Kokomo Opalescent Glass
Founded in 1888 by chemist Charles Edward, Kokomo Opalescent Glass is the oldest stained-glass manufacturer in the US, producing handmade glass for 130 years.
To learn more about KOG's incredible products, or to find out how you can take a tour of the Kokomo Opalescent Glass Factory, visit their website: kog.com.
A Brief Tour of Kokomo Opalescent Glass
Take a tour inside Kokomo's opalescent glass factory (KOG)
Ebike Touring - Day 23 - West Lafayette Bike Shops and Kokomo Opalescent Glass
Day 23 of my e-bike world record touring adventure, cruise through Indiana and visit the Kokomo Opalescent Glass Factory where Ruth works. This place is incredible with a ton of history!
The Glass Makers
On October 6, 1886, a group of speculators drilling a well in Howard County discovered natural gas. Lighting it, the 20-foot flame could be seen for miles that night. The next eight exploratory wells in the area were successful. News of the significant gas discoveries traveled quickly, and it was estimated that the gas would last for 200 to 300 years. That proved to be incorrect, but Indiana’s legacy in glassmaking had been launched.
Firms such as the Indiana Glass Company, in Dunkirk, devoted its plant to the production of pressed and blown decorative glass. From a population of 491 in 1887, the city of Alexandria grew to more than 7,200 in 1900 because of the need for functional glass. The Harper and Cruzen Glass Factory, Lippincott Glass Chimney Co., DePauw Plate Glass Co., and the DePauw Window Glass Co. all developed factories there and needed workers.
And while Indiana’s glass fortunes expanded statewide – for example, the Root Glass Company designed and produced the original Coca-Cola bottles in Terre Haute – the glass brand that became a household name was Ball. In 1880, the five Ball brothers started the Wooden Jacket Can Company in Buffalo, New York, but the glass canning jar was the brothers’ focus when the renamed company relocated to Muncie to take advantage of the readily available natural gas. At its peak, Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company produced 30 jars a minute in its five plants, with an additional 2,500 employees in its Muncie headquarters.
Today, Indiana’s highest-profile functional glassmaker is just outside Muncie, in Dunkirk. Ardagh Group was founded in Dublin in 1932 as the Irish Glass Bottle Company. It now operates in 26 countries, employs 22,000 people and controls approximately 50 percent of the North American glass container market. Not unlike the 1930s, when the volume of Ball jars produced in Muncie captured the world’s attention, today Ardagh’s Dunkirk operation produces three million longneck beer bottles DAILY for AB InBev, parent company of Budweiser.
INDIANA’S ART GLASS community was launched with that first gas well discovered northwest of Kokomo in 1886. Charles Edward Henry, a glass chemist, immigrated to the United States from France and formed Henry Art Glass in New Rochelle, New York in 1883. Henry Art Glass made glass buttons, novelties, and opalescent glass rods. While producing glass products, Henry met many glass artists in the New York area including Louis Tiffany. Hearing about the gas boom in Central Indiana and returning to New York from a business trip to Chicago, he stopped in Kokomo. On his second day in Kokomo, local officials provided Henry with a plant site and a natural gas supply.
He built a glass production plant with a seven-pot furnace, and production started at Opalescent Glass Works on November 13, 1888, and it has been in continuous operation at that location ever since. Most important to Indiana’s art glass history was the shipment three days later – on November 16, 1888, the first shipment of sheet glass went to Louis Tiffany. It included 600 pounds of blue and white opalescent glass.
Tiffany continued to be one of Henry’s customers, and in 1893 he purchased more than 10,000 pounds of glass from Opalescent Glass Works. Kokomo Opalescent Glass continues to be a source for restoration glass, and it still has, and mixes, many of the same “recipes” that established it as a premier glass manufacturer. Its Hot Glass Studio was established in 1998 to produce a wide range of quality hand-blown and hand-cast glass using its world-famous Kokomo Opalescent Glass. There, the company’s glass blowers create one-of-a-kind and limited edition functional and sculptural glass objects and rondels.
Building on that heritage are dozens of Indiana glass artists, some in business for decades in and around the former Trenton Gas Field in east central Indiana. Some, like the fourth-generation glassmakers at Zimmerman Art Glass, expand the state’s art glass community all the way to the Ohio River, in Corydon.
The Indiana Glass Trail links all of Indiana’s glassmakers, as well as the state’s glass-focused galleries, museums, exhibits, festivals, and workshops/classes, and this 11-minute documentary produced by Taylor University students travels that Trail.
