‘Glass - Shattering Notions’

At the Heinz History Centre in Pittsburgh last week I visited an exhibition about the glass industry in Pittsburgh.

The exhibition showcased many different types of glass made in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania from the late eighteenth century.

One of the exhibits showed how glass made in Pittsburgh was incorporated into the windows in the crown of the Lady Liberty statue in New York City.

A more modern application of the skills of the glassmakers is in this transparent but very thick ballistic glass to protect those in military vehicles.

Although the glass industry began in Pittsburgh before the steel industry (for which the city is much better known), the heyday of the industry in production terms was in the 1920’s when glass was being mass produced in factories along the rivers for commercial, domestic and decorative use.

These exhibits showed how glass was displayed for trade shows in the 1920’s and 1930’s when it was hoped to attract large orders from hotels and restaurant chains.

Individual glass patterns were reproduced in many colours and many different shapes.

As well as pressed glass the exhibit had lovely samples of art glass of different types but some were behind steel mesh for protection, which made them more difficult to photograph.