Libbey Glass Company
In January 1878, William L. Libbey assumed the lease of the New England Glass Company (1818-1877) in Cambridge, Massachusetts and operated the factory as “New England Glass Works, Wm. L. Libbey, Prop.” In 1880, his son Edward Drummond Libbey joined the firm and worked as full partner until his father’s death in 1883. In 1887, Edward Libbey decided to move the company west to Toledo, Ohio. The move enabled the company to take advantage of cheaper fuel prices, better rail transportation and nearby deposits of sandstone with high silica content.
During the Brilliant Period, Libbey Glass Company became the largest cut glass factory in the world. In 1893, it operated the Glass Pavilion at the Chicago World’s Fair with 130 craftsmen blowing and cutting glass. It proved to be a huge financial success and one of the Exposition’s most popular attractions. The exposure at the Exposition and advertisements that followed made Libbey Rich Glass a household staple.
In 1901, Edward Libbey was instrumental in founding the Toledo Museum of Art, known today for its encyclopedic glass collection. Currently the company makes only mechanically produced tableware and has made no hand-crafted glassware since 1940.
