In some of the posts I’ve done including one on Depression Glass and another on Glasbake , Jeannette Glass Company has made an appearance. It’s an interesting history that is intertwined with some other glass houses. I have this lovely set for sale in the Vintage Eve’s store. I love the pattern and the glass is solid and heavy in your hand.
As I mentioned in my Glasbake post, Jeannette Glass isn’t named after someone but rather somewhere, Jeannette, Pennsylvania. According to the “Hidden History of the Laurel Highlands” by Cassandra Vivian, Jeannette Glass Company started as the McKee-Jeannette Glass Company in 1904.
McKee was a glass maker in 1899 when he sold his business to the National Glass Company tableware trust. In 1906 it was listed as the “largest tableware glass factory in the world” (Vivian, 2014). They sent their tablewares all over the United States and Europe by that time.
During the early 1900s the company went through a few name changes but continued to make glassware. They made pressed glass, jadite, white milk glass, black glass and they were the creators of Glasbake. They even made headlight lenses! Don’t forget though, this was the McKee-Jeannette Glass Company. Eventually in the 1960s, this company was absorbed into the Jeannette Glass Company.
Jeannette Glass Company started in 1890. It was right next to the McKee Glass Company. They made pressed glassware. Jeannette Bottle Works was also around at that time making bottles. They were absorbed into the Jeannette Glass Company in 1898 and started making glass jars for condiments of all kinds.
So as you can see, all of these companies sort of morphed into one big Jeannette Glass Company which actually closed for good in 1983. There is a company called Jeannette Specialty Glass Company that is still in business but that is not the Jeannette Glass Company that we think of when we think of Depression Glass and glass through the mid-century.
As I said, an interesting history. I am always amazed at how blurred the lines between companies can become over the years. All this information came from the book I referenced by Cassandra Vivian, which can be found at Amazon.
Well, that is everything I found out about Jeannette Glass Company. I hope you have learned something as I did. Please join me at the link parties listed to the right. I’ll be linking up all week with some other fabulous blogs! Drop me a note if you have a moment in your day and have a great week!
In perspective, we have to realize that glass companies like all other American companies had to compete as the years went by with imports. Jumping on the band wagon of current trends, no matter how short-lived, certainly blurred their original identities. Picking up a piece of anything from the 50-60’s could be from a dozen different companies, with slight variations or even just size. Trying to accurately date and identify glass is a skill, and one that can be quite elusive, lol. Thanks for the info.
Grins, Sandi
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That is the truth, Sandi. I have a set of dishes in my shop that took me forever to identify as it could have been from any one of the companies making china in the 50s. It was by accident, looking for another pattern, that I identified that one! I find glass even harder to i.d.
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I think I mentioned before that my husband is from Jeannette, PA and we pass the old Jeannette Glass Factory frequently. It’s quite dilapidated and sad looking 😦 Great history Rheta and thanks for linking up with us at Vintage Charm!
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