‘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.

57 Varieties

When I visited the Senator Henry J Heinz History Centre in Pittsburgh last week, I was curious to know more about the Heinz family and their connections to the city.

The business goes back a long way to the end of the nineteenth century and began with the entrepreneurship of a young boy living inPittsburgh, Henry Heinz, who at 12 years old grew horseradish to make sauce which he sold.

Under his leadership as a young man the business went from strength to strength..

From just one product, the Heinz enterprise grew and grew to many hundreds of varieties.  The number 57 as shown on tins and bottles of product was in fact an arbitrary number, chosen just to demonstrate that many items were available and as an instantly recognizable trademark to be used on products, billboards and even on transport..

The other part of the famous logo is the Heinz name on the background shape of a pickled gherkin.

Gherkins were a major part of the growing Heinz offering in the USA and this leather pocket case was carried by salesmen so that they could demonstrate to potential retail customers the size and number of gherkins (dill pickles in the US) could be expected in each jar.

One part of the exhibit focused on products which were specific to certain countries - here the United Kingdom.  I was surprised to learn that the original Baked Bean product for the U.K. market included pork sausages, I had thought that these were a later addition.

Another promotional item on display was this world map, surrounded by seeds and beans to demonstrate where different products were grown and produced.

Complementary items

When we unpacked some supermarket shopping this morning, these two items ended up on the unit stacked together.

A complementary pair - can’t have one without the other any more!!

Clear Skies

An impromptu ‘flying’ visit back to the UK and I arrived over London just as the sun was coming up.

After such a crisp, clear night a mist had formed over some low-lying areas and the river.

As we circled a couple of times before landing, a clear view of the city below..

On arrival a chance to share with Theo the Brio track and accessories that I had bought at the Bargain Loft and brought back for him..

Mason Neck State Park

We enjoyed an Autumn walk yesterday on the trails of Mason Neck State Park and Belmont Bay on the Occoquan River.

I converted a few photos to black and white.  How different they look..

‘The Frick’

‘The Frick, Pittsburgh’ is the name given to a ‘gilded age’ mansion house, grounds and art museum, given to the city of Pittsburgh by the Frick family to be preserved for the city.

 

The house itself, named ‘Clayton’ was the home of the industrialist, philanthropist and art collector Henry Clay Frick when he was first married and remained a family home even after he became very successful and moved to much bigger homes in New York and in Massachusetts.

His daughter returned to live at Clayton in her last years and donated the house, art collection, conservatory and staff houses, motor cars and carriages, together with an endowment to run the site as an art museum.  The collection is small compared to the Frick Collection in New York but still important.

The house is undergoing significant restoration to the covered porch entrance and ground floor.  I toured the inside but unfortunately no photographs could be taken of the opulent but original interior.  Here are a couple of photos from the web..

The house retains many original features including very fine wood carving and paneling; friezes picked out in precious metals - including the newly discovered aluminum which was and is very important in the history of Pittsburgh.

There are a number of important paintings in the house including a Monet and several portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds.  Others are in the art museum in the grounds.

There was little colour in the garden apart from these hydrangeas.  Inside the glasshouse a few spots of colour..

This last plant had tiny flowers but was named the ‘Goldfish’ plant - not hard to see why!!

Finally I spent a short while in the carriage and motor museum, admiring some of the many vehicles..

Last but not least as I left to go back to the hotel I saw these two squirrels playing in the leaves.  One grey, one black..