Stretch Glass Companies

United States Glass Company

Factory K - King Glass, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1891-1930s?)

Factory R - Tiffin Glass, Tiffin, Ohio (1892-1950s)

Stretch Glass Dates: mid-1910s into mid-1930s

Stretch Glass Line Name: Aurora effect plus many other line names

Colors: (most of the names actually used by the company are not known)

amber - a light to medium amber glass

black amethyst - a very dark purple glass, appears black in reflected light

Blue - blue glass, like Fenton 'Celeste Blue'

Canary & Topaz - yellow-green glass, commonly called vaseline

Coral - an opaque orange to yellow-orange slag glass, apparently heat sensitive; often called salmon by stretch glass collectors

Crystal - crystal glass with white iridescence

Green - a normal green glass, like Fenton 'Florentine Green'

Jade & Jade Green - a translucent to opaque glass which ranges from a true jade green to a blue-green color, often with dark flecks or streaks in the glass

light blue-green - a very light blue-green, almost like Fenton 'Aquamarine'

opaque yellow - a translucent to opaque yellow glass; possibly called 'Mandarin Yellow' but this Tiffin name is more likely used for a transparent yellow glass.

Royal Blue - a light cobalt blue, often called 'Tiffin Blue' by Tiffin collectors

Nile Green - an opaque green slag glass with light swirls and numerous dark spots, often called green slag by stretch glass collectors

Old Rose - a translucent to opaque pink glass, occasionally brownish or caramel.

olive-green - an olive green glass, not Northwood's 'Russet'

Pearl Blue - an opaque light blue slag glass

Pearl Gray - an opaque cream with tan to dark brown slag swirls.

Pink - a light pink glass, like Fenton 'Velva Rose'

Red Slag - a translucent to opaque red slag glass, almost a pigeon blood red

light purple - a light purple, commonly called wisteria by collectors, like Fenton 'Wisteria'

The U. S. Glass Company was actually a consortium of several glass companies scattered in the northeastern states. The company headquarters were based in Pittsburgh as were several of the factories.

It is our personal opinions that two factories were probably involved in making the stretch glass. When you assemble enough of the glass, there appear to be two distinctly different types. We believe that the Tiffin Glass factory probably made much of the blue, topaz, pink and crystal especially in the 310 line. However, the other unique colors were likely made in the King Glass factory in the south Pittsburgh area. More research is needed (most likely it will require excavation of the slag dumps) to confirm or refute these thoughts.

In any case, U.S. Glass made the largest number of colors and produced several lines with optic rays as well as the 310 line which has rays on the outside.

Their standard blue, topaz, pink, green and crystal colors are quite obtainable and the Jade Green and opaque yellow are the most commonly seen pieces of opaque. The other opaques are very difficult to find and there are many pieces that were made with the base color glass, but were not iridized. Even when iridized, you must look closely to see the often, subtle effect! The black amethyst is difficult to find and extremely popular because of the outstanding iridescence. Amber, Royal Blue and olive-green pieces are a bit tough to find also.

There are several pieces that have been found that have a transparent slag effect. They appear to be a poorly mixed batch of light purple, and these pieces are also highly prized.

The 'Pomona' line of US Glass has a leaf stencil pattern overpainted with a contrasting enamel. These usually come in a yellow or reddish background enamel. The 'Cumula' line has a wispy green cloud like pattern with an overlying white enamel.

One of the more popular lines is the #8076 'Open Work'. These pieces are also called "ribbon" bowls because of the series of open slats around the rims. The pieces can be found in plates, rolled rim bowls, flared bowls and cupped bowls. You could spend a lifetime trying to accumulate all the possibilities!