LABAC is an informal nonprofit research group that pools resources to find and acquire significant Brilliant Period cut glass catalogs, booklets, photo albums, scrapbooks, advertising and similar materials. LABAC distributes copies of developed and found materials to members, for their personal study and research use. There are presently about nine dozen participants, and everyone is invited to join in this important research effort.
OPEN MEMBERSHIP. LABAC is open to all individuals and institutions. Group leverage and "reach" increase as membership grows, so it's beneficial to involve new members. LABAC has been operating for almost seven years, and seeks more participants.
AFFILIATIONS. LABAC is not affiliated with the ACGA or with any other organization. The ACGA and the Rakow Research Library are encouraged to collaborate to publish reproductions based on some of the original materials found by LABAC, but it is left to these organizations to determine which (if any) materials might be published.
HOW IT WORKS. Members collaborate by telephone, e-mail and letters to find and acquire access to cut glass reference materials from the Brilliant Period. Copies of otherwise inaccessible items may be considered for distribution. Many members help to find material, and all work is done by unpaid volunteers.
For each item found, high-quality copies are distributed to members within bound books, for personal research use. Operating costs (e.g., acquisition, reproduction, distribution, and administration) are deducted from subscription receipts until subscription funds are exhausted. At this point, a new subscription cycle begins with a request for subscription renewals and new members. Subscription cycles usually last about three to six months, but duration depends on the quantity of material we find, how much the items cost, page counts, etc.
SUBSCRIPTIONS. Subscription cycle #1 opened in 2001. Cycle #14 opened in early 2008. Usual cost of each subscription cycle is $40, but rare "special circumstances" may occasionally increase costs. Members may request cancellation at any time, and the unused portion of current cycle subscription money will be cheerfully refunded, no questions asked. Any LABAC member choosing not to renew their subscription by the cycle closing date is dropped from membership, and does not receive subsequent books of materials. Dropout reminders are infrequently sent.
DONATIONS. At cycle close, gratis copies of materials are donated to the ACGA archives, the Rakow Research Library at the Corning Museum of Glass (which is granted microfiche replication but not publication rights), the Museum of American Cut and Engraved Glass in Highlands, NC, the West Virginia Museum of Glass and the United States Library of Congress.
Purchased original catalogs are offered to the ACGA for eventual publication to maximize visibility for the material. Each LABAC original catalog has so far been donated to the Rakow Research Library, so that microfiche and diazo copies become immediately available to researchers. Rakow also provides archival preservation facilities and professional management for these old documents. The ACGA retains first right of refusal to reprint the LABAC catalogs donated to the Rakow Research Library. So far, the ACGA has republished one old original catalog offered by LABAC.
ADMINISTRATION. LABAC is presently organized by Rob and Val Smith, until someone else volunteers. Telephone and e-mail are used for rapid communications regarding issues and opportunities, but the USPO is used to involve those not having access to computer tools. When material becomes available, members are asked whether LABAC should buy or borrow, and the applicable maximum cost ceiling. Group decisions are usually voted within two or three days. At the end of each cycle, an operating financial summary is sent to participants, so that everyone can see how group resources have been used.
SOURCES. Collector reference materials, local auctions, local/regional/national libraries, jewelry store archives and family records have been exploited by LABAC members to find materials. So far, about half of our rediscovered materials have been loaned by participants. eBay is another significant source. Original catalogs and similar materials come up several times each year for "web auction" on eBay.
Volunteers expediently prepare indices for each LABAC book, prior to distribution to participants. So far, they have prepared more than six dozen indices for us.
RESULTS. It is impractical to predict results for future cycles, but the consistent volume of available material is quite encouraging. The present LABAC Cycle #14 "RN5" book is our twenty-second bound volume of rediscovered Brilliant Cut Glass information. The group has published the following softbound books:
Cycle #14 (2008) --
("RN5") Cut Glass Research Notes
Volume Five, Comprehensive
Indices,
by Craig
Carlson. 156pp., ISBN
0-937508-20-9.
("NEW") Brilliant Cut Glass
Catalogs: New England
Glass Works 1884, Wilcox,
Standard Engraving
& Cut Glass
1916, Pitkin & Brooks 1917, T.B.
Clark & Co. 1912. 418pp.,
ISBN 0-937508-19-5.
Cycle #13 (2007) --
("RN4") Cut Glass Research Notes
Volume Four, Straus-Macy, by
Craig
Carlson.
496pp., ISBN 0-937508-18-7.
