Glass company in the U.S
Blenko Glass Company is an art glass company that began producing in 1922 under the name Eureka Art Glass Company. The company name was changed to Blenko Glass Company in 1930. Originally an antique flat glass company, it was founded by Englishman William J. Blenko (1854-1933). Blenko came to the United States to make glass in 1893. Over the next 25 years, he established glass factories in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia—which all failed. His fourth glass factory, that began production in 1922, was a success and still operates today (2024). This factory is located in Milton, West Virginia, and Blenko family members still lead the company.
William Blenko could make numerous colors of flat glass, and his products were used by other companies to make stained glass windows. The glass was made using a patented variation of an older method for making window glass called the cylinder method. Blenko used glassblowers that blew a glass cylinder into a mold. The cylinder was cut and flattened in an oven. All glassblowing was done by human glassblowers instead of a machine. The company's biggest challenge was to get purchasers of glass to accept an American-made product, and Blenko's three earlier failed glass works all had the same problem.
Blenko's son William H. Blenko (1897-1969) joined the company in 1923. The Great Depression in 1929 caused a decrease in demand for antique window glass, so the younger Blenko was instrumental in getting the company to begin producing glassware in addition to flat glass. This was a successful endeavor as the company utilized the vast skill set the elder Blenko had for making numerous colors of glass. During the 1940s the company established the practice of employing a designer, and the designer's creations were sold as art glass—a subset of glassware. Production of glassware and flat glass also continued. The company survived difficult times during the 21st century, including a management change and a bankruptcy. Today, Blenko glassware and art glass are valued by collectors, and both are still produced in the West Virginia glass works.
Three failures.
First try.
 William John Blenko, the founder of Blenko Glass Company, was born in London during 1854. At the age of10 he began working as an apprentice in a London bottle glass works, where he learned the basics of glassmaking. He studied chemistry and learned to produce sheet glass. Producing glass in England, he shipped his product to the United States. Blenko's first attempt to start a glass factory in the United States was in Kokomo, Indiana, during January 1893. His plant site was adjacent to the Belt Railroad, and he brought his own equipment. An 1896 insurance map shows a small unnamed glassworks next to the Belt Railroad that was very small compared to the other two glassworks in town.
Blenko's Kokomo glass business failed after about ten years. The reasons for the failure are: (1) an economic depression (the Panic of 1893) and additional recessions throughout the decade; (2) increased foreign competition because of the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act of 1894; and (3) Americans believed that European glass was superior. It is believed that Blenko resorted to shipping his glass to England, and then back, to give the appearance of European glass that appealed to potential customers. After the business failed, Blenko and his family moved back to London during July 1905. Producing the same glass in England, Blenko was able to sell his imported glass to glass studios in the United States. Blenko and family returned to the United States about 14 months later, and decided to have a permanent home in Pennsylvania.
More tries.
Blenko's next attempt to start a glass works in America was at Point Marion, Pennsylvania. A fire insurance map published September 1909 shows a small "Blenko Glass Works" located near the Baltimore &amp; Ohio Railroad line along with several other glass factories. Blenko abandoned this glass works when he built a factory in Clarksburg, West Virginia, where fuel was cheaper. Construction of the Clarksburg glass works began during late summer 1911. A significant factor in the 1913 failure of the Clarksburg works, known as the Blenko Antique Art Glass Company, was the Underwood-Simmons Act that reduced the tariff rate on imported glass.
After the third failure, Blenko remained in the United States. A 1916 newspaper notice shows that a William Blenko had a telephone line in Lancaster, Ohio. A stained glass trade magazine for July 1917 contained an advertisement at the bottom of page one that simply said "Antique-if you want any, address W. Blenko" with an address of Follansbee, West Virginia. By July 1920 Blenko was apparently living on Wheeling Street in Lancaster, Ohio. He posted in classified advertising that he wanted a position in glassmaking, and that he could make "every variety of color including opal and opalescent".
Early History.
Eureka Art Glass.
In the January 1922 edition of a glass trade magazine, it was noted that a "W. Blenko, of Lancaster, Ohio" recently purchased land at Huntington, West Virginia, and he expected a plant for the manufacture of colored antique glass would be operating by mid-March 1922. Blenko named his new glass business Eureka Art Glass Company. By 1923 the company was listed as an antiques and specialties business, and it had eight employees. A new Eureka employee was William Henry Blenko Sr., who joined his father's company during the year. Born in 1897, he has been described as "energetic and commercially astute" and an important contributor to the company's success.
Instead of using the new automated Colburn process to make flat glass, or the Lubbers machine to blow the glass without human glassblowers, Blenko's antique flat glass was made using a variation of the older cylinder method. Blenko's process involved hand blowing the glass into a cylinder inside of a mold, cutting the glass lengthwise, and flattening it in an oven—a system that made the glass appear old. William Blenko filed for a patent on this process in 1924, and the patent was granted in 1926.
Another innovation for the elder Blenko was his 1924 success in developing a formula for ruby-red glass that could be reheated without altering its color. By 1926, Eureka Art Glass could replicate most of the glass used in old European stained glass windows. Among places using Eureka Art Glass for its stained glass windows in 1927 was the Liverpool Cathedral in England. Business improved enough that in 1928 plans were made to erect a larger plant.
