Up: Paper
Millville 1987
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GLASS DEVELOPMENT
Up to about 1865 each glass blower worked
alone, at the main furnace, doing both blowing and finishing. The
desired quantity of molten glass was gathered from the furnace on
the end of a hollow rod called a "blow pipe". The skilled eye of
the workman was the only guide to the quantity. The glass was
then rolled back and forth on a flat metal plate or stone, to
partially shape the glass for the making of the bottle. This was
called "marveling". While this was being done, air was blown
through the pipe into the glass, making it ready for finishing.
The finishing was accomplished by placing
the still molten glass in a clay mold, and blowing it to the size
determined by the Mold. The shoulder and neck depended upon the
skill of the blower.
Now, the partly finished bottle, still
adhering to the blow pipe, was withdrawn from the Mold, and the
end of the a heated rod was stuck to the bottom of the bottle.
The blow pipe was then detached, and the unfinished bottle was
reheated to become plastic again. The excess glass was then
sheared off, and hand tools were used to shape the neck and
flare of the mouth.
In 1865, the so-called "glory hole" was
introduced, and blowers began to work in groups of three - two to
blow and one to finish. The first glory hole was a miniature
furnace, and four or five finishers worked around it. Additional
boy help was required including two snapping-up boys to each shop
or group; the so-called "snapping-up" boys taking the bottles as
they came from the molds, and putting them in a form called a
"snap" which was used to hold the bottle at the glory hole to heat
the neck for finishing.
About 1880, the oil-heated "glory hole"
came into existence. This was one of the first steps toward
automatic glass bottle manufacture.
The next advance from hand blowing was
the making of a complete bottle in a semi-automatic machine
with hand gatherers. Later, the glass was fed direct from the
furnace through feeders to automatic machines, which is now the
universal method of making glass containers.
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