FACTS OF INTEREST ABOUT GLASS

•  The dictionary defines a bottle as any vessel made for the handling of liquids, usually made of glass, but not always.

•  First glass known to exist is nature's own glass, called Obsidian.

•  First manmade glass fabled as being made in 5000 B.C. by Phoenician sailors.

•  Glass didn't come into general use until about 1500 B.C. and even then it was mostly used for beads and overlaying purposes.

•  Some hollow vessels were produced in the 1500 B.C. era by the core dip technique.

•  By 332 B.C. the Romans were making free blown bottles, using molds and were also reported to use raised embossed lettering on some vessels.

•  The Romans discovered manganese was good for decolorizing glass in the second century A.D.

•  Venice had so many furnaces burning by the thirteenth century that fire hazards mounted with each passing day and because of this the furnaces were moved to the Island of Murano where the population shot up to over 30,000 people.

•  The first U.S. glass house was established in the colonies in 1608-09, but it failed.

•  The first successful attempt occurred in Salem, Mass. And lasted from 1638 to 1661.

•  In 1645 another glass house was established in New Amsterdam, but what it produced seems to be a mystery. The actual spot where this glass house stood is now the site of the New York Stock Exchange.

•  The New England Glass Company prospered between 1817-1888.

•  The Sandwich Glass Co. produced their wares between 1825 and 1888.

•  First wooden mold bottles produced in the United States were about 1815.

•  Glass begins to melt at 750 degrees Fahrenheit.

•  Sixty to eighty per cent of regular household glass is sand.

•  There are four basic ways of handling glass:   blowing, pressing, drawing and casting.

•  A blowpipe is usually four to five feet long with a knob on one end and a mouthpiece on the other end.   It is used for free blown bottles.

•  Raw materials used in the making of glass require 2200 degrees Fahrenheit to 2900 degrees Fahrenheit.

•  Glass can now be produced to a tolerance of 1/10,000 of an inch.

•  Automobile safely glass was introduced in 1928.

•  Glass building blocks and fiber glass came into existence in 1931.

•  Silica Glass made of 100% sand has been produced but it is too expensive for normal production.   This choice glass can withstand temperatures up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and extreme shocks.

•  96% silica glass was introduced in 1939 with many of the wonderful characteristics of pure silica glass, but it was much cheaper to produce.

•  Foam glass, produced in 1940 was so light it actually floated.   It was very rigid, odorless, and fireproof and could be cut like wood.

•  Iron molds were introduced about the time of the Civil War.

•  Michael J. Owens conceived his bottle machine idea in 1899, but didn't perfect his idea until 1903.

•  Corning Glass Co. set up business in 1869 in Corning, New York.

•  Edison light bulbs were first produced by the Corning Glass Co. in 1889.

•  Libby Glass Co. set up shop in Toledo, Ohio in 1888.

•  Food and Drug Administration organized in 1906 to insure that food, drugs and cosmetics were safe, pure and properly labeled.   This was the beginning of the end for the patent medicines and the era of quacks.   This eliminated most of the cure-alls, bitters and the like.

•  Prohibition was in effect in the United States between January, 1920 and December, 1933.   Thus, any bottle labeled, "Federal law forbids resale or use of the bottle" is newer than 1933.

•  The Corning Glass Co. has perfected a machine which can produce more than two million light bulbs in 24 hours.   It is called the Corning Ribbon Machine.

•  Food cooks faster in glass cooking wares than in those made of metal because glass absorbs heat while metal reflects heat.

•  It is believed that man has utilized nature's natural glass, obsidian, for tools and weapons since before 75,000 B.C.

•  One property of glass which is invaluable to industry is its resistance to corrosion.   Glass will generally outlast almost any other product known to man.

•  First glass furnaces were small clay pots which were heated over wood fires.   As years progressed, larger pots were built and the wood fuel was replaced by coal, gas, oil and finally electricity.

•  Tempered glass can be achieved by heating it to the softening point and then cooling it very quickly.   This sudden changing of temperature can strengthen glass two to four times its original strength.