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Blenko Glass Company

Formerly	Eureka Art Glass
Industry	Glassware
Founded	1922 (1922)
Founder	William J. Blenko
Headquarters	Milton, West Virginia
Key people	William J. Blenko, William H. Blenko Sr.
Products	hand-blown glassware
Owner	Blenko family
Number of employees	160 (1965)
Website	www.blenko.com

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. Instead of the new automated method for making window glass developed by Michael J. Owens and Irving Wightman Colburn, 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—no machines, such as the Lubbers machine, were used to blow the glass. 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. Over the next five years, the company had some successes producing glass that was used in churches and cathedrals. 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. One well-known product from the 1930s that the company still produces today is its 384 Water Bottle. During the 1940s the company established the practice of employing a designer, and the designer's creations were sold as art glass. Production of glassware and flat glass also continued. Blenko window glass is used in a variety of places, such as the Washington National Cathedral, the White House, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 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

Further information: Indiana gas boom

1895 map with Kokomo circled

William John Blenko, the founder of Blenko Glass Company, was born in London during 1854. At the age of 10 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 came to the United States in 1893 to start a glass factory. This first attempt was in Kokomo, Indiana. Natural gas had been discovered in a region of Indiana that included Kokomo (Howard County), and manufacturers were moving there to take advantage of the low-cost fuel.

Blenko arrived in Kokomo during January 1893, and he brought machinery for glassmaking. His plant site was on the Belt Railroad, and construction was in progress during January. An 1896 insurance map shows a small unnamed glassworks next to the Belt Railroad. Assuming this glassworks was Blenko's, it was very small compared to the other two glassworks in town shown on the same map. The other two glassworks were Pittsburgh Plate Glass and Opalescent Glass Works.

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

Clarksburg - July 1911

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 & 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.

William Blenko advertisement in a glass trade magazine July 1917

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

Advertising for Blenko using original name, Eureka Art Glass, in 1926

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. He has been described as "energetic and commercially astute" and an important contributor to the company's success.

Instead of using the new Colburn process to make flat glass, or the Lubbers machine to blow the glass without 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. The glass will have bubbles, lines, tool marks, and waves. William Blenko filed for a patent on his process for making art glass that appears old in 1924, and the patent was granted in 1926. Another innovation was Blenko's 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. The new glass works would have three small furnaces, and the ability to make over 300 different colors or shades of antique flat glass.

Glassware production begins

1928 advertisement for Carbone

Citations checked to here.An economic depression began in the United States during August 1929, becoming known as the Great Depression. The economic 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. The company had a major obstacle for the production of glassware: the Blenkos did not know how to make it. They hired two Swedish-American brothers from the Huntington Tumbler Company to train Eureka employees, who had been making only antique flat glass, to make glassware. The brothers were Louis Miller (a finisher) and Axel Muller (a glassblower).

The Eureka glassware products were sold by Carbone and Sons of Boston, which was a reseller of mostly imported 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, the Blenkos promoted their glassware. 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

Colonial Williamsburg glass display

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 Blenko died suddenly on November 24, 1933, at the age of 79. His son, William Henry Blenko Sr. became company president.

A notable achievement happened in 1937. After discussions that occurred in 1936, the 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 was determined by glass fragments found on site. Using a centuries-old process, Blenko glassblowers were able to replicate the original glassware. For its own line of glassware, the company began producing in 1938 a somewhat rectangular water bottle that was able to fit in shelves in the door of an "electric ice box", which became known as a refrigerator. The popular bottles are still being produced in the 21st century.

Post war history

Blenko factory in 1944

During 1947, the company hired its first full-time designer. Winslow Anderson was the designer, and the company began to establish itself as a leader in contemporary 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.

1950s and 1960s

The Blenko Glass plant employed 115 people near the end of 1950. 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. It was also producing flat glass, including glass used by customers to make stained glass windows, in about 1,000 different tints that was shipped all over the United States and Canada. A 1950 advertisement by a gift store mentioned that Blenko glassware "is completely handmade" and available, in a crackled or plain finish, in eight colors: crystal, ruby, amethyst, sky blue, turquoise, sea green, chartreuse, and emerald. Woodward & Lothrop was one of the department stores that sold Blenko glassware.

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 would be used in the 1964 New York World's Fair at the Hall of Science. Stained glass was still being manufactured. A 1956 advertisement said that Blenko was the "sole maker in this country of glass for church windows". By 1963, the number of Blenko employees had grown to about 150 people. Some of Blenko's competition came from foreign glassware manufacturers, which had lower prices. Near the beginning of 1965, Blenko had grown to 160 employees, and continued to hand craft glassware using the same methods used hundreds of years ago in Europe.