The Weekly Special - Episode 1320 - Captivating Kokomo
Celebrate the captivating stories of Kokomo! Travel to the Kokomo Automotive Museum to learn about “America’s First Car.” Step back in time at the Kokomo Opalescent Glass Factory, the oldest stained glass manufacturer in the country! Tour the Seiberling Mansion, a relic from the 19th century Indiana gas boom! Plus, learn how the Kokomo Art Association is bringing art to the community and the community to art!
Kokomo, Indiana Community of the Year
Congratulations, Kokomo! 2011 Community of the Year - Indiana State Chamber of Commerce.
Kokomo, Indiana Community of the Year
Congratulations, Kokomo! Indiana Chamber of Commerce 2011 Community of the Year
Kokomo Heritage Part 1
Documentary - The founding of Kokomo Indiana Part I
Youghiogheny Opalescent Glass Company, Inc
Delphi Glass offers a large selection of Youghiogheny Glass online and at our store in Lansing, MI.
Youghiogheny Stained Glass is recommended by glass artists for its beautiful, unique color pallet. Perfect for glass restoration and reproduction work, Youghiogheny's mottled glass is nearly identical to what was used during Louis Tiffany's time.
Stipple art glass from Youghiogheny Glass is a premium, hand-made glass that disperses light in a unique way producing crisper, more vibrant colors.
Yogi glass is famous for its color mixes. The colors are crisp and vibrant, making it a favorite of glass artists. Discover it for yourself!
Youghiogheny (pronounced Yock-uh-gain-ee) is a gorgeous glass. If you've never worked with Stipple, you will be amazed at its crisp and vibrant colors. Where other glass mixes may bleed together, Stipple keeps true greens, red, magentas and pinks you won't believe! An excellent Tiffany reproduction glass.
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Kokomo Indiana - Spend a Little Time
Sponsored by the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance, City of Kokomo, CVB, and RACI.
Produced by Todd Scoggins.
Direction in Photography by Rob Moss
Music by Troye Kinnett
Narrated by Steve Kroft
All video was shot on location in Kokomo, Indiana, featuring Kokomo businesses and local residents.
2011 All Rights Reserved
Contact for more information.
Todd Scoggins can be contacted via his YouTube channel
Kokomo Video
My Tribute to Niki's Family to my Love and her Hometown of Kokomo Indiana
Glassmaking at Youghiogheny Glass Factory
Tour of the Youghiogheny Glass Factory in Connellsville, PA
Ebike Touring Adventure -Day 22 - Rain and Circuit Breaker Trouble
Day 22 of my world record attempt bike trip.
Holy Hail: 6/27/13 Kokomo, Indiana
Big storm that rolled through kokomo on june 27th
Steer and Stump in Kokomo
A Visit to Kokomo
Dr. Wagoner of Wagoner Medical Clinic in Kokomo Indiana pleads guilty
Have you or a loved one fell victim to Dr. Don Wagoner of Wagoner Medical Center in Kokomo & Burlington, Indiana? Call (888) 204-8440.
Jason Reese: Hi, I’m Jason Reese of the Wagner Reese Law Firm. You may have seen in the news yesterday that a doctor named Don Wagoner of the Wagoner Medical Clinic located in Kokomo, Indiana pled guilty yesterday to certain charges brought by the Howard County prosecutor’s office.
Our firm’s handling and helping many families in the Howard County area to bring cases against this pill mill that Dr. Wagoner was running. We have cases pending in both State Court and Federal Court.
If you or a loved one fell victim to this same pill mill, give us a call for a free consultation. We’ll be happy to give you free advice.
Take care.
Countdown Keith Olbermann Obama and the rebirth of Kokomo, Indiana
Countdown Keith Olbermann Obama and the rebirth of Kokomo, Indiana
Old Building ACE SHOP June 1982 Kokomo Indiana 4
blocking out all the windows, Notice the roof on the building where the dumpster used to sit. We tore that end of the building off because of the condition. Put sky lites in where the cupulos are on the roof. Morgan Street is only 2 lanes at that time. The weeds were growing inside the building.
D&L Art Glass: Glass Blowing
Fremont Mouth-Blown Antique Glass
Fremont Glass is produced in Seattle Washington in the traditional style. One of only two remaining independent glass manufacturing studios for mouth-blown antiques in the United States, Fremont Glass sheets are known for their unique beauty and cut-ability. Sheet sizes and shape vary from 2 to 5 square feet. In addition to clears, Fremont produces streakies, swirls, flashes and frit sheets along with streaky and ribbed flash and shaded. Truly a unique sheet every time. Availability is limited. Feel free to call for stock available.
Watch the video below (no audio) to see the process by which this beautiful glass is made. After the mouth-blown cylinder is produced, it is 'unrolled' in a proprietary process that yields the beautiful Fremont sheets you see on the D&L website.