Cycle #12 (2007) --
("RN3") Cut Glass Research Notes
Volume Three (Kellner & Munro
through
Wright), by Craig Carlson.
446pp., ISBN
0-937508-17-9.
Cycle #11 (2006) --
("RN2") Cut Glass Research Notes
Volume Two (Drake through
Jewel),
by Craig
Carlson. 392pp., ISBN
0-937508-15-8.
("CIL") Cut Glass Catalogs:
Clark, International Cut Glass,
Libbey, et al. 392pp.,
ISBN
0-937508-16-0.
Cycle #10 (2006) --
("RN1") Cut Glass Research Notes
Volume One (Abraham & Straus
through
Dorflinger), by Craig Carlson.
362pp., ISBN 0-937508-13-6.
("PBM") Brilliant Cut Glass
Catalogs: Pitkin & Brooks
1902-03, Meriden 1918, Quaker
City 1910,
Higgins &
Seiter 1895-96, and Fischer
1918. ISBN 0-937508-14-4.
Cycle #9
(2005) -- ("LHL") Brilliant Cut
Glass Catalogs: Libbey, Huntley,
Loftis, Reim, et al.
ISBN 0-937508-12-8.
Cycle #8 (2005) -- ("MF") Marshall Field Cut Glass, 1892-1922. ISBN 0-937508-11-X.
Cycle #7
( 2004 )
-- ("BRC") Brilliant Cut Glass Catalog:
Bergen 1903 "Red Cover."
ISBN 0-937508-07-1.
("PBHS") Brilliant Cut Glass
Catalogs: Pitkin & Brooks,
Higgins & Seiter, Burley &
Tyrrell, Meriden.
ISBN 0-937508-10-1.
Cycle #6
(2004) -- ("FBMC") Brilliant Cut
Glass Catalogs: Fry,
Bergen, Maple
City, United States
Glass, Bawo & Dotter,
Bowman, Otto Young,
Marshall Wells. ISBN
0-937508-05-5.
("BCTH")
Brilliant Cut Glass Catalogs:
Blackmer, Covington, Tinker,
Hawkes.
ISBN 0-937508-06-3.
Cycle #5
( 2003)
-- ("AD2") American Brilliant Period
Cut Glass Advertisements Book
Two (Drake Cut Glass through
Jewel Cut Glass).
("AD3")
American
Brilliant Period Cut Glass
Advertisements Book Three
(Johnson-Carlson Cut Glass
through Owanda Cut Glass).
("AD4") American Brilliant
Period Cut Glass Advertisements Book
Four (Pairpoint through Wright
Rich Cut Glass).
Cycle #3
(2002, then 2nd editions 2006) -- ("PU") Cut Glass
Catalogs: Pairpoint and Union.
ISBN 0-937508-04-7.
("GWM") Cut Glass Catalogs:
Gilsey, Wallenstein, Mayer and
Tinker. ISBN0-937508-03-9.
We're certain that there's a lot more surviving cut glass information than has so far been "rediscovered". We continue to find and accumulate significant Brilliant Period cut glass catalogs, booklets, photo albums, scrapbooks, advertisements and similar materials. Our priority is cutting house information, but we've also rediscovered many interesting and useful distributor catalog sections showing cut glass. We invite all cut glass enthusiasts and institutions to join us in this important research effort.
