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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
Morgantown Glass Works began production in 1900 adjacent to the already successful Seneca Glass in Morgantown. By 1903, the company had grown to employ more than 400 and had developed significant glass exporting. The same year financial restructuring changed the corporate name to Economy Tumbler. After several other name changes, the company emerged in 1939 as Morgantown Glassware Guild.
Production included colorful stem ware, artistic vases in an Italian freehand style, practical pitchers and tumblers, and stylish etched tableware. Elaborate hand-colored encrustations and brilliant glass colors were hallmarks of this successful firm. The company drew national attention when Jacqueline Kennedy selected a colorless, simple, and elegant line of stemware made by Morgantown Glassware for use in the White House in 1961 after the Kennedy election. This line was then marketed as President’s House stemware.
Morgantown Glassware Guild was purchased by Fostoria Glass in 1965, but the change in ownership did not result in a name change. The company closed in 1971.
Written by Dean Six
Gallagher, Jerry. A Handbook of Old Morgantown Glass. J. Gallagher, 1995.
Old Morgantown Topics. Spring 1991.
Snyder, Jeffrey B. Morgantown Glass: From Depression Glass through the 1960s. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub., 1998.