Main content
Diamond Glass Company financial and property records
Notifications
Held at: Spring-Ford Area Historical Society [Contact Us]526 Main St., Royersford, Pennsylvania, 19468
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Spring-Ford Area Historical Society. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Glass manufacturing was the second largest industry in Royersford, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in the 20th century. Diamond Glass Company was among the first glass companies to open in the borough, boasted the largest factory, and was the last to close.
Incorporated in 1894, Diamond Glass Company began by making hand-blown bottles. After semi-automatic machines were added in 1917, the hand-blowing process was phased out by 1924. During this time, the factory was primarily staffed by master craftsmen. They worked on assembly lines making simple household objects for most of the day, but were also given limited freedom to exercise their creativity on "glasshouse whimsies."
In 1934 the company was acquired by Frank Foster, who passed it on to his sons. During the 50 years Diamond Glass was in Foster family hands, the company grew and prospered.
Diamond Glass was acquired by Bathurst in 1985, who then sold it to Anchor Glass in 1987. Anchor was bought out in 1989 by Vitro, S.A., a Mexican-owned company that shut down the Royersford plant and dissolved Diamond Glass Company the same year.
Bibliography:
Brunner, William C. "Glass Manufacturing in the Twin Boroughs." Spring-Ford Area Historical Society newsletter insert, April 2008.
This collection consists of financial and property records for Diamond Glass Company in Royersford, Pennsylvania, including deeds and property records, tax reports, checks, receipts, and capital stock and loan reports. Most of the records are from the 1930s-1940s, with some materials from the 1980s.
Gift of Joe Salman, 2005.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Spring-Ford Area Historical Society directly for more information.
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Spring-Ford Area Historical Society
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Faith Charlton through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
-
Contact Spring-Ford Area Historical Society for information about accessing this collection.