The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections The University of Toledo Finding Aid Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company Records, 1851-1991 MSS-066 Size: 88 linear ft. Provenance: Received from Libbey-Owens-Ford Company in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1996, and 1998. Access: OPEN Collection Summary: This large collection of corporate records includes materials ranging from formal board of directors' minutes to personal photos of individuals involved with the company's history. Administrative records include corporate record books from LOF and its predecessors: Edward Ford Plate Glass Company (1899-1930), Toledo Glass Company (1895-1931), Libbey- Owens Glass Company (1916-1933), and subsidiaries. Annual reports from LOF Glass Company (1930-1982) and the Pilkington Group (1988-) provide summaries of corporate activities. Corporate file records (1895-1958) deal primarily with contracts, subsidiaries, and notably a government anti-trust investigation of LOF (1930-1948). Publications, speeches, and reports created by LOF employees and others include manuscripts and research notes from two company-sponsored corporate histories, corporate newsletters (1939-1980), and general glass industry materials. The single largest series in the collection focuses on sales and promotion. There are files on 50 distributors and dealers of LOF products across the U.S. (1930s-1970s), press releases (1946-1984), and advertising yearbooks and scrapbooks (1851-1977). "Glass at Work" files serve as a valuable source of information on the actual uses of LOF products, as well as the advertising department's use of "real life" applications for promotional purposes. They include files on glazing in everything from airports to homes (1945-1986). Subjects: Architecture, Business and Commerce and Education and Schools. Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns. Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code. The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion. Completed by: Barbara Shirk, Heidi Yeager, and April Dougal, January, 1992 and Marsha Weatherspoon, December, 1998; Edited by Kisora Thomas, February 2014. Last updated in August 2015. Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company Records, 1851-1991 Historical Timeline 1818 The New England Glass Company of East Cambridge, Massachusetts is founded. New England Glass produces high-quality blown and pressed glass for home use. Its engraved glass becomes a particular specialty. 1843 January 21 Edward Ford born in Greenville, Indiana, son of ―Captain‖ John B Ford (1811-1903) 1854 April 17 Edward Drummond Libbey born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, son of William L. Libbey, later manager of New England Glass. 1859 January 1 Michael J. Owens born in Mason County, Virginia (now West Virginia). 1867 Captain John Ford and his sons, Edward and Emory, establish their first plate glass plant in New Albany, Indiana 1878 The American Flint Glass workers Union founded in Pittsburgh. 1880 The Fords organize a new plate glass company at Creighton, Pennsylvania following failure of New Albany venture; the original company name, New York Plate Glass Co., was later changed to Pittsburgh Plate Glass. 1883 William L. Libbey dies; Edward takes over management of New England Glass. 1887 Falling sales of decorative glass and labor troubles lead Edward Drummond Libbey to visit other cities in search of less expensive natural gas and labor; he comes to Toledo late in the year and reaches agreement to move the factory there. 1888 August. Michael Owens begins work at Libbey Glass Company and becomes a supervisor three months later. 1888 August 17. First glass workers from East Cambridge arrive at Toledo‗s railroad station and are warmly greeted. 1890 New England Glass begins production of electric light bulbs for General Electric. The large contract improves the company‗s gloomy financial picture. 1892 New England Glass changes its name to The Libbey Glass Company. 2 Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company Records, 1851-1991 1893 Libbey gambles on a $250,000 investment in a model glass plant at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Libbey factory attracts nationwide attention and improves sales of Libbey Glass. 1895 December 17. Toledo Glass Company incorporated to exploit early semi- automatic glass-blowing machines of Michael J. Owens. 1897 Fords leave Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. over dispute about distributorships. Edward Ford decides to open a new plate glass factory in Toledo. 1898 Construction started on Ford plate glass plant in Rossford, Ohio. 1899 Irving W. Colburn (1861-1917), a Pennsylvania inventor, begins experiments which result in a sheet glass machine. 