Collecting Antique Carnival Glass   by Margaret Tye

Carnival glass was first produced in the early 20thC by a number of enterprising, American glass manufacturers who recognised a demand for cheaper glass to compete with Tiffany. Although originally sold as pressed, iridized glass it later became known as carnival glass when it fell out of fashion and was given away as fairground prizes. However collectors soon recognised the beauty of the earlier glass with its intricate patterns and colors. Now it is widely collected, particularly in the US where it is thought of as an American collectible, although several other countries have produced small quantities.

The glass of several manufacturers is eagerly sought after, probably the best known being Fenton. Initially two brothers Frank and John, started the Fenton glassworks in 1905 and by 1908 were beginning to produce iridized glass. Unfortunately the brothers quarrelled and John left to form his own Millersburg Glass company. Millersburg produced some of the finest carnival glass, but John was not a good business man and the company only survived 1913. Today Millersburg glass is highly sought after.

Imperial Glass began in 1901 and in 1909 started producing carnival glass. Many collectors consider it second only to Millersburg.

Harry Northwood produced his first iridized glass in 1908 and continued until his death in 1919. Lettering on carnival glass is rare and one of the most collectible Northwood patterns is their "Good Luck" range. The Northwood and Dugan families were closely related and in the early years the two names worked together. The Dugan plant burned down in 1931 and was never rebuilt.

The value of carnival glass depends on color and rarity as well as condition. Marigold and amethyst are the two most common colors. However many people make the mistake of thinking pieces they have seen in those colors are not valuable. If a pattern had only a few pieces produced in a particular color, the value is likely to be higher because of its scarcity. Red carnival glass is rare as it was expensive to produce. There is is lot of modern red glass, so do not be fooled into thinking you have found a valuable piece.

In recent years some of the earlier carnival glass patterns have been reproduced, but most have a mark on the back to indicate they are a later issue. A few patterns have been faked and if you are unsure it is worth checking whether forgeries are known.

About the Author

To learn more about collecting carnival glass and where to buy it, please visit Collecting Carnival Glass.
Fenton Glass Factory Tour

Corning Incorporated   by jekky

Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) is an American manufacturer of glass, ceramics and related materials, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The company was known as Corning Glass Works until 1989, when it changed its name to Corning Incorporated. While probably best known for its line of Corelle tableware and Pyrex cookware (businesses which it sold but still holds an ~8% interest in) Corning has transformed itself over the years into a high technology company, allocating a significant amount of resources towards research and development. As of 2008, Corning's businesses are broken down and focused into five major sectors: Display Technologies, Environmental Technologies, Life Sciences, Telecommunications and Specialty Materials. Corning is also involved in several joint equity ventures, the most notable being the Dow Corning Corporation. Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), the largest reference lab company by market capitalization in the world, and Covance (NYSE: CVD), the largest clinical research organization (CRO) by market capitalization in the world, are both spinoffs of Corning.

History

Originally founded in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, the company later moved its operations to (and took the name of) the city of Corning, New York. Like many companies, Corning's growth and change have led to the elimination or downsizing of many prior operations based within the city. However, Corning still maintains their world headquarters within the city itself. They have also established and continue to expand their nearby research and development facility as well as operations associated with catalytic converters and diesel filters. Corning has a long history of community development and has assured community leaders of their intent to remain headquartered in the city.

In the fall of 1970, the company announced that researchers Robert D. Maurer, Donald Keck, Peter C. Schultz, and Frank Zimar had demonstrated a fiber with 17 dB optic attenuation per kilometer by doping silica glass with titanium. A few years later they produced a fiber with only 4 dB/km using germanium oxide as the core dopant. Such low attenuations ushered in optical fiber telecommunications and enabled the Internet. Corning became the leading manufacturer of optical fiber.

