Stretch glass exhibit on display in Wellington

The NDGA National Glass Museum in Wellington is now host to a new exhibit, which can be seen on display for the next few months.

The display will be made up of over 200 pieces of colorful stretch glass.

Cal Hackeman, president of the Stretch Glass Society, explained the exhibit and the reason for it on Sunday.

“This is the 100th anniversary of iridescent stretch glass in 2016,” Hackeman said.

“All real stretch glass is American. There are a couple of imitations made in Europe, but all the real stuff was made here,” he added.

Hackeman says stretch glass is often given its shape and color based on a couple of variables, including the forming by an artisan and the frequency and lengths of time during which the glass is held under the fire.

Stretch glass was first made and distributed in 1916, although it was phased out around 1935 with the arrival of the Great Depression.

The fine art made its way back around in 1974, during what Hackeman calls “the second chapter of stretch glass.”

“People got tired of it a bit and then the depression came,” Hackeman said. “They had to make cheap glass and this isn’t cheap.”

The Stretch Glass Society was formed in 1974.

“By then, stretch glass is 40 to 50 years old, and it started to become collectable,” Hackeman said.

The Stretch Glass Society went to one of the surviving companies, Fenton Art Glass Company of Williamstown, West Virginia. The society convinced Fenton to make some stretch glass again with some sample pieces in a limited quantity.

“Then Fenton kind of put it on the back burner,” Hackeman said. “But in 1995, Fenton brought stretch glass back into the light and they produced it from then until 2010 when the factory went out of business.”

Hackeman said the exhibit in town will have pieces from nine different companies.

“It’s part of our nationwide celebration of the 100th anniversary,” Hackeman said. “We have exhibits in other museums and we have a traveling exhibit.”

Hackeman added that the Stretch Glass Society has a convention in Marietta, Ohio from July 27 through July 29 where collectors gather and bring some of the excess pieces from their own collections to sell.

As for the display in Wellington, interested visitors can now see the elaborate pieces anytime over the next few months.

“We’ll have it in the window until probably around the first of August, maybe a little longer,” Sarah Van Dalsem said of the new exhibit.

Van Dalsem is the National Depression Glass Association Acquisition Administrator.

Jan Eckert, wife of Wellington City Manager Roy Eckert, is the new acting museum manager in Wellington.

“We are so pleased that she has stepped up to help us until we can find a new full-time curator,” said Pam Meyer, Vice President of the National Depression Glass Association (NDGA). “If you haven’t been to the museum, I would urge you to stop by and see what we have to offer and also visit with either one of our volunteers or Jan. I’m sure you will come away with a smile.”

For more information on stretch glass, the Stretch Glass Society can be found on Facebook or reached via email at info@stretchglasssociety.org.

Their website is www.stretchglasssociety.org.

The recently set up stretch glass exhibit is now on display at the NDGA?National Glass Museum in Wellington. The display will be here until August.