LABAC Reprinted Cut Glass Materials Summary |
|||||||||||||
|
Cut glass catalogs, catalog sections, chapters and articles published by LABAC cycles #3 to #14. |
|||||||||||||
|
Company |
Catalog Date |
Catalog |
Type |
Ind |
LABAC Book |
Research Notes |
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
| Allen, Benjamin |
1901 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
| Allen, Benjamin |
1904 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
|
Bawo & Dotter |
1899 |
New York City |
Section |
Yes |
FBMC--6 |
|
|
||||||
|
Beck, Will H. |
~1914 |
Souix City |
Section |
No |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
| Becken, A.C. |
1903 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
|
Bergen |
1903 |
Red Cover |
Compete |
Yes |
BRC -- 7 |
Individually reprinted by arrangement with the owner of the catalog original and the Meriden Historical Society |
|
||||||
|
Bergen |
1907-08 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
FBMC--6 |
|
|
||||||
|
Bergen |
1914 |
51 |
Complete |
Yes |
BBB --4 |
|
|
||||||
|
Bergen |
1942 |
Cutting House |
Article |
|
LHL -- 9 |
Historical Memorandum |
|
||||||
|
Bergen |
n.d. |
Cutting House |
Article |
|
FBMC--6 |
Research Notes accumulated by Craig Carlson |
|
||||||
|
Blackmer, A.L. Co. |
1908 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
BCTH--6 |
|
|
||||||
|
Blackmer Cut Glass Co. |
1908-16 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
BBB --4 |
|
|
||||||
|
Blackmer Cut Glass Co. |
1908-16 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
BBB --4 |
|
|
||||||
|
Bowman, Geo. H |
n.d. |
No. 1 |
Section |
Yes |
FBMC--6 |
Clearly a cutting house |
|
||||||
| Brown, Jos. & Co. |
1903-04 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
|
Burley & Co |
1896 |
|
Section |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
|
Burley & Tyrrell |
1888 |
|
Section |
Yes |
PBHS--7 |
|
|
||||||
|
Burley & Tyrrell |
1907 |
|
Section |
Yes |
PBHS--7 |
|
|
||||||
| Clark (Levinski) |
1901 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
Waco, TX ! | |||||||
| Clark, T.B. & Co. | 1912 | Cutting House | Complete | Yes | NEW--14 | ||||||||
|
Covington Cut Glass Co. |
1915 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
BCTH--6 |
|
|
||||||
|
Farwell, John V |
1919-20 |
Jewelry |
Section |
No |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
|
Fischer Cut Glass Co. |
1918 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
PBM--10 |
Atco, New Jersey |
|
||||||
|
Fry |
1922 |
No. 10 |
Complete |
Yes |
FBMC--6 |
Includes a comprehensive Fry cut glass patterns index |
|
||||||
|
Gilsey, S. & H. |
1906 |
Cincinnati, OH |
Section |
Yes |
GWM--3 |
First and second editions. |
|
||||||
| Hawkes |
n.d. |
Trade cards |
Collection |
No |
BCTH--6 |
||||||||
| Hawkes, Crystal Glass |
n.d. |
Booklet |
Complete |
No |
LHL--9 |
||||||||
| Hawkes, T.G.&Co. |
1959 |
Booklet |
Complete |
No |
BCTH--6 |
||||||||
|
Higgins & Seiter |
1894-95 |
No. 5 |
Section |
Yes |
PBHS--7 |
|
|
||||||
|
Higgins & Seiter |
1895-96 |
|
Section |
Yes |
PBM--10 |
|
|
||||||
|
Higgins & Seiter |
1903 |
No. 14 Suppl. |
Section |
Yes |
PBHS--7 |
|
|
||||||
|
Higgins & Seiter |
1910 |
No. 19 |
Section |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
|
Higgins & Seiter, |
n.d. |
|
Article |
No |
LHL -- 9 |
Catalog Definitive Dates, by Jim Havens |
|
||||||
|
Hoffman Jewelry |
1909-10 |
Jewelers |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
|
|
||||||
|
Huntley |
1913 |
Jewelers |
Section |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
cited by Pearson |
|
||||||
|
Huntley |
1914 |
Jewelers |
Section |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
|
Ideal Cut Glass Co |
n.d. |
Cutting House |
Article |
|
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
| International Cut Glass |
1904 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
Useful and Ornamental | |||||||
|
Koch Cut Glass Co |
n.d. |
Cutting House |
Article |
|
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
| Learning from the Libbey Ads, Cut Glass |
1892-1920 |
||||||||||||
| Libbey, American Beauty |
1904 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
| Libbey, Drama of Glass |
1894-98 |
Cutting House |
Book |
No |
CIL--11 |
By Kate Field | |||||||
| Libbey, Facts on Cut Glass |
1892 |
Cutting House |
Article |
No |
CIL--11 |
No identified author | |||||||
|
Libbey, Things Beautiful |
1901 |
Promotional |
Complete |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
|
Loftis Bros |
1905 |
Diamonds |
Section |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
|
Maltby, C. R. |
n.d. |
Premiums |
Section |
No |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
| Manufacturers Price List No. 77 |
1904 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
|
Maple City |
1910 |
No. 9 |
Incomplete |
Yes |
FBMC--6 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1892 |
Jewelry |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1894-95 |