Visitor Center

Blenko Glass Company Visitor Center in 2006

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 president. In 1972, the Blenko Visitor Center and Museum was visited by as many as 2,000 people per day during the tourist season.

End of the 20th century

Stained glass windows made by Blenko were still popular in 1974, and a major reason was the "vivid, clear colors" of the glass. The company made glassware used at President Ronald Reagon's inaugural dinners in 1981. It also became the manufacturer of various awards during the 1980s and 1990s, such as the Country Music Award and an Indy Racing League award. 1982 was a difficult year for all West Virginia glass makers due to high prices for natural gas and inexpensive imports. By 1990, Blenko was one of the few glass factories still operating in West Virginia. Fostoria Glass, Kanawha Glass, and Viking Glass were West Virginia glass companies that closed during the 1980s.

1990s

 Blenko glassware

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 produced the glass globes for lights at the United States Capitol. Its glass is also used at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio; Grant's Tomb in New York City; and the Riyadh Airport in Saudi Arabia. Eleanor Roosevelt and Mamie Eisenhower had been customers, and Blenko glassware is sold through 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. During the last years of the century, A PBS documentary called "Hearts of Glass" was released that described William J. Blenko's quest to produce glass in the United States. Additional documentaries were produced years later, such as "Blenko Retro: Three Designers of American Glass" and "Blenko - Spirit of American Stained Glass".

21st century

The designs and varied brilliant colors continued to make Blenko glass popular. In 2002, its glassware could cost from $15 (equivalent to $25 in 2023) to several thousand dollars (equivalent to $5,082 in 2023). At Blenko, water bottles were the most popular item. A problem for Blenko was that glassmaking in the United States had begun a gradual decline in the 1990s. In 2003 Dean Six, curator of the West Virginia Museum of American Glass, believed that it was not foreign competition that was causing financial problems for American glass factories. He said the problem was that people "weren't buying glass at all". He also said that plastic did not exist 100 years ago, and people stopped having family meals after World War II.

Great recession

 Blenko 384 Water Bottles

The United States economy went into recession during December 2007, and the economic downturn lasted until June 2009. This recession became known as the Great Recession. This recession accelerated the American glass industry's decline. In late September 2008, Blenko Glass Company changed its leadership. Company president Richard Blenko, great-grandson of company founder William J. Blenko, left the company along with two other executives. Richard Blenko's father, William H. Blenko Jr., was elected chairman of the board. Walter Blenko Jr. was elected president of the company, and Don Blenko was elected vice president. The reason given for the change was "changing market conditions". In January 2009 Blenko considered bankruptcy. It had closed its factory, and could not pay for the natural gas necessary to fire its furnaces. Its office, warehouse, and visitor's center remained open. A month later, the company was seeking an investor. When it stopped producing glass on January 30, it laid off 26 employees. Now it had only a few days of inventory remaining, and had approximately $500,000 in unpaid bills. After the shutdown, orders increased and Blenko was able to resume glassmaking. By August, the company was providing employment to about 50 people.

The recession was difficult for glassmakers, especially the companies that made art glass such as Blenko Glass and Fenton Art Glass Company. Many of the products made by the art glass companies are discretionary instead of necessary, and discretionary spending is muted in a recession. On May 12, 2011, Blenko Glass Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Assets were listed as between $500,000 and $1,000,000, while debts owed to at least 50 creditors were between $1 million and $10 million. The company planned to continue producing and selling glass. The company began a customer focus on middle- to high-income women between the ages of 30 and 50. It began using more social media and videos to promote its products. By August 2012, the company's situation improved because of lower natural gas prices and a surge in sales. In December, a judge approved a reorganization plan. Soon, the company changed they way it sold its glassware. Instead of relying on department stores and small gift shops, the company began relying more on internet sales and merchandisers that would sell Blenko glassware via the internet.

COVID and the flatwoods monster

Walter Blenko Jr., president of Blenko Glass Company died on August 11, 2019—just a few months before the country began a struggle with a pandemic. He was replaced by John W. Blenko, who had joined the company as vice president during 2016. John is a great grandson of company founder William J. Blenko, and he faced a major challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a recession in 2020, as governments shut businesses in an attempt to slow the spread of the disease. The United States went into a short recession beginning in February, and it lasted until April of the same year. This recession became known as the COVID-19 recession, and the United States Gross Domestic Product dropped 31.4 percent. It was one of America's deepest, yet shortest recessions. During the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020, Blenko Glass shut down for several months. The lockdown began in March. All 48 employees were furloughed with pay before the state-ordered shutdown. Everyone was laid off a week later. In June, the company began to gradually reopen to produce glassware, and most of the workforce was hired back by August. The company was helped by a $250,000 (equivalent to $294,329 in 2023) loan from the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program.

