If knowledge is power, which it is, be prepared to put your glass turbo boosters on. Did you realize that glass has been around since 3000 BC? That’s a long time period for the history of glass! Now that wasn’t, of course, the kind of transparent, geothermal treated glass we have on modern homes today, but forms of glass have been used as mediums for life since nearly the beginning of civilizations. The people of Ancient Egypt, yes those folks that brought us the Pyramids, also knew how to make glass. Not surprising really. They were able to formulate a glass that became almost as valuable as jewels. Eventually the art of blowing glass was discovered which made the process much easier and less costly. For the first time, glass was becoming available for to the average villager for the first time. Would you believe, that was still 30 before the birth of Jesus Christ!
For many of us our earliest memories of historical glass might come from episodes of Little House on the Prairie. “Pa, are those windows for our cabin?” But the reality is, humanity has been perfecting the art of glass for much, much longer.
It was within the first four centuries of the Christian Era that transparent glass was seen for the first time. Over the next 1500 years glass would be perfected into mediums from everyday tableware and storage, to exclusive fine crystals, to stained glass art in every color of the rainbow.
Eventually, the first colonies were created, and glass that didn’t break on the long ride to Jamestown made it to what is now American soil. Still, it took quite a few years for America to have their own glass company. It was toward 1735 that the first American glass company came into existence, and several others followed in the years to come. It wasn’t until the 1850’s that glass was being manufactured as window glass. And that brings us back to that episode of Little House on the Prairie. As it turns out, you may have known more about glass than you realized! Those were some of the earliest windows.
If you’ve gotten a glass education today and are looking at home windows that remind you of Half Pint’s Little House, chances are you might be a bit behind the times. The good people at Glass Express can help you bring your little house and it’s windows to this century.
