Friday 25 September 2009

Thursday 24th September 2009 - A Wild Glass Chase

          Google is supposed to 'alert' me whenever "Glasgow" is freshly mentioned in the vastness of the World Wide Web (Have you noticed that "WWW" has twice as many syllables as "World Wide Web"?  So why do people say it?).  I always make a point of using the word "Glasgow" in these pages, but Google almost never finds them.  Anyway, it does find some interesting stuff. 
          Today it told me that the Sheriff of Barren County, KY, has added some Glasgow people to his 'most wanted' list.  One of them was a lady of 38, wanted for 58 counts of theft by deception.  Her address was given as "Good Folks Road, in Old Lovers Lane".  You couldn't make that up, could you?
          Another was wanted for "failing to report change in order to collect benefits", so they're not exactly up there with Al Capone, are they?
 
          I'm now trying to chase a company, this glass company which shows up on the original plat map of 1911.  Glass is the third most important industry in West Virginia (after coal and steel).  I think a visit to the WV Historical Society, at the Capital, might yield some interesting history.  But it doesn't.
          There is a Kanawha Glass Company mentioned.  It's quite famous.  People collect its output.  But it was created in 1952, so it's not the one.  There is no mention of any of the other names, and hardly any mention of Kanawha County.
          It's crystal clear that local historians don't devote much time to industry.  If I wanted to chase some ancestors, or find out who was mayor of where, or who got killed in which battle, I'd be there by now.  But a company based quite close to the capital, in one of the most important industries in the area?  Not a word.
          I do know quite a bit now about how window glass was made.  Did you know they made big cylinders, then split them and flattened them?  So they were never ever quite flat.  They had to be sure to pack them the same way up, or they got broken.
          Because of the very high skill levels involved, quite a number of the companies, were workers' co-operatives, with the workers holding all the stock, and electing the company's officers.
          And quite a lot of workers were Belgian.  There is a whole book of Belgian Glass workers.  It reminded me of Beachcomber's "Anthology of Huntingdonshire Cabmen".  When fans of Agatha Christie's Poirot tell you there are no famous Belgians, you can take them to the West Virginia Historical Society Library, and read them a whole bookful.
         
          Later that night, I nearly met an American I didn't like.  He swept into the bar in 'take over the room' mode.  He remarked on my book.  Wanted to be told which teams were playing on the television, and what stage the game was at.  My hackles really, really hacked.  Fortunately, he was with a lady, and had to pay her most attention.  From what I could hear of their conversation, he didn't seem to know her very well: despite the wedding rings.  Maybe he spent his life stuck in 'take over the room' mode.

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