Information about Brilliant Era cutting blanks suppliers is scarce. Hundreds of blank pictures are presented in the middle 88 pages (Cream Trays through Boxes, Creams and Puffs) of this large undated Union Glass cutting blanks catalog. It was originally issued circa 1903-06 to the cutting firm of F. X. Parsche of Chicago IL. A photocopy of the original was was the 2003 basis for Chapter 3 of the LABAC Cycle #3 ("PU") book distributed to the (then relatively small) LABAC research group. A second paper edition of the PU book was published for LABAC during 2005, but that book was sent only to group participants (ISBN 0-937508-04-7), and has long been out of print.
LABAC has opted to release this material in economical eBook form, so that it becomes more accessible to the growing population of online Brilliant Cut Glass collectors. The extensive pictorial enumeration of Union blanks offered for cutting is broken into thirds for eBook publication due to distribution channel eBook file size limitations. The eBooks containing the remainder of the Union Glass Blanks catalog content are:
Union Glass Co. Cutting Blanks Catalog, Punch Bowls Through Miscellaneous, and
Union Glass Co. Cutting Blanks Catalog, Baskets Through Comports.
The Union Glass Company of Somerville MA began manufacturing a line of flint glass products in 1851. The factory quickly grew into an extensive operation. From 1892 onward Union operated two nine-pot coal-fired glass furnaces. By the end of the 19th century the highly regarded company employed roughly 200 workers, providing high quality blanks to many of the cutting houses producing Brilliant Era cut and engraved glass.
