HISTORY OF GLASS

Glass making began before recorded history. As early as 10,000 B.C., Neolithic man may have begun to craft small glass objects. Natural glass-like formations could have inspired his early efforts. natural formations come from accidental fusions of sand, soda and lime, the main ingredients of glass. When these common materials are subjected to high temperatures, such as volcanic explosions or lightning, they fuse into glass.

Early Roman naturalist Pliny (23-79 A.D.) attributed the origin of glass manufacture to an accidental discovery. In about 5000 B.C., a group of Phoenician sailors moored their ship, with its cargo of soda, on a sandy beach. in preparing their meal, the sailors were unable to find any stones to support their cauldron. They substituted lumps of soda ash. The heat created by the cooking fire fused the sand and soda, producing transparent streams of liquid glass.

Regardless of the exact beginnings, in civilized Egypt of 1500 B.C., glass making had grown to be a thriving, stable industry. Although the Egyptians created small handmade objects of glass, it took Roman ingenuity to develop a method of "rolling out" glass into thin slabs. Records show they poured molten glass on flat stones, dusting it with sand and stretching it with pincers. This barely transparent product was first used in floor as wall mosaics, but it was not long before thin sheets of glass were used to cover small areas in buildings. Recent excavations in Pompeii (79 A.D.) have uncovered bits of glass together with lead window frames. The rough, irregular semi-opaque glass hardly admitted light, but at least it was possible to partially illuminate building interiors with natural light. The idea of a window had been born.

From the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D., well into the Middle Ages, windows were practically forgotten. The word window is derived from the old Norse word "vindauga", meaning "wind eye". Without glass, these openings revert back to their earlier purpose being that of a "wind hole" controlled only shutters. Feudal castles of this time had nothing resembling glass windows, only "wind holes".

By the sixth and seventh centuries, however, windows began to appear in churches from Turkey to Paris. During this period, it was common practice to construct new buildings from the parts of old ones. The glass used for windows was borrowed from the ruins of earlier Roman buildings. Because larger panes of glass had broken, the windows in these sixth and seventh century churches were made of a multitude of tiny pieces of glass.

The science of glass making, which had barely survived in monasteries, began it's first revival in Venice around 1000 A.D. Beginning in about the 12th century, spectacular stained glass windows were incorporated into Gothic Churches throughout Europe.

As glass making became an industry, guilds were established. Glass making had been a closely guarded secret. Because of the expanding industry, it became increasingly difficult to contain trade secrets. The death penalty was imposed upon any guild member who divulged any of the glass making techniques. Despite the guild's desire for secrecy, the glass industry was growing. In the early 17th century, the glass industry took root in the United States.

By 1620 there were two glass manufacturing houses in the first permanent settlement of Jamestown, Virginia. Unfortunately, both glass housed failed after only a few years of operation, leaving America dependent on England for glass. Most of the early glass was extremely thin (1/16" thick) and had a very irregular surface. It was called "Newcastle" glass. Newcastle glass had a distinctive amber or violet tint resulting from metallic impurities. Even today, various metallic oxides are added to provide different colors and quality. For instance, lead is used to give brilliance and clarity in crystal or flint glass.