Company profits soared during the late 90's as part of the dot-com boom and Corning expanded its fiber operations significantly with several new plants. They also entered the Photonics market with the intent of becoming a major provider of complete fiber optic systems. The subsequent collapse of the dot-com market had a major impact on the company, with its stock plunging at one point to $1 / share. Corning's dramatic recovery and re-emergence can be attributed to its leadership and employees. As of 2007, Corning has posted five straight years of improving financial performance.

Current Technologies

As of 2008, Corning is the leading manufacturer, with over 50% of the market share, of the glass used in liquid crystal displays. Corning has recently announced the expansion of existing facilities as well as the construction of an all new Gen 10 facility co-located with the Samsung Group in Korea. Corning is also the only company to have gone "green" with regards to the LCD glass substrate, in that the glass is produced without the use of heavy metals. The company continues to produce optical fiber and cable for the communications industry at its Wilmington and Concord plants. It is also a major manufacturer of ceramic emission control devices for catalytic converters in cars and light trucks that use gasoline engines. The company is also making a major investment in the production of ceramic emission control products for diesel engines as a result of tighter emission standards for those engines both in the U.S. and abroad.

In 2007 they announced the development of an optic fiber, ClearCurve, which uses nanostructure technology to facilitate small radii bending that one would encounter in FTTX installations. Gorilla Glass entered the market in 2008, addressing the scratch resistance and durability needs of handheld devices, especially those employing touchscreens. As part of its commitment to constantly reinventing itself, Corning invests a substantial amount of revenue (~10%) towards research and development and has earmarked $300 million dollars towards further expansion of its Sullivan Park research facility..

Other notable products manufactured by Corning Incorporated include a high purity fused silica employed in microlithography systems, a low expansion glass utilized in the construction of reflective mirror blanks, windows for all U.S. Space Shuttles, and Steuben art glass. While the number of Corning facilities still employing the traditional tanks of molten glass has shrunk over the years, it maintains the capacity to produce a wide assortment of glass compositions and to supply the market with bulk or finished material.

Currently, as part of its research and development efforts, Corning is working in a variety of emerging technology areas including green lasers, mercury abatement, microreactors, photovoltaics and silicon on glass.

Additional information

Corning Incorporated employs more than 23,000 people worldwide and had sales of $5.9 billion for the 2008 calendar year. Corning has been listed for many years among Fortune magazine's 500 largest industrial companies, and is currently ranked 414.

Although the company is publicly owned, James R. Houghton, a descendant of the founder, served as chairman of the board of directors from 2001-2007 and still serves as a director. Wendell P. Weeks is chairman and chief executive officer (as of 2009).

Other Corning notables over its 150 year history include: invention of a process for rapid and inexpensive production of light bulbs (in fact, Corning developed the glass for Thomas Edison's light bulb.); early major manufacturer of glass panels and funnels for television tubes; invention and production of VycorTM (high temperature glass with high thermal shock resistance), and the invention and production of CorelleTM (durable glass dinnerware), PyrexTM, and PyroceramTM (glass-ceramic cookware). Corning manufactured the windows for every US manned space vehicle, as well as supplying the glass blank for the primary mirror in the Hubble Space Telescope. Corning is also a four-time National Medal of Technology winner for its product and process innovations.

In July 2008, Corning announced the sale of its Steuben Glass operations to a private equity company associated with the Schottenstein Luxury Group. The Steuben Glass operations had been unprofitable for over a decade, losing $30 million dollars within the past 5 years.

About the Author

I am China Manufacturers writer, reports some information about plastic pants adult, bath towel stand.

Louis Comfort Tiffany & His Lamps   by Brady Freeman

Louis Comfort Tiffany is an American designer and artist who had pioneered the art of stained glass lamp making. His innovation, the stained glass lamps, came to be known worldwide as Tiffany lamps, now an unavoidable decorative piece in many homes/hotels. Tiffany's name is also closely associated with the Art Nouveau/Aesthetic movements.

