"American Glass"

Hsinchu Municipal Glass Museum website on "American Glass":

"United States of America is the country established on the land of Native Indians by European colonists. Glassware such as window glass, lamps, cups and bottles were commodities to colonists. It was said that in 1621, four Italian glass craftsmen from London England began producing glassware in this new colony. However, the major products were not glass lamps or bottles, but beads for the Indians. Later colonists from different countries then made different types of glassware. As time went on and the population became a mix of varied ethnic groups, this new country formed a continental lifestyle. As a result, the types of glassware and the techniques used to make them melded together and eventually became known as American glass. In the late eighteenth century this glass was characterized by its simple and straight- forward diamond engraving. It was also common to find glass which had continuous daisy patterns produced by using mold-blowing techniques. The symbol of capitalism began in 1739 by Germany Caspar Westar. He established the first glass factory to produce flat glass, glass containers and table-ware in the south of New Jersey. A pressed glass factory, established in 1825, used steel molds to mass produce glassware by using machine pressing techniques."

Unknown. "American Glass." Hsinchu Glass Museum website. accessed August 1, 2009. http://glassmuseum.cca.gov.tw/web-EN/unit02/modepage/2-13.html