Topic: I have a question about the S Repeat Pattern

[adrian44]

Hello,

I have some S Reapeat glass items, some say made by Dugan, some say Northwood is the maker. I thee anyway to tell which one made them? TIA

[Lustrousstone]

Your best bet for a question like that is to ask here on the Victorian and EAPG section, as there aren't too many American specialists on this board

[Glen]

The original name for S Repeat was "National": I believe it was first made in c. 1903 and the maker was Dugan. It's true that there have been misunderstandings in the past owing to the different ownerships of the Indiana, PA glassworks (where both Northwood and Dugan "reigned" at different times). The "Dugan/Diamond" book by Heacock, Measell and Wiggins brought much excellent research forward about this factory.

S Repeat is illustrated in the Dugan 1907 catalog (reprint by Jennings).

We are fortunate to have James Measell as a contributor to the GMB (and I can't think of anyone more qualified to answer this question). I'm sure he will give us more information if / when he next reads the board.

Glen

[jsmeasell]

The earliest advert for this pattern (originally called "National") is dated 5 March 1903. The manufacturer was then officially the "Northwood Works", Factory 13, of the National Glass Company, a conglomerate of 19 firms headquartered in Pittsburgh. Although the Northwood Works plant in Indiana, Pennsylvania, carried the Northwood name, Harry Northwood had left there in late 1899, spent a few years as the National Co. sales manager in London, and then returned to the USA where he had his newly-formed H. Northwood Co. up and running in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1902.

The plant in Indiana, PA, became the Dugan Glass Co. in early 1904. Harry Bastow took charge after Harry Northwood left, but Bastow himself was gone by August 1900, and the Dugan men (Thomas and Samuel) were in charge of it from that time through about 1913.

Some might like to link the National (S-Repeat) pattern to Harry Northwood, but I think the facts speak for themselves: both design and colors must be credited to Dugan.