The Unlikely Origins of America’s Glass Capital
Picture this: In February 1888, Edward Drummond Libbey signed a generous contract to transfer his glass works to Toledo, Ohio, making what seemed like a desperate gamble. His company originally hailed from East Cambridge, Massachusetts, home of the New England Glass Company, which was founded in 1818. But by the 1880s, rising costs and labor troubles were slowly strangling the business. In August 1888, a special train arrived in Toledo from East Cambridge, Massachusetts containing 50 carloads of machinery and 100 or so workers from the New England Glass Company. Little did anyone know that this single factory relocation…..