Jewelry |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1895-96 |
Jewelry |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1898 |
Jewelry |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1900-01 |
Jewelry |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1903 |
General |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1905-06 |
Jewelry |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1909 |
General |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1910-11 |
Jewelry - 160 |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1911-12 |
Jewelry - 178 |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1913 |
Spring General - 211 |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1921-22 |
Jewelry - 330 |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field |
1922-23 |
Jewelry - 334 |
Section |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall Field Chicago Tribune ads |
1897-1916 |
|
Collection |
Yes |
MF -- 8 |
|
|
||||||
|
Marshall-Wells Hardware Co. |
1916 |
|
Section |
Yes |
FBMC--6 |
|
|
||||||
|
Meriden |
1918 |
Cutting House |
Fragment |
Yes |
PBHS--7 |
Complete catalog later found,reprinted in PBM |
|
||||||
|
Meriden |
1918 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
PBM--10 |
Probably same original whose fragments were reprinted in PBHS |
|
||||||
| New England Glass Works | 1884 | Cutting House | Complete | Yes | NEW--14 | Managed & owned by W.L. Libbey & Son | |||||||
|
Ogden, Merrill & Greer |
1905 |
#55 |
Section |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
| Oskamp Nolting |
1897 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
|
Our Salesman |
1906 |
17th Annual |
Section |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
|
Pairpoint |
n.d. |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
PU -- 3 |
First and second editions |
|
||||||
| Peacock Jewelers |
1909 |
Jeweler |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
|
Pitkin & Brooks |
1902 |
|
Complete |
Yes |
PBHS--7 |
Not same as catalog in PBM |
|
||||||
|
Pitkin & Brooks |
1902-03 |
|
Complete? |
Yes |
PBM--10 |
Not same catalog as in PBHS |
|
||||||
| Pitkin & Brooks Chicago Tribune ads |
1890-1933 |
|
Collection |
Yes |
LHL--9 |
||||||||
|
Quaker City Cut Glass Co. |
1910 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
PBM--10 |
|
|
||||||
|
Reim |
1900-06 |
Jeweler |
Section |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
| Richter & Phillips |
1909 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
| Richter, Paul Co. |
1920 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
| Richter, Paul Co. |
1921 |
Cutting House |
Complete |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
| Richter, Paul Co. |
1922-23 |
Cutting House |
Fragment |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
| Roddin, E.V.& Co. |
1909 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
|
Schwab, A.C. & Sons |
1917 |
Jewelers |
Section |
Yes |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
| St. Louis Clock & Silverware |
1905 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
| St. Louis Clock & Silverware |
1908 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
CIL--11 |
||||||||
| Standard Engraving & Cut Glass | 1916 | Cutting House | Complete | Yes | NEW--14 | ||||||||
|
Tegtmeyer, Archie |
1908 |
Milwaukee |
Section |
No |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
|
Tinker, F.B., Cut Glass Co. |
~1908 |
Sales Agency |
Complete |
Yes |
GWM--3 |
First and second editions. |
|
||||||
|
Tinker, F.B., Cut Glass Co. |
1899-1907 |
Sales Agency |
Complete |
Yes |
BCTH--6 |
|
|
||||||
|
Tuthill |
n.d. |
|
Notes |
No |
LHL -- 9 |
From Wallace Turner to Louise Boggess |
|
||||||
|
Union Glass Co. |
n.d. |
Blanks for cutting |
Complete |
No |
PU -- 3 |
Reprint of original issued to Parsche |
|
||||||
|
United States Glass |
~1910 |
Cutting House |
Fragments |
Yes |
FBMC--6 |
|
|
||||||
|
Wallenstein, Mayer & Co. |
1911 |
Jeweler |
Section |
Yes |
GWM--3 |
First and second editions. |
|
||||||
|
Wallenstein, Mayer & Co. |
1913 |
Jeweler |
Section |
Yes |
GWM--3 |
First and second editions. |
|
||||||
|
White & McNaught |
1910 |
Minneapolis |
Section |
No |
LHL -- 9 |
|
|
||||||
| Wilcox | ~1895 | Cutting House |
117 page fragment |
Yes | NEW--14 | Location of original unknown | |||||||
|
Young, Otto & Co. |
1905 |
Wholesale |
Section |
Yes |
FBMC--6 |
|
|
||||||
Excludes a) unbound loose pages distributed at the close of Cycles #1 and #2; b) coverage of 170+ companies in chapters of the four-volume LABAC Cut Glass Advertisements book set; c)the 240+ companies covered in chapters of the five-volume Cut Glass Research Notes series by Craig Carlson.
LABAC continues to rediscover and reprint fresh old cut glass documentation. We invite all interested researchers and institutions to join our efforts to find and preserve information about Brilliant Cut Glass.
(If you wish to print this information and it will not 'fit' your page width, please email us for printing help. Warren & Teddie)