Sunday afternoon, December 26, 2010

We know that the Steuben Glass Works was created in 1903 when Frederick Carder came to America and teamed up with T.G. Hawkes & Co. We know that in 1918 during World War I the war machine took non-essential raw materials and shut down Steuben Glass Works. What followed was Steuben Glass Works being acquired by Corning Glass Works, now Corning Incorporated. Then Steuben, as a division of Corning Glass Works, engaged for a while in war production. But, what’s next? In all my reading I haven’t discovered much about this period. It seems like it was about 1922 before we see Steuben back in art glass creations. Why the apparent gap? We know that for the next 10 years (1922-1932) Mr. Carder was engaged in a golden period of art glass production until the depression undermined the entire art glass industry and around 1932 Mr. Carder was removed as the executive director at Steuben division and named to the ceremonial role of art director at Corning Incorporated.

Well, back to the 1918-1922 period it seems that the first instance of Corning Glass Works removing Mr. Carder to art director at Corning Glass Works occurred. Did you know that? I didn’t. However, for those who belong to the National American Glass Club they learned some surprising things when they read a great researched article written by Ed Bush of Painted Post, New York in their Autumn 2010 Glass Bulletin. Ed has gone back to records at Corning Incorporated and researched letters and other materials from this period. Ed as many know is an expert on Carder’s goblets. Among surprising things Ed tells us is how the Corning management was trying to cut costs by eliminating 3671 designs and standardize their line to just 167 shapes. Only 8 goblets out of about 100 Mr. Carder had designed. Thank goodness for us collections that eventually about 1923 Mr. Carder’s role was reinstated. At any rate, if you have access to the article it is a great read. It demonstrates that much is to be learned and there still is a treasure trove of information available for research and learning.

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