| In July 1888,
it was announced that the The A. J. Beatty & Sons glass factory of
Steubenville, Ohio had been seeking a site for a new factory when in the
summer of 1888 they announced that they would be moving to Tiffin, Ohio.
In much the same way that municipalities compete for business relocations
today with tax breaks and other incentives, the city of Tiffin offered
both the land and cash and utility concessions to win the coveted contract
for the new Beatty & Sons factory. Construction began on the new factory
at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Vine Street in September, 1888, and
work was completed on the new facility one year later in Auguest, 1889.
During this time, the company mostly produced pressed glassware for largely
mass consumption. In 1892, the U. S. Glass Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
and A. J. Beatty & Sons merged, and Beatty's new Tiffin factory became
part of a much larger organization of 20 other glassworks operating in
various parts of the country. In fact, the Tiffin works were known within
the new company simply as "Factory R" during these early years following
the merger.
At the turn of the century, the public
started to demand greater styling and quality than was the norm at the
time in drab, colorless glassware and tableware, and the Tiffin operations
were quite to spot the trend and began producing a broader line of more
colorful yet affordable glassware which appealed to the new tastes. During
this time, commercial production was still marketed and marked with a paper
U. S. Glass Company label with the letters USG joined within a gold shield,
but consumer goods as well as commercial producation after 1927 were marked
with a gold paper label with the Tiffin name itself within the shield.
Tiffin struggled during the years of the Depression, but they emerged from
this period with a larger market potential in the aftermath of many failures
during the years of the depression. In 1938, Tiffin became the dominant
force within the U. S. Glass Company when the headquarters was transferred
from Pittsburgh to Tiffin, and C. W. Carlson assumed the Presidency of
the company. While the corporate name stayed U. S. Glass Company until
1962, all production by 1938 carried only the Tiffin label. Following World
War II, crystal stemware regained popularity in the U.S., and Tiffin was
again in a good position to capitalize on the changing tastes. However,
they also diversified into new areas and more modern designs, and in 1940
Carlson introduced the first of these which was known as the Swedish Modern
line which had irregular shapes and a free-form design still very new to
the public. In 1946, Swedish Modern was renamed Tiffin Modern to take advantage
of the patriotism still permeating the country and to eliminate any confusion
about its country of origin. In the mid 1950s, Tiffin purchased glass molds
and equipment asssets from the Duncan & Miller Glass Company, and they
expanded further by producing several popular Duncan & Miller styles.
Nevertheless, the late
1950s were difficult years for the firm as they struggled with
rapidly changing styles and cheap foreign imports, and the company
was sold several times in an attempt at restructuring and survival.
In 1963, four former employeeds banded together to buy the company
out of bankruptcy from which it was trying to emerge as part
of the Brilhart Plastics Corporation, and they renamed it the
Tiffin Art Glass Company. Tiffin always had trouble achieving
sales levels to operate profitably as an indepdent company,
the the Continental Can Company purchased Tiffin in 1966 and
renamed it once again Tiffin Glass Company, Inc. Tiffin was
sold several more times before they finally ceased all production
in 1980, but they continued through all the financial transactions
to produce desirable stemware to match popular dinnerware and
china patterns of the parent companies which included patterns
Flambeau, Revelation, Jubilation, Canterbury, and Cabaret. They
also produced private label glass and stemware for leading department
stores including Tiffany & Co.,Macys, Nancy Prentiss, Sears
Roebuck, and Montgomery Ward. Shortly before ceasing operations,
Tiffin had been sold to Towle Silversmiths, but this too proved
too little to keep the company in business. Today, many Tiffin
patterns and techniques such as their parrot lamps and black
satin glass are highly sought by glass collectors the world
over.
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