I recently came across these stems with the Adam etch. I hadn’t seen the etch for a long time, so I thought I’d pick them up.
I had always thought that they were produced by Tiffin. But in the Elegant and Everyday Glass Forum gallery the patent for the stem is posted. It was patented in 1913. It is Patent D44474-1 and it was assigned to Reuben Haley of the United States Glass Company.
Here is a bit of the history as reported by the Tiffin Glass Museum:
“A History of Tiffin Glass
In July 1888, it was announced that the A. J. Beatty & Sons glass factory of Steubenville, Ohio, would be relocating to Tiffin, Ohio. A. J. Beatty had been negotiating with various communities for more than a year to establish a site for the new factory. The city of Tiffin offered five years of natural gas, $35,000 in cash, and land valued at $15,000. Construction of a three-furnace glass factory at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Vine Street began in September 1888, and operations commenced on August 15, 1889. Early production capacity was reported to be 500,000 pressed tumblers per week.
A. J. Beatty & Sons merged with the United States Glass Company on January 1, 1892, and became one of nineteen factories of the large corporation. The Tiffin factory was designated Factory R. On May 23, 1893, less than two years later, Factory R was destroyed by fire. The factory was rebuilt in Tiffin in return for two additional years of free natural gas.
During the early years of the 1900s, there was a gradual shift from pressed to blown tableware, in response to customers’ demands. A paper label identified the glass items with the letters USG intertwined within a gold-colored shield. Commercial ware continued to be marketed under the United States Glass Company name until September 1927.”
These little stems (likely cordials) are very attractive.
Original post – March 5, 2012
I bought this water goblet (think I had two) a long time ago. I’ve since sold them on ebay, but I’d intelligently kept the photo. Very pretty with a neat shape, a wide optic and an intricate etch. Replacements. com indicates that the etch was produced from 1913-1934. I’ve not see this etch in the flesh since although I m currently watching some stems on ebay. When I bought these glasses I was early on into my obsession. I bought any stem etched basically that I came across. Fast forward a few years and I find that now I tend to collect stems that are a little less plain and bowls with more intricate etches/engravings. I also like to buy at least four of a stem in case I want to sell them, or gift them. Who knows what a few more years will bring? Hopefully more storage space!
The book Encyclopedia of Victorian Colored Pattern Glass, Book 4: Custard Glass from A to Z by William Heacock, is a marvelous reference tool. It has a nice little description about this pattern (page 51):