Blenko Glass survived, and even prospered, because of a new product: a figurine of West Virginia's mythical Flatwoods monster. The product was 16.5 inches tall, and was colored clover green and ruby red. Production was limited to about 800 pieces, and the figurine was popular among millennials—a new market segment. The product was priced at $129 (equivalent to $152 in 2023), much higher than most of the company's other products such as its popular water bottle that sold for $53 (equivalent to $62 in 2023). Sales of the Flatwoods monster enabled the company to have its most profitable year in two decades. By 2024, Blenko was still making glassware, and it used about ten furnaces to make its glass.

Selected products and designers

Blenko Glass Company has made numerous products, which can be viewed by reviewing the company catalogs posted on the company web site. Several items are typically mentioned in books or newspaper articles. First, the company's stained glass is known worldwide for its use in cathedrals and churches. Second, the 384 Water Bottle is usually the company's biggest seller. Third, since 1947 the company has hired designers to create unique glassware. Last, the company has produced limited-edition collectible glassware that honors the state of West Virginia.

Stained and flat glass

Stained glass window made by Franklin Art Glass Studios using Blenko glass

By 1950 the Blenko glass factory was producing flat glass in about 1,000 different tints that was shipped all over the United States and Canada. The flat glass was used by Blenko's customers to make stained glass windows. Earlier commissions for the company included the Washington National Cathedral, Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, and the Duke University Chapel. Blenko glass was also used to rebuild the Reims Cathedral in France after World War I. The Hall of Science at the 1939 New York World's Fair used Blenko glass.

It was noted that in 1958 the Blenko glass works was the only one in the United States that hand blows church window glass. The glass is blown into the shape of a cylinder, its ends are cut off, the cylinder is split lengthwise, reheated, and flattened into a sheet of glass available in about 1100 shades. At least part of the glass used in the United States Air Force Academy Chapel, completed in 1962 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was supplied by Blenko. Blenko antique glass was also used in Grant's Tomb and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

In 1992 Blenko Glass was selected to produce replacement window panes for the White House. To have the replacement windows look similar to the antique windows still in place, the White House needed a manufacturer that made window glass the old hand-blown way that was used to make the existing panes. Blenko was the only domestic manufacturer that still used the method—which dates back to medieval Europe. At that time, the company was still producing flat glass blown to look antique, and it could create over 1,300 colors.

384 Water Bottle

Blenko 384 Water Bottle

The Blenko 384 Water Bottle was first designed in 1938. The number "384" means that it was the fourth design during 1938. The bottle's narrow shape was designed to fit in the door of a somewhat new innovation: the "electric icebox" now known as a refrigerator. The bottle has two pouring spouts and an indentation in its center that makes it easy to hold. Often called the "iconic" 384 Water Bottle, it is the company's biggest seller.

Most of the molds used by Blenko are made of wood. The molds used for the 384 Water Bottle are metal because the high quantity produced would cause the company to need to replace a wooden water bottle mold every two days. The 384S Water Bottle, which has straight optic lines on the glass, was featured in the Holiday Gift Guide section of the December 2013 edition of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Glassware designers

Winslow Anderson display

Blenko employed its first designer in 1947 when it hired ceramicist Winslow Anderson. Anderson helped the company establish a reputation with contemporary glassware. He won a Good Design award in 1948 from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Anderson left Blenko for Lenox China around 1953. The company's next designer was Wayne Husted, who further modernized the look of Blenko glassware. His decanters were colored flamboyantly, which set a trend for the company that continues.

Joel Philip Myers succeeded Husted as Blenko's director of design in 1963. By now the company had a reputation as one of the world's top art glass companies. Myers was unique in the United States because he was believed to be the only designer that blew his own glass. He designed about 40 items per year, and 2,000 to 3,000 copies of each design were produced. One collector considers Myers to be "Blenko's most famous and accomplished designer" and "one of the most exhibited and recognized glass artists in the world". In the early 1970s Meyers left the company to join the faculty at Illinois State University.

Other designers for Blenko were John Nickerson from 1972 to 1975, and Don Shepherd from 1975 to 1988. Hank Murta Adams was designer from 1988 to 1994, and Matthew Carter from 1994 to 2002. Wayne Husted, who was the designer for Blenko Glass from 1953 to 1963, re-established a relationship with Blenko in 2001. One of his designs for 2002 was called Patriot, which was inspired after the events of September 11, 2001. The glassware pieces were hand-blown with red and blue glass. A more recent designer for Blenko is Arlon Bayliss. In 2024, Blenko worked with guest artist Don Pendleton.

