The company advertised as a manufacturer of pressed glassware, and specialties were candle stands, candelabras, and banquet lamps. The first piece of glass pressed at the plant was a salt dip, pattern number 93. A popular early pattern called Cascade looked like a swirl and was used for candelabras and ink wells. It was also used for tableware such as containers for sugar, cream, and butter. Cascade was the first tableware pattern made, and it continued through the years under different names.
The company had many talented designers. Among them was Charles E. Beam, who was the head of the company's mold shop and eventually added to the board of directors. Beam's specialty was designing dishes with animals as the covers, and one of his creations that is "highly-prized" by today's collectors is a dish with a dolphin covering. Beam received a patent in 1890 for a glass mold that would enable pieces of chandeliers and candelabras to have small holes. Company president Martin was also a talented designer, and he patented the Cascade ink well (called an inkstand) in 1890 and a paper weight with swirl sides in 1891.
The company's first Virginia pattern was introduced around Christmas in 1888. This pattern was quickly stolen (or "pirated") by a rival company. Fostoria Glass copied the copy, and named this purportedly new pattern Captain Kidd. Eventually this same Virginia/Captain Kidd pattern was also called Foster or Foster Block in honor of Charles Foster. An advertisement for the Captain Kidd pattern featured a butter dish, spoon dish, a sugar bowel, and a creamer.
Fostoria's Valencia pattern, number 205, is often called Artichoke because of the shape of the overlapping leaves on the bottom half of the glassware. This pattern was advertised in China, Glass and Lamps magazine in early 1891.
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The Victoria pattern is popular with collectors, and a wide variety of products were made with this pattern. It is the only pattern that was patented by the company. Its appearance has a strong resemblance to a French company's pattern, and Fostoria Glass had some employees from France's glassmaking region. When the company moved to Moundsville, all of the molds for this pattern mysteriously disappeared. The missing molds were never found, and the Victoria pattern was never produced again.
Moundsville operations
In 1899, the company became associated with the National Glass Company, which was a corporate trust. Co-founder Lucien Martin left the firm in 1901 to work in Pittsburgh for National Glass. Another co-founder, William Brady, also moved to the Pittsburgh firm a short time later. Despite the association, Fostoria Glass Company did not become part of the National Glass Company.
William A. B. Dalzell joined the company as general manager in 1901. Dalzell was from Pittsburgh, and his initial experience in the glass industry was with Pittsburgh's Adams and Company. The Dalzell brothers had been involved with the glass business as owners and management in West Virginia and Ohio. When Fostoria Glass became associated with National Glass in 1899, Dalzell was working at the trust as manager of the western department. When he joined Fostoria Glass, he brought Calvin B. Roe, who had been a bookkeeper and plant superintendent at Dalzell's Ohio plant. Dalzell quickly ascended to vice president. Under Dalzell's leadership, the Fostoria Glass Company gained a national reputation. Dalzell served as president and/or chairman from 1902 until his unexpected death in 1928.
In 1903, the company already operated two large furnaces when it added a three-story brick building that housed a new 14-pot furnace. One trade magazine believed that the addition made the company "probably the largest independent flint glass concern in the country...." By 1904, the company had 800 employees. Products made as of 1906 included decorated lamps, globes, shades, blown and pressed tableware, high grade lead blown tumblers, stemware, and novelties. At that time, a trade magazine said that the company "makes so many lines of glassware, all so perfectly, and markets its output so successfully to all classes of buyers, that no name is better known to all classes of trade."
Moundsville Products
Fostoria was considered one of the top producers of elegant glass. However, Fostoria glassware is also found on lists of Depression glass. The company had over 1,000 patterns, including many designed by artist George Sakier. An example of a glass pattern design by Sakier is the Colony pattern 2412. This pattern was produced in crystal from the 1930s until 1983. It was reissued as Maypole in the 1980s using colored glass. Patterns can be a style of glass, an etching on the glass, or a cutting on the glass. Some of the most successful Fostoria patterns were American, Kashmir, June, Trojan, and Versailles. Pattern 1861 was named Lincoln, and 1861 is the year Abraham Lincoln became President of the United States. The pattern was used for pressed tableware. It was pictured on the front page of the Crockery and Glass Journal on January 4, 1912.