Glassware production begins.
An economic depression began in the United States during August 1929, becoming known as the Great Depression. The downturn caused a sharp decrease in demand for stained glass. To keep the business from failing, William Henry Blenko championed producing an additional line of glass: decorative glassware. Because the Blenkos only knew how to make flat glass, they hired two Swedish-American brothers from the Huntington Tumbler Company to train Eureka employees in glassware production. The brothers were Louis Miller (a finisher) and Axel Muller (a glassblower), and they had been trained at the Kosta glass works in Sweden.
The Eureka glassware products were originally sold by Carbone and Sons of Boston, which was a reseller of high-quality Italian goods. Eureka wares had Italian and Scandinavian influences on the designs, and took advantage of the company's ability to create hundreds of shades of colored glass. Carbone's sales brochure called the glassware "Kenova" glass, and said it was made in the foothills of West Virginia by foreign craftsmen. Aware that glassware made by Eureka Art Glass could have trouble competing with European makers, an editorial in the May 1932 issue of Carbone's sales brochure known as "The Shard" described tool marks and unevenness in hand blown glassware as qualities to be desired. The writer of the article was "W.H.B", and one author says the writer was "presumably William Henry Blenko".
Big changes in 1930s.
Eureka Art Glass Company was renamed Blenko Glass Company during August 1930. An advertisement in the December 1931 edition of a Charleston newspaper said that "distinctive and different hand made" glassware could be purchased at the Milton factory, and used the name Blenko Glass Company. During 1932, Blenko glass was used for windows in the American Memorial chapel on the Meuse-Argonne battlefield at Romagna, France. The artists designing the windows preferred the Blenko glass because of the colors available and the texture of the glass. William J. Blenko died suddenly on November 24, 1933, at the age of 79. His son, William Henry Blenko Sr. became company president. 
After discussions that occurred in 1936, the Blenko Glass Company was contracted in 1937 to produce all glass reproductions for the Colonial Williamsburg restoration project. The original quality and shapes of the Williamsburg glassware were determined by glass fragments found on site. Using the company's old-style process, Blenko glassblowers were able to replicate the original glassware. For its own line of glassware, the company began producing a somewhat rectangular water bottle in 1938, and it is still being produced in the 21st century.
Post war history.
During 1947 the company hired Winslow Anderson as its first full-time designer, and the company began to establish itself as a leader in contemporary art glass. During the same year, the company received a new charter on May 1. The firm was incorporated by William H. Blenko, Marion H. Blenko, and William H. Blenko Jr. with a capitalization of $250,000. William H. Blenko Jr. had joined the company in 1946—a third generation of the Blenko family.
The Blenko Glass plant employed 115 people near the end of 1950. Daily production was about 1,000 square feet of stained glass sheets and about 3,000 pieces of glassware. William H. Blenko Sr. was the president, and his son William H. Blenko Jr. was company secretary and plant manager. The factory was producing about 280 types of glassware that was sold by retailers throughout the world. Its flat glass was produced in about 1,000 different tints.
In 1955 Blenko Glass became the first American manufacturer of a thick slab type of glass previously made in France and known as "dalle de verre". Blenko's "dalle de verre" was used in the 1964 New York World's Fair at the Hall of Science. By the beginning of 1965, Blenko had grown to 160 employees, and continued to produce glass using its handcrafted method.
Visitor Center.
A visitor center was dedicated in 1966. The two-story building has an outlet on the first floor that sells factory seconds that have minor flaws. The upstairs is a museum with products on display such as stained glass, the Colonial Williamsburg restoration glass, and collectable pieces. It is also the starting point for tours of the factory.
The completion of the tourist facility enabled William H. Blenko Sr., chairman of the board of Blenko Glass, to realize his wish of a visitor center. He died nearly three years later on March 11, 1969. His son, William H. Blenko Jr., became company president. In 1972, the Blenko Visitor Center and Museum was visited by as many as 2,000 people per day during the tourist season. Stained glass windows made by Blenko were still popular in 1974, and a major reason was the "vivid, clear colors" of the glass.
End of the 20th century.
The company made glassware used at President Ronald Reagan's inaugural dinners in 1981. During the 1980s and 1990s, the company became the manufacturer of various award trophies, such as the Country Music Award and an Indy Racing League award. Because of high prices for natural gas and inexpensive imports, 1982 was a difficult year for glass makers.
1990s.
By 1990, Blenko was one of the few glass factories still operating in West Virginia. As of 1995, about 30 percent of Blenko's business was flat glass such as hand-blown window panes. The remaining 70 percent was glassware such as bottles, vases, and lamps. Blenko Glass Company employed about 130 workers. Blenko had produced the glass globes for lights at the United States Capitol, and was involved with replacement windows for the White House. Blenko glassware was sold at Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, and Sharper Image.
Richard D. Blenko had joined the company in 1976, and he represented the fourth generation of the Blenko family. He became president of the company in 1996. He often promoted Blenko glassware by making appearances at retailers to interact with customers. He was also involved with documentary films about the company. Near the end of the