Hazel Atlas Glass
from the
Glass Encyclopedia

Hazel Atlas was formed in 1902 from two glass plants in Washington, Pensylvania, Hazel Glass Company and the Atlas Glass and Metal Company. They made glass jars with wide tops and tumblers and their main plant was at Clarksburg, West Virginia with their head office in Wheeling, WV.

The company was technology oriented, and claimed to be the first factory making jars and tumblers by fully automatic machinery using continuous tanks and lehrs. By 1920 they had introduced simple tableware items like celery jars, sugar bowls, finger bowls, mixing bowls, and coasters to their catalogue.

In the 1920s the company expanded by buying other glass companies and by 1929 they had 10 glass factories. Hazel Atlas started making suits of patterned tableware in the 1930s, and they became one of the major producers of Depression Era glassware.

Amongst the many famous Depression glass patterns made by Hazel Atlas were Royal Lace, Old Florentine, Moderntone, New Century, Ovide, Ribbon, Starlight, Cloverleaf, and many more.

Throughout the Depression era the company continued to expand, and by the mid 1950s they had become a huge operation with many factories.

At that point Hazel Atlas was sold to Continental Can. Unfortunately the new owners were not so successful. To cope with their financial difficulties in relation to the glassworks, they reduced the number of items and the number of patterns in their catalogue until 1964, when they sold the Clarksburg glassworks to Brockway.

One of the well-known patterns introduced by Continental Can was the Capri Swirl, from the 1960s and the opaque white Ripple, introduced in 1958. When Brockway took over in 1964 they tried to make the company profitable again, but gave up in 1979 and sold the plant to Anchor Hocking. These new owners sold it to a holding company and in 1987 the glassmaking machinery that was still at Clarksburg was destroyed. A sad end to a once great company.