Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
April 3, 1988
By Susie Dewey
Vigo County Historical Society
Greentown glass style gained its fans
Even empty, the small, chocolate-glass compote in the museum brings a mouth-watering sensation to the viewer. The stem and base of the extremely smooth piece are hollow. The interior of the bowl is a delicate cream-on-egg-shell color. The exterior is decorated with a simple, pressed-cactus pattern outlined with egg-shell colored dots. In its own right this piece of Greentown glass is distinguished for its simple beauty and unique color.
The historical background of this care-au-lait-colored dish represents a section of Indiana’s industrial past. Such glassware was manufactured for only three years in Greentown, a small town east of Kokomo. Yet during those few years, the glassware was so popular that demand could not be met, even though the factory ran at full blast.
The glassware story began in 1894, when the Indiana Tumbler and Goblet Co. started a factory to manufacture inexpensive pressed glass at Greentown. The site was selected for the availability of water, natural gas, and railroad facilities. Only clear glass was made at first, but simple colors were introduced in 1896. The successful enterprise was sold to the National Glass Co., a combine of 19 glass factories, in 1899.
Soon the original founders left to establish another business in Kokomo. Many employees left with them. Jacob Rosenthal arrived at the Greentown plant in 1900 as chief chemist. He experimented with various colors and produced the first chocolate-glass pieces that year.
The new ware was introduced to the public May 1, 1900, at the Buffalo Exposition. Demand was so great that the booth could not be kept stocked, and soon this unique product was being shipped nationally and internationally.
The chocolate ware, varying from putty color to cafe au lait, perhaps milk chocolate, never was made commercially anyplace except at Greentown. Many patterns were developed for pressing into the flint glass. The cactus pattern was one of the most popular. An employee at the plant, an amateur botanist, wanted to call it paneled agave; but the sales force and manufacturers called it simple cactus.
The successful factory employed more than 300 men and boys. At noontime on June 13, 1903, a nitre of soda exploded. Flames spread to the flammable straw and cardboard throughout the factory. The materials were used in packaging the glass for shipment.
At the end of an hour, only two smokestacks remained. Greentown had lost its main industry, 300 jobs, and $125,000 from the tax base. Because of a national financial panic and a failing supple of natural gas, the factory never was rebuilt. Today, a stone marker is on the site on East Tom Street. The street was names for Thomas Jenkins, a pot room boss at the factory.
Greentown glass items became collectors’ pieces very quickly. Books, magazine articles, and monographs were written about the pieces. Jacob Rosenthal also developed an agate glass that enjoyed a vogue. But no pieces were more eagerly sought or more highly valued than the chocolate pieces.
The Greentown Glass Museum was established in 1969. It is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day on specified days and hours. For its own special beauty and for the history it represents, the chocolate-ware compote in the museum’s Vigo Room merits a visit.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.