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History of Federal Glass

American manufactured glass pieces were sold by the millions beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The plants were located in the American Midwest with the states of Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania boasting hundreds of glass companies. These states had a ready supply of sand---a major component of glass---and an unlimited supply of natural gas to fuel the furnaces. They also had a large network of railroads and water routes to move the glass to market quickly and inexpensively.

Early History
- The Federal Glass Company started operating in Columbus, Ohio in 1900, making pressed glass. This manufacturing technique utilized metal forms and hot liquid glass to create a line of glassware that beat out much of the competition due to the low prices and distinctive lines that featured raised designs resembling popular needlepoint patterns. During the early years, the glass molds for tumblers, breakfastware and lunchware were filled by hand.
Expansion
- Federal expanded its factory and purchased automated glass making equipment in the 1920s. The company also enlarged its sales force and began marketing the glass to homemakers for use as dinnerware and bar beverage sets. The early designs continued to be made using state-of-the-art mold injected machinery and new colored glassware patterns in amber, pink, purple and blue were introduced.
War Years and Beyond
- Shrewd marketing expanded sales into restaurants, hospitals and the military during World War II. Federal remained one of the largest glass manufacturers until the 1960s, when American dinnerware tastes turned to plastics such as Melmac. Federal was incorporated as Federal Paper Board Company in 1958.
Final Years
- Federal Glass Company held its own in the design and sale of tumblers to the home and commercial market, but new food service offerings, including Texasware, made inroads, cutting the company's commercial sales. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the company attempted to spin the glass designs that made Federal a household name in the 1920s. The Madrid line, now called Recollection, was introduced in 1976. The American bicentennial was an opportunity for Federal to create molds celebrating the American revolution and new government. Commemorative lunch dishes featured stars-and-stripes images of George Washington and of Paul Revere's famous ride.
Closing
- Federal's new designs and sales approach was not successful. The doors of the plant were closed in 1979. At the auction liquidating the plant, the Indiana Glass Company purchased the newer glass molds, which they then began to use at their own factory.

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