’s original glass designs continue to be made in the new clear glass formula although many new styles are also introduced influenced by the sculptor Sidney Waugh and architect John Gates. In these early years of Steuben’s history, Steuben primarily made objects for the home including stemware, urns, candlesticks, bowls, and drinking glasses. Gazelle, Steuben’s first major engraved design, is introduced in 1935 and reflects the influences of Swedish simplicity and the massive geometry of Art Deco, and this is the first Steuben pattern that utilizes all of Steuben’s renowned glassmaking techniques: blowing, cutting, polishing, and copper-wheel engraving. Houghton continued over the following years to push the boundaries of creative expression as shown through the partnership of the glass designer and glassmaker. Frederick Carder himself continued to work in a small studio at Corning until his final retirement at age 96.

Frederick Carder died in December 1963 at 100 years and 83 days after his birth.