The Glass Industry in Fairfield County

Ohio Glass Museum

The Glass Industry is important in the development and history of Fairfield County and Lancaster. It contributed to the financial stability of the region from 1888 to present, in part due to the abundance of natural resources including sand and gas. In 2003, Lancaster was designated the "Pressed Glass Capital" of Ohio by the State Legislature.

Erickson Glass Works, Bremen, Ohio 1943-1961

The Erickson Glass Works which was established by Carl Erickson in Bremen, Ohio produced world famous handmade art glass from 1943 to 1961.

Carl Erickson and his brother Stephen, Swedish immigrants from Reijmre, Sweden, a famous glass center, descended from master glass blowers. Carl learned his trade at Pairpoint Manufacturing Company in New Bedford, Massachusetts where he worked for 20 years. From there in 1932, he went to Libby Glass in Toledo for four years, then a brief stay in Hollywood where he designed the chandelier for Greta Garbo's "Camille". The Blenko Glass Company in Milton, West Virginia hired him as a designer and teacher of apprentices. In 1943 Carl and Stephen Erickson bought a defunct glass factory in Bremen, Ohio.

Erickson's glass patents involved what he called a "flame design" . His trademark was the extensive use of controlled bubble design which was incorporated in a heavy glass ball which served as a base for many different pieces. Carl Erickson personally designed most of the pieces manufactured at his glass works.

His honors include:

• U.S. Parks Commission chose him to blow the first piece of glass at "Glass House Point" near Jamestown, Virginia commemorating the first U.S. glass factory
• The Museum of Modern Art, New York - award for good design
• Smithsonian Institute of Washington, D.C. commissioned him to duplicate complex old glass fixtures.
• Old Sturbridge Museum, Sturbridge, Massachusetts - old glass fixtures as above
• Metropolitan Museum of Art - produced glass pieces
• Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York - produced glass pieces
• Senate of Ohio - resolution stated "A craftsman who has brought to his community and his state well deserved fame for his singular and rare skill."