West Virginia Day

West Virginia Day pieces

Each year, Blenko Glass produces a limited edition piece of glassware that becomes available on West Virginia Day. Production is limited to one for each year the state of West Virginia has existed. The tradition of releasing limited edition glassware honoring the West Virginia statehood began in the early 1980s. For the state's 132nd birthday in 1995, 132 pieces were produced. The 1995 design was a cobalt blue vase with clear handles, and it was sold at a Charleston department store. Customers lined up to make their purchase about 90 minutes before the store opened at 10:00 am.

Another example of the Blenko West Virginia Day piece is the 2016 version, which was called "Patience's Prize". It was a pale green vase that looked like a fish jumping back into the water. The vase honored West Virginia's outdoors and fishing. It was 14 inches tall and designed by Arlon Bayliss. Because West Virginia became 153 years old on June 20, 2016, only 153 copies of "Patience's Prize" were made. They were made available to the public on June 18, and could only be purchased at the company's visitor center. Customers were limited to the purchase of only one.

Notes

References

• Blenko Glass Company (1999). Blenko 99 (catalog for 1999) (PDF). Milton, West Virginia: Blenko Glass Company. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
• Blenko Glass Company (2002). Blenko 2002 (catalog for 2002) (PDF). Milton, West Virginia: Blenko Glass Company. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
• Blenko Glass Company (2015). Blenko 2014-2015 (catalog for 2014 & 2015) (PDF). Milton, West Virginia: Blenko Glass Company. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
• Byrd, Robert C. (June 25, 1963). "Extension of remarks of Hon. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia in the Senate of the United States - Tuesday, June 25, 1963". Congressional record: proceedings and debates of the ... Congress. Washington, District of Columbia: Government Printing Office: A4043. OCLC 5058415. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
• Casto, James E. (March 2017). "Blenko Changing How Its Colorful Glass is Sold". The State Journal. 33 (11). Charleston, West Virginia: 12. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
• Crain, Damon (April 2004). "Blenko – Uniquely American Modernist Glass". Journal of Antiques & Collectibles. V (2). Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on November 12, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
• Crain, Damon (Fall 2007). "Blenko Glass: For Museums and the Masses". Modernism Magazine. 10 (3). Lambertville, New Jersey. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
• Daugherty, G.F., ed. (1924). Seventeenth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of West Virginia 1923-1924. Charleston, West Virginia: State of West Virginia. OCLC 13484972.
• Flanagan, Joseph E., ed. (July 1917). "(Untitled)". The Ornamental Glass Bulletin of United States and Canada. 11 (6). Chicago, Illinois: National Ornamental Glass Manufacturers' Association of United States and Canada: 1. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
• Flanagan, Joseph E., ed. (January 1928). "Eureka's Antique Glass". The Bulletin of the Stained Glass Association of America. 22 (12). Chicago, Illinois: Stained Glass Association of America: 8–9. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
• Fones-Wolf, Ken (2007). Glass Towns: Industry, Labor and Political Economy in Appalachia, 1890-1930s. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-25203-131-1. OCLC 69792081.
• Hammer, J.M., ed. (July 1920). "Classified Advertisements - Situations Wanted". The Glassworker. 39 (42). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Commoner Publishing Company: 30. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
• Jackson, Lesley (2000). 20th Century Factory Glass. New York City: Rizzoli. ISBN 978-0-84782-253-9. OCLC 1369742032.
• Krak, J.B., ed. (January 1922). "News of the Trade". The Glass Industry. 3 (1). New York, New York: Glass Industry Publishing Company: 23–24. OCLC 1751261. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
• Peelle Jr, William A., ed. (1894). State of Indiana - Fifth Biennial Report (Eleventh Volume) of the Department of Statistics for 1893-1894. Indianapolis, Indiana: William B. Burford. ISBN 978-1-33290-560-7.
• Shotwell, David J. (2002). Glass A to Z. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. ISBN 978-0-87349-385-7. OCLC 440702171.
• Unknown (Fall 1989). "In Memoriam - Marion Hunt Blenko". Stained Glass Quarterly. 84 (3). The Stained Glass Association of America: 180.
• Venable, Charles L.; Denker, Ellen P.; Grier, Katherine C.; Harrison, Stephen G. (2000). China and Glass in America, 1880-1980: from Tabletop to TV Tray. Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-81096-692-5. OCLC 42960630.

Further reading

• Eige, Eason; Wilson, Rick (1987). Blenko Glass, 1930-1953. Antique Publications. ISBN 978-0-91541-035-4. OCLC 17006037.

External links

• Blenko/Kenova vase from Carbone & Son - Corning Museum of Glass
• Crackle Glass & Blenko - Journal of Antiques & Collectibles