Consolidated Lamp and Glass Company
In 1893, The Consolidated Lamp and Glass Company was formed as the result of a merger of two firms; Fostoria Shade & Lamp Company of Ohio and Wallace and McAfee Company of Pittsburgh, PA with facilities originally in Ohio until a 1895 fire moved them to a new site in Coraopolis, PA. The initial investors were F. G. Wallace, Hugh McAfee, Charles H. Dean, J. B. Graham (secretary), Joseph G. Walter (treasurer), and Nicholas Kopp (manager and "metal maker"). Their headquarters was located in Pittsburg, OH
The main products were art glass shades, lamps and globes. Later Consolidated Lamp and Glass Co. produced pattern glass tableware. In 1894, Nicholas Kopp introduced iridescent glass “royal copper” into the production line, which was shown at the Chicago World’s Fair. With over 400 workers, by 1910, Consolidated was the largest lighting glass firm in entire USA.
In the 1919 'The Pottery & Glass Salesman', Volume 19, page 10, there is an ad which reads: J. A. Jacobsen representing Consolidated Lamp & Glass Co. Lighting Glassware "See Our Special Line of Cora Glass". During this period, Cora Glass was a snow white cased glass used for lighting globes or shades.
By the 1920s, lighting had ceased to be a growth industry and the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Artes inspired Consolidated Lamp to enter the giftware field. The exposition was dominated with styles from the Art Moderne movement exhibiting the works of people such as Rene Lalique, thus inspiring the beginnings of the Art Deco period in glass.
Consolidated's most popular designs were introduced between 1926 and 1929 and were very diverse.
In 1926 Consolidated's Reuben Haley designed an Art Glass Line called Martele (Martele meaning hand forged), imitating the Lalique style. It is said that the Lalique Lovebird design was copied exactly; but all other Consolidated designs were original. Initially, Martele was advertised as Lalique reproductions. Consolidated made Martele glass in blue, crystal, green, pink, white, or custard glass with added fired-on color or a satin finish.
The Spanish Colonial Revival period of the 1920's inspired the Catalonian Line in 1927, with its free form designs in bubble or blister glass. It was advertised as the glass of old Spain. Some colors are; amethyst, blue, honey, jade, and ruby red.
In 1928, Ruba Rombic was released with it's geometric designs and was called an epic in modern art.
NOTE: From 1932 to 1936, The Great Depression caused Consolidated to close down it's production of Art Glass pieces and plants in 1933. Their most popular molds were lent to the Phoenix Glass Co., where production continued under the name Phoenix Reuben-Line. The molds were returned to Consolidated in 1936; but in the meantime, Phoenix developed its own line of gift ware called sculptured art glass. Like Consolidated’s Martele, the sculptured line emphasized natural motifs; birds, insects, and flowers. Both companies maintained production throughout the 1960s.
Consolidated Glass changed focus in the 1940's. They released a new milk glass line called 'Con Cora' formulated after their 1919 Cora globe lamps and the word 'Cora' extrapolated from the town of their plant in Coraopolis, PA. Consolidated Glass continued its art glass lines through the 1950's but in limited production.
By the 1960's, the Con Cora line included decorative cocktail glassware sets. Clear glass blanks were screen printed or 24k gold encrusted in a variety of whimiscal patterns and colors with copyright mark ‘Cora.’
In 1964, Consolidated’s plant closed after a major fire due to labor disputes and was not rebuilt.
In 1970, Phoenix Glass was acquired by Anchor Hocking where production of the Consolidated inspired 'sculptured line' continued until 1978, when a fire destroyed the plant. A commemorative vase in a limited edition of 2,000 was made upon reconstruction of the plant.
