The Fenton Art Glass
company was founded in 1905 by Frank L. Fenton and his brother John
W. Fenton in an old glass factory in Martins Ferry, Ohio.
The
Fenton art glass company is the largest manufacturer of handmade
colored glass in the United States and it celebrated its centenary
in 2005.
The
company began by painting decorations on glass blanks made by other
glass manufacturers. but soon had to manufacture their own glass
as they were unable to get the glass they needed.
On
January 2nd 1907, the first glass was produce by the Fenton factory
in Williamstown, West Virginia and Frank L. Fenton's desire to develop
new and unusual colors helped to keep Fenton at the forefront of
the handmade art glass industry for decades to come.
From 1905 to the 1920's,
Fenton art glass design was heavily influenced by the artists at
Tiffany and Steuben.
In late 1907,
Fenton introduced Iridescent glass and this glass, now known as
carnival glass, is a very popular collectible glass today.
During the 1930's,
Fenton produced practical items, such as mixing bowls and tableware
to get through the depression and WWII shortages. They also continued
working on developing a wide array of new colors.
In 1933 Fenton began its line of mixing bowls and reamers for the
Doromeyer Company to sell with its electric egg beaters. The Doromeyer
account kept Fenton from folding during the depression.
A cologne bottle, a copy of the old Hobnail pattern they tried
in the late 1930s, pulled the Fenton Art Glass Company from the
depths of the depression and into economic renewal.
In 1936 LG Wright, a jobber based
in New Martinsville, West Virginia, (who used Fenton to make glass
from molds he bought from folding companies), brought in a mold
of an old Hobb's Company Barber Bottle, hoping that Fenton could
make a reproduction of it for his wholesale business. Fate intervened
and a buyer for Wrisley Cologne saw the finished bottle and asked
if it could be mass produced.
The original bottle was too expensive to produce but small changes
to cut costs produced the No.289 bottle. The bottles were shipped
to Wrisley, who test marketed them in 1938. The results surprised
both Fenton and Wristley.
The No.289 bottle sold better than
they could ever have imagined and Fenton struggled to keep up with
demand. Having secured the Wristley and Doromeyer accounts Fenton
prospered once again.
In 1939 after seeing the success
of the hobnail cologne bottle, Fenton began a complete line . The
hobnail line has become a company top seller ever since, by far
outlasting the Wrisley defection to a machine made Milk Glass bottle
in the early 1940s.
In the late 1940's,
the top three members of the Fenton management team died, leaving
Frank M. Fenton, age 33, and Wilmer C. (Bill) Fenton, age 25, to
step in and take over as President and Vice President.
In
spite of other glass factories closing at a rapid rate, Frank and
Bill led the Fenton factory through significant American growth
for the next 30 years.
In 1986,
the leadership of the company passed to a third generation, with
George W. Fenton, taking over as President.
Today
nine Fenton family members work together along with over 400 employees
to create handmade art glass that is loved by collectors around
the world and Fenton glass is still renowned for its beautiful colors
and patterns and every glass object is an individual piece of light
and colour created by master glassworkers and skilled decorators.
Looking for Fenton Art Glass to Collect then check out our Fenton
Glass for sale. |
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