The late 1800s and early 1900s witnessed new inventions and techniques in lamp making such as the patented translucent "milky" glass known as opalescent glass - by John La Farge - and stained glass lamps or the Tiffany decorative lamps by Louis Tiffany. In a sense, his technology was not entirely novel. He just used a technology that was totally confined to window pane decoration for centuries to the making of lamp shades. But the credit is still bestowed upon Tiffany because trying to migrate window pane technology to lamp shades, with every work being hand done, was quite an effort in itself. Also, then he had to create a market for the new lamps, which none was aware of existing then.

Louis Tiffany used thin copper foils to tape individual glass pieces, which are then soldered together to form the glass pane. In the old window pane technology, but there lead was used as the substance to hold the glass pieces together. Tiffany showed that by substituting lead with copper not only makes the glass weighs less, but also copper's malleability ensures that finer lines and hence complex designs can be weaved in more easily to the stained glass shades or big and complex window panes used in churches.

In the days of Tiffany, the lamp shades were entirely handmade. Now, with the advent of technology and automation, nearly every process that goes on behind the scene of Tiffany lamp making has become automatic, with minimal human interference. Also, copper foils and colored glass has given way to more costly and cheaper substances. In fact, the reality that there is Tiffany lamps that costs hundreds and thousands of dollars will itself give one an idea as to what all materials can go into the making of fancy Tiffany lamps, even though lamp makers prefer to keep such information one of their trade secrets.

But critics, who see Tiffany lamp making as an art, say that fusing, slumping, and bending of glass in modern electric home kilns has in fact made the job a lot easier, and it had taken away the element of expertise that was required in the early days, a reality that in fact reflects in the Tiffany lamp shades that are available today in the market. But, on the other side of the coin, this is also the reason why Tiffany glass lamp making, the vocation, has become so common these days. The availability of factory made cheap glass in abundance, and improved training techniques have also contributed to more people taking to Tiffany lamp making as a profitable vocation. It is profitable because, across the globe, in homes and offices, Tiffany lamps are still a sought after décor item.

About the Author

Brady Freeman is a regular contributor at Tiffany Lamps. A consumer based site that offers Tiffany wall sconces, and Water Features.

Tiffany glass

Why French Roads Are Better Than Britsih Ones

Driving in Britain is painful as it is, with choc-a-block roads, baffling signs and regulations all made worse by rude, ignorant drivers, our commute to work becomes a gauntlet run rather than a pleasant journey. Britain's up and down weather doesn't help either one minute the sun is blazing down making the cabin stuffier than an Eaton tea party, the next we have lashing rain making it impossible to see three feet in front of you, all you can do is hope and prey that drivers behind you at least have temporary car insurance. The problem is that Britain's road network is creaking under rising numbers of cars on the road, just look at the M25 on a Friday evening, we could do with another 3 lanes to get the thing moving! Although driving in our own country is a task in anger mangement, we at least feel safe and at ease, driving in a foreign country is a whole new ball game!

My first foray into foreign motoring was on a family holiday a good few years ago, I was only 18 but my parents let make take the reigns of a 2 liter estate let loose on French motorways with one day car insurance. After being daunting at first, the experience of driving in France is actually far superior to what we are used to in Britain. The motorway surface is as smooth as glass and consistent over hundreds of miles. You don't get any of the grating road noise through the tires and the hand numbing steering wheel vibrations. The only downside is that these are toll roads you will need to stop at a kiosk at certain points on the motorway and pay.

The outlay is tiny and the waiting time is virtually non-existant so they don't slow you down too much, there would likely be uproar if this system were implemented out across the UK, but if you stop and think what a difference it would make to our pitted, potholed excuses for roads, it may not seem like such a bad idea. The concept has in fact been implemented on the M6 in Britain, allowing drivers the option of a shorter, stress-free journey for a minimal fee, well worth it if you ask me, almost as good value as day car insurance! Britain has a long way to go to catch up to our European counterparts in terms of installing a quality, effective road network, could toll roads be the answer?

DIY Perfect French Tip Manicure