First, Jim Barlow of Detroit saw the article & pictures we forwarded from the
1952 Gaffer Magazine on the Frederick Carder Exhibit, One of the pictures
contained a female figure to which Jim says: I had forgotten that some of the pictures
in Gardner & Dimitroff had come from there (the Gaffer) and it was good to put that back in
perspective. The one picture with him sitting at his desk had been instrumental in identifying the large “Chinese Lady Figure” as it is not listed in the line drawings nor can we find it in the archives.

Dave Williams sends a picture of CMoG along with some questions.
Alan,
This is an old postcard I found while looking t the site Penny Postcards. This
site lists pre 1940 postcards, arranged by State, then county. If you haven’t
seen it, you might find it interesting. I always enjoy your photos of glass shows,
collections, etc. which you often post on flickr.com.

Don’t know what year it dates from. Do you have any photos of the thermometer tower in Corning? It was painted white with the Corning logo of a glass blower in blue. I always meant to take a photo of it; but kept forgetting. Is it still standing, I wonder? If you have a photo of it, could you email a copy to me?
Dave
~ dave
d.a.williams@ieee.org

Yesterday Dave Williams asked whether the Thermometer Tower in Corning was still intact. Then, Debbie Tarsitano sent a picture of the tower, taken last fall. It occurs to me that many who have seen this aren’t familiar with Corning and are asking themselves, what this is all about? So, I asked Marshall Ketchum, our Vice President, for some help. Here goes.
In the Nineteenth century craftsmen made tubing by drawing out an oblong blank into tubing
horizontally, parallel to the floor. Lots of defects resulted. In 1896, Arthur Houghton and Charles Githler worked on a new method of drawing thermometer tubes. From this experimentation Corning Glass Works built, “Little Joe” Tower that facilitated the production of thermometer tubing by using a “vertical draw” process. Hot glass was pulled by cable 196 feet to the top, creating a continuous tube. It was then cooled and cut to length. Today, thermometer tubing is made automatically in a “horizontal draw”. The tower was last used about 1973. The image on the tower is Little Joe, the iconic lightbulb blower. The tower stands as a symbol of Corning, Inc’s “commitment to developing specialty glass products through the steady application of scientific observation to craft.” Sources, Google & The Generations of Corning by Dyer & Gross.

First, Dave Williams asked whether the “thermometer” was still in place in Corning. Next, Debbie Tarsitano sent a picture of the Tower in Corning from last fall. Then we learned that the 187 foot tower was designed in 1913 to draw thermometer tubes. “Little Joe” the symbol of the light bulb blower was stenciled on the tower. The tower created the distinctive skyline of Corning. However, the tower draw method of making thermometer glass has been replaced. So, what has happened to the tower?
Here’s a report from Beth Shaut of Corning. When Corning removed the Main Plant for the
building of the New Head Quarter building, they designed the blueprints to contain the Tube Tower as a Historic Landmark. They clean and repaired and painted it and put in the landscaping and Gaffer Statue to complement it. The head quarter was dedicated and opened in 1992