Topic: nice piece of American history

[RAY]

a carboot piece, the 1st lunar landing on the moon , were these made in 1969 or do they still do them and is the sticker on the front the maker or just a retailer?

click for image larger photo

[Pip]

oooh I like that!  I deal in retro ceramics and glass so virtually anything relating to the Moon landings gets me excited!  I've never seen a piece like this before so can't say anything with authority HOWEVER the condition of the sticker definitely doesn't look new - and the typography is retro in style so I'd hazard a guess that the sticker at the very least has some age to it although whether the plate has any age or is from 1969 or later I couldn't say but it's reasonably sensible to assume that if the sticker is old then the plate is also (exactly how old though I couldn't say without handling the piece).  Blimey - am I sitting on the fence?  Unheard of    They're a right bunch of clever clogs on here I'm sure someone will know.

[glasswizard]

Doing a quick search, Houze art glass was the maker. The company closed in 2004. It was located in Pennsylvania. It appears that a flat piece of glass was fired and slumped over a mold. I would imagine the design was a stencil of some kind or transfer that was applied and then fired.
They made many novelty ashtrays also. Terry

[Anne]

Ray, there was one on eBay a while ago. I spotted it whilst browsing for Chance stuff for David E.

[Max]

I think David Encill has one the same.  He bought it thinking it was possibly Chance I believe.

[Frank]

Founded in the 1902 by Leon Houze who was with Jeanette glass as Federated Glass Co. In 1914 he set up the Houze Window Company to exploit a patent for convex glass. Later became L. J. Houze Convex Glass Company Corporation, Point Marion PA. Initially sheet glass makers but later manufacturers of drawn, presses, moulded and blown glass. Although obviously mostly did slumped glass with screen print decoration. They also produced some metalware, lenses and perfume bottles. They also made 'Jade' glass which was used for ashtrays, lighting etc. c1950 provided replacement blown window glass for the White House. Eventually 1960/70's stopped manufacture of glass and concentrated on decoration.

by c1980 called Houze Glass Corporation, Point Marion PA 15474.


Pressed http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6620640312

Various sources from some current research. I still need dates for when they started silk screen printing and when they stopped manufacturing glass.

Possibly not widely collected yet as they are poorly documented and seem to have been constantly changing their styles and methods. Well worth hanging onto or starting a collection.
(Terry was not aware they no longer existed... are you sure?)

[glasswizard]

Frank in my search this is what I discovered.
http://www.dailyitem.com/archive/2004/1227/biz/stories/05biz.htm
So it would seem that yes in Dec. 2004 they did close. Terry

[Frank]

From which

On Wednesday, 102-year-old Houze Glass Co. closed in Fayette County, the third glass company in the region to close in the past two months. The closure puts 57 workers out of a job.

Odd I had a reference to their centenary celebration in 2006, which was puzzling re date. I wonder if this was the whole company closing or just the original glassworks.

[Anne]

If they were 102 years old at closure in 2004 they cannot have celebrated their centenary in 2006. Unless they were going backwards of course!    Centenary would have been 2002 if the info in the link from Terry is correct.

[Frank]

Yes, that was why I did not mention it in my earlier post and asked Terry to confirm. As there were several companies created by Mr Houze I had thought that there may be still a plant in existence.... the 2006 report was a US newspaper one but needed payment for the full article so I had not read it.

When you do research it is essential to treat any third party report at hearsay. Everything needs to be coroborated against official records. This is a good example in two press accounts offereing contradictory accounts. There is a possibility that the first plant that closed was the one establised in 1902 and the second account about a company established in 1906 by the same person. This is not unusual, even humble Pirelli was involved with several companies, presumably used for administrative reasons. Even official records, particularly regarding companies, can have false data.

This was obviously an important glass business even if not yet documented for collectors - most of their products are in the $2 - $4 region. same design glass as Ray's dish. The Blotters can sell for up to $200, although the eBay example went for a song - Their lighting products are also quite desirable and the more aesthetically pleasing commandf very high prices.

Certainly a worthwile company for a new collector. My interest is in their decoration operation and not their glassmaking.