Glass History 

    Formed in August of 1906, the Colburn Machine Glass Company attempted to produce sheet glass by mechanical means. In the first couple of years Irving W. Colburn built many (and sometimes crude) machines to make sheet glass.

    The process was thought to be a success in 1908, and glowing accounts of the day talked about the greatness of the Colburn machine. But, from 1905 to 1912, fifteen different machines had been constructed and more than a million dollars spent, with only a few thousand boxes of poor quality glass to show for the effort.

    By 1911, the company was in bankruptcy and its assets (including the numerous patents of Colburn) were auctioned off on February 8, 1912. These patents were later purchased by The Toledo Glass Company, of which Edward Libbey was President. This marked an historical point in the history of the window glass industry.