Fenton Art Glass Company

Fenton Art Glass Company was the largest manufacturer of handmade colored glass in the United States. The Fenton Art Glass Company was founded in 1905 by Frank L. Fenton and his brother John W. Fenton in an old glass factory building in Martins Ferry, Ohio. They began by painting decorations on glass blanks made by other glass manufacturers. Soon, being unable to get the glass they needed, they decided to produce their own glass. The first glass from the new Fenton factory in Williamstown, West Virginia, was made on January 2, 1907.

Frank L. Fenton's desire to develop new and unusual colors helped to keep Fenton in the forefront of the handmade art glass industry. In late 1907, Fenton introduced Iridescent glass in an effort to be able to provide average people access to iridescent wares similar to that produced by Tiffany and Steuben. This glass, now known as Carnival glass, is a popular collectible today.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Fenton also produced practical items, such as mixing bowls and tableware to get through the depression and WWII shortages. They continued working on developing a wide array of new colors. In May of 1948 co-founder and principal designer Frank L Fenton passed away followed within 6 months by his brother and close colleague, Robert C Fenton. Into these huge shoes stepped the relatively inexperienced Frank M. Fenton, age 33, and Wilmer C. (Bill) Fenton, age 25, to take over as President and Vice President respectively. These were difficult times in the glass industry as the boom from the war years was leveling off and the industry was facing stiff competition from the machine made glass makers. Frank and Bill managed to right the ship and lead the Fenton factory to its most profitable times during the next 30 years fueled predominately by the iconic Fenton Hobnail line which was present in company catalogs for over 40 years.

In 1986, the leadership of the company passed on to the third generation, with George W. Fenton, Frank M's son, taking over as President. The ensuing years grew difficult for the company as decorative tastes changed and foreign competition increased. There were a couple of ventures made to produce Fenton glass abroad which failed, and that, along with increases in commodity and labor costs led to the company's downfall. After 106 years Fenton Art Glass ceased all traditional glass making operations in July of 2011.

Fenton Quick Facts

Fenton History Page (links to timeline, logo, marks, etc.)

Fenton 1950-2012 Catalogs