From the beginning of the Moundsville operations until about 1915, Fostoria focused on oil lamps and products for restaurants and bars—especially stemware and tumblers. In 1915, Fostoria introduced its American pattern (pattern number 2056). This glass pattern was used for stemware and tableware, and continued to be produced until 1988. Described as "block geometric", its appearance was very different from other patterns when it was introduced. Most glass made with the American pattern was produced using Fostoria's high-quality crystal formula. American became Fostoria's most famous pattern. Management around this time was still led by W. A. B. Dalzell as company president. Vice president was C. B. Roe, and A. C. Scroggins Jr. was the secretary and treasurer. W. S. Brady was still listed as on the board of directors.
Prohibition diminished the market for commercial barware, causing Fostoria to put more emphasis on tableware for the home. Their initial target market was the higher-quality portion of the home market. In 1924, the company became the first glass manufacturer to produce complete dinner sets in crystal ware. In 1925, the company introduced dinnerware in colors. A national advertising campaign was started in 1926 to promote the complete dinnerware sets. Fostoria was also a major contributor to the creation of the bridal registry. Clear and pastel dinner sets became very popular, although expensive. This led to low cost dinner sets being made by injecting molten glass into an automated pressing mold. The product often had minor flaws, so "lacy" patterns were often included in the mold, or etched onto the glass, to hide imperfections.
By 1926, the company had 10,000 different items in its catalog, and employment before the Depression peaked at around 650 people. Among the etching patterns introduced by Fostoria during the 1920s were June, Versailles, and Trojan. The June pattern, which was made from 1928 to 1951, was etched on stemware and tableware. It is one of the rare patterns that can be dated based on color of the glass. The Versailles pattern, made from 1928 to 1943, was another etching pattern. The etchings were mostly on plates and dishes. The glass product with the etching was made in many colors. The etching pattern called Trojan was made from 1929 to 1943. The Trojan etchings were mostly on plates and dishes. Original glass colors were rose and topaz. Gold tint was used in some of the last years of production. By 1928, Fostoria was the largest producer of handmade glass in the nation.
Depression and post-war
During the Great Depression the company made glassware for the higher and lower cost segments of the market. Two popular Fostoria etching patterns were Navarre and Chintz. Navarre was made from 1937 until 1980. Some of the pieces were etched onto the Baroque glass pattern, but others were on more modern glass patterns. The product was originally made in crystal, but later on a few pieces with color. The Baroque glass pattern was made by Fostoria from 1937 to 1965, and used for stemware and many types of tableware. The Chintz pattern was made from 1940 to 1973. This etching pattern is a drawing of branches leaves and flowers, and was usually on the Baroque glass pattern. The Colony pattern discussed earlier was introduced around this time. Another long-lived glass pattern, Century, was introduced in 1949 and made until 1982. It was used for stemware and tableware. Advertising during the 1940s included photos in the Ladies Home Journal.
Production peaked in 1950 when Fostoria's 1,000 employees manufactured over 8 million pieces of glass and crystal. A combination of quality products and national advertising helped the company continue to be the largest manufacturer of handmade glassware in the United States. Every American president from Dwight D. Eisenhower through Ronald Reagan had glassware made by Fostoria. Long-lived patterns introduced during the 1950s included Rose, Wedding Ring, and Jamestown. Rose was a cutting on stemware and tableware, and it was produced from 1951 to 1973. Wedding Ring was a decoration on stemware and tableware that was produced from 1953 to 1975. Jamestown was a glass pattern for stemware and tableware, and was used for numerous products from 1958 to 1982. The glass used was crystal and seven colors of glass: amber, blue, green, pink, amethyst, brown, and ruby. Among Jamestown stemware, ruby is valued higher than other colors by collectors. Among the milk glass patterns, Vintage was used for tableware and a few types of stemware from 1958 to 1965.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the company's marketing campaign expanded to include boutiques and display rooms within jewelry and department stores. Fostoria's top customer in 1971 was Marshall Field's. It was Marshall Field's that had created a bridal registry in 1935, which was important to manufacturers of tableware for the home. Fostoria also published its own consumer direct magazine, "Creating with Crystal", during the 1960s and 1970s. The Woodland glass pattern, not to be confused with the Woodland etching from the 1920s, was introduced in 1975 and made until 1981.
Morgantown
In 1965, Fostoria purchased the Morgantown Glassware Guild, which had also been known as the Morgantown Glass Works. Morgantown was a leader in barware and also made tableware. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy had chosen Morgantown glassware for official White House tableware, and Fostoria sought to capitalize on this. Glassware from Morgantown could be sold as stylish entry-level tableware for the home. This segment was profitable for Fostoria for only two years, as department stores eliminated secondary sources and restaurants began switching to machine-made glass. Fostoria closed the Morgantown factory in 1971.
