Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Company Collection

Chemung County Historical Society

Corning Museum of Glass - Juliette K. and Leonard S. Rakow Research Library

Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Company Collection

Technical drawing for Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Co.'s model M2109 milk bottle for Bireley's Inc., September 26, 1938. - Image Source

Collection Facts

Extent:

1487

Dates of Original:

c. 1905-1979

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Historical Context

In 1883, Hervey D. Thatcher patented the “milk protector” – a glass bottle that allowed milk distributors to deliver their goods in individual sealed bottles rather than ladled from an open pail. The Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Company (1905-1985) manufactured milk bottles and other food/drink containers. It had plants located in Kane, Pennsylvania; Streator, Illinois; Elmira, New York; Wharton, New Jersey; Tampa, Florida; Lawrenceburg, Indiana; Toledo, Ohio; and Saugus, California. In 1966, it became a division of Rexall Drug and Chemical Company, later called Dart Industries, Inc. In 1985, Thatcher was sold to Diamond-Bathurst. The company went bankrupt in 1987.

Scope of Collection

The bulk of the collection consists of bottle design drawings and technical specifications for Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Company products from the 1940’s through the 1960’s. It also includes company newsletters from the 1920’s and 1940’s, as well as promotional material and product catalogs from the 1930’s through the 1970’s.