The Maryland Glass Company was established in 1913, in Cumberland, Maryland. It was located at the site of the former Eastern Glass Company which had burned down. A modern facility which included several buildings was built on the site. The company had facilities available for cutting and finishing. They also had a building devoted to acid etchings and painting. The plant included a two stack furnace for pots and for blowing glass.
Maryland was known for their glass decorating. They made some of the glass that they decorated and sold. Other blanks were purchased from other glass companies such as Heisey and then decorated or etched and sold under the Maryland Glass name. Decorating techniques included needle etches and acid plate etchings, on both pottery and glassware. Many pieces were decorated with gold, silver, and platinum coatings. Enameling in black, blue, green, orange, gold gilding, and hand paintings with floral decorations can be found on glassware and pottery made by Maryland as well as on blanks from other companies.
Known etchings by Maryland Glass include the Cupid with Psyche Etch (also called Diana and Nymph Etch), Maryland Basket Etch, and a Maryland Griffin etching.
This company, like so many Depression Era companies, was noted for their color. Colors produced include amber, amethyst, blue, crystal, ruby, orange, and pink.
In the early 1930s Maryland Glass output began to decline. In 1935, production of glassware ceased. In 1938, the factory reopened and continued to produce glass until 1941 when the factory closed its doors forever. The decorating facility continued as Kortwright, Nehring, and Weaver.
The Information for this brief history came from a very informative web site called Cumberland Glass. It can be found at
http://www.cumberlandglass.org/
This site is a wonderful souce of information on little known glass companies that were located in the staate of Maryland.
