Air travel to Corning for the Symposium has always been a bit difficult because of limited service. That has recently improved significantly. United has recently begun twice daily non-stop service between Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and the Corning/Elmira airport (ELM). This should make connections much easier. Depending on your origin location, you might also consider flying into Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester or Binghamton and driving to Corning from there.

A New Glass Formula is Discovered

“Neither the forward looking Teague nor the confident John Mackay brought an answer to Steuben’s troubles in 1932. However, a striking technological breakthrough that year was to have a decisive impact on the company’s future. For some time Corning Glass Works’ chemists had been trying to achieve an optical glass that would transmit instead of absorb, ultraviolet light. Experiments begun in the fall of 1929 yielded, by the following spring, an exceptional glass of extremely high refractive quality (approximately 1.584) that permitted the whole spectrum of a light wave, including the ultraviolet range, to pass through. This was accomplished by removing from the glass batch most of the iron impurities responsible for trapping ultraviolet light.”

Before Steuben could put the new glass into production for its entire line, two problems had to be solved. The new glass had a coefficient of expansion different from that of the glass Carder had used since 1904; any cased object combing the new and the old glass would crack from the disparate stresses as it cooled. The 10-M glass also had a relatively short pot life-it apparently reacted with the porcelain pots in which it was melted,….Later that year, after ten 2,500 pound pots were tested and delivered to the Steuben plant, it became feasible to produce the new crystal in large quantities. The problem of different coefficients of expansion for the old, often colored glass and the new crystal was solved by avoidance: old Steuben glass continued to be used for cased colored wares. After the company’s reorganization in 1933, all colored glass was gradually phased out, paving the way for exclusive use of the brilliant 10-M metal.”

Excerpts from pp. 66 of Steuben Glass, An American Tradition in Crystal by Mary Jean Madigan

One Answer Drives an Additional Question

1. Friday, Beth Shaut answered a question about the Knoll. The Knoll was the home of the Houghton family of Corning Glass Works, and Mrs. Houghton lived there to over 100yrs of age. The Banquet room was used in the 1990’s for Corporate function and fund raisers. Today you are able to reserve it for public functions, such as wedding, fund raising dinner, etc.

2. Neal O’Donnell of Corning, NY adds more background on The Knoll and the Houghtons.
Beth – Mrs. Houghton did indeed live to a great age but the last few years of her life were spent in a beautiful but considerably smaller house atop Spencer Hill that was originally built for her sister-in-law back in the 1950s or 60s. Mrs. Houghton and her husband bought the house in the early (I believe) 80s and moved out of the Knoll.

3. New Question.

Beth – Thank you for the information about the difference between Steuben and Pairpoint Grape engraving. Now, can someone tell me how to distinguish Sinclaire Grape engraving from Steuben and Pairpoint Grape engraving?

Question from Friday

Q. How do you tell the difference between Pairpoint Grape engraving and Steuben Grape engraving?

A. Steuben Grape cluster look quite like the grapes hanging from the vines. The Pairpoint Grape have individual stems on each grape.
Beth Shaut,
Corning, NY