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| Tour begins outside the glass factory |
If you love glass, you should go to Kokomo, Indiana and
visit the Kokomo Opalescent Glass Factory.
This factory has been in continuous operation since 1888
at its present location at 1310 South Market Street. They give daily tours but be sure to check
their schedule to start planning your tour. You will be pleasantly surprised.
On October 6, 1886 natural gas was discovered in a corn
field in Kokomo, Indiana and the Indiana Gas Company was formed to supply
natural gas to the surrounding area.
Charles Edward Henry was a glass chemist and in 1883, he formed Henry Art Glass in New Rochelle, New
York. The factory made glass buttons,
opalescent glass rods, and some novelties items. Charles heard about the natural gas discovery
and he traveled to Kokomo, met with local officials, and formed the Opalescent
Glass Works.
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| Glass Buttons |
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| Glass Button |
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| Glass Button |
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Within a month, he moved to Kokomo, brought a house and
started building the factory. On
November 13, 1888, the seven pot furnace started producing molten glass.
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| Glass Furnace |
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| Furnace and glass mixture |
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| Hauling extra glass |
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| Dumping extra glass |
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The main production was sheet glass that was made by
mixing up to seven different colors of glass and then squeezing the molten
glass into thin sheets with a wringer type device. By November 1888, Louis Tiffany received the
first shipment of sheet glass from the Kokomo Opalescent Glass Works.
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| Pouring molten glass |
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| Mixing different colors of glass |
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| Pressing mixed colored sheet glass |
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Production was in full swing by January, 1889 with 50
people working around the clock. The
Kokomo Opalescent Glass Works exhibited their glass at the Paris Exposition
World Fair and won a Gold Medal. They received thousands of dollars of orders for sheet glass. The factory was a success but Charles Henry's
problems became significant. He had many
unpaid bills and a lien was filed against the factory. Mr. Henry sold the factory to his son-in-law, developed a
drinking problem, was jailed, and spent the remaining 2 years of his life in the Indianapolis Insane Asylum. He died there at the age of 46.
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| Warehouse of colored sheet glass |
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| Warehouse of colored sheet glass |
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| Tiffany stained glass window at Corning Glass Museum |
The Opalescent Glass Works company was sold to three local
businessmen whose descendants are still
involved with the business today. Louis
Tiffany purchased over 10,000 pounds of glass from the factory for use in the manufacture
of beautiful stained glass windows along with others, such as, John LaFarge and J Lamb.
Today the company still operates using the tried and true
methods it used when the factory was first built. They have many of the old glass recipes and
the original texture presses that were used when Tiffany was purchasing glass
from them. Many antique shops and museums commission specific glass colors to restore lamps and stained glassed windows.
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| Powder colored additives |
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| Powder color additives |
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| Single color recycled glass |
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The Kokomo Opalescent Works also sell stained glass
sheets, hand mixed art glass sheets,
cast glass, sheet glass, rondels,
custom glass and blown glass items.
Their gift shop offers a wide assortment of all of these items. Visit soon.
You will have a wonderful experience.
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| Glass medallion in gift shop |
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| Sale pieces in finishing room |
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| Sale pieces in finishing room |
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