1899 Production of plate glass at Edward Ford‗s Rossford plant begins; Edward Ford Plate Glass Company incorporated November 11. 1902 Owens and associates complete work on first fully successful automatic bottle- blowing machine (known as ―Machine Number Four‖); within a few years the machine‗s successor (―Machine A‖) revolutionizes the glass container industry. 1903 Owens Bottle Machine Company incorporated. 1904 American Flint Glass Workers Union headquarters moved to Toledo. 1906 August. Colburn Machine Glass Co. formed. The company installs drawing machines at two factories in 1908 but goes bankrupt in 1911 before the technology prefect 1907 First machine-blown glass tumblers. 1907 Nicholas Building becomes headquarters for Libbey Glass and Owens bottle. 1912 Toledo Glass Company buys Colburn's patents; Colburn hired soon after. 1913 November. Work begins on refining Colburn process at Toledo Glass experimental plant. On Thanksgiving (November 25) the first draw of sheet glass at Toledo Glass Co. takes place. 1916 Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Company organized. 1917 First Libbey-Owens plant opened in Charleston, West Virginia. 3 Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company Records, 1851-1991 1919 First machine-made glass tubing produced by process developed by Edward Danner in Toledo. 1919 Owens Bottle Machine Company changes name to Owens Bottle Company. 1920 Edward Ford dies; son George Ross Ford becomes President and Treasurer of Edward Ford Plate Glass Company. 1923 December 27. Michael Owens dies in Toledo. 1925 Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass begins investigating laminated safety glass processes. 1925 November 13. Edward Drummond Libbey dies in Toledo. 1926 Ford Plate Glass obtained license for Bicheroux process for casting plate glass through water -cooled rollers. 1928 First laminated auto safety glass produced by Libbey-Owens-Ford. 1929 Illinois Glass Co. of Alton, Illinois absorbed by Owens Bottle Co.; the new corporation is known as Owens-Illinois Glass Co. Over the next several years, Owens-Illinois, now the largest glass company in the world, purchases several smaller glass companies. 1930 Edward Ford Plate Glass Company and Libbey-Owens Glass Company merge to form Libbey-Owens -Ford Glass Company. 1930-31 Empire State Building constructed using Libbey-Owens-Ford glass. 1933 New line of tableware designed by A. Douglas Nash introduced by Libbey Glass; discontinued in 1935 because of poor sales. 1934 Owens -Illinois exhibit at Chicago ―Century of Progress‖ fair features a glass block building with a fifty-foot tower. 1935 Owens-Illinois moves into former Ohio Savings Bank and Trust Co. building on Madison Avenue (the large illuminated O-I sign was installed in 1955). 1935 Owens-Illinois Glass Company acquires assets of Libbey Glass, which becomes a subsidiary and later an operating division. 4 Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company Records, 1851-1991 1938 First machine-blown glass stemware produced by Libbey. 1938 Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation formed by Owens-Illinois and Corning Glass works to pursue research and development of fiberglass. Company headquarters established in Toledo, although manufacturing operations are located elsewhere. 1939 Owens-Illinois and Libbey-Owens Ford exhibit at New York World‗s Fair. 1940 Modern America series of tableware, the last line of handmade Libbey Glass, released; discontinued 1943 because of war restrictions. 1943 Libbey Glass becomes an operating division of Owens-Illinois. 1946 Libbey-Owens-Ford Thermopane factory opened to manufacture insulated window glass. 1951 Declaration of Independence and Constitution sealed in Thermopane glass at National Archives. 1959 Owens-Illinois selected as one of the thirty Dow-Jones Industrial Average stocks. 1960 Libbey-Owens-Ford‗s new headquarters building opens in downtown Toledo. ―Glass wall‖ architectural style used. 1966 LOF licenses float-glass process for production of plate glass from Pilkington Ltd. 1968 Libbey Glass celebrates 150th anniversary. 1969 Fiberglas Tower, headquarters building for Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., completed. 1971 Plasti-Shield soft drink bottles with foam covering test-marketed by Owens- Illinois. 1982 Owens-Illinois moves into new world headquarters building at One Seagate. 1983 Owens Bottle Machine chosen as an International Historic Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 5 Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company Records, 1851-1991 1985 Glassmaking operations of Libbey-Owens-Ford acquired by Pilkington Ltd.; LOF‗s other divisions are split off and become TRINOVA Corp. 1987 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company acquires Owens-Illinois; the Libbey division‗s