historical glass museum

We spent a pleasant hour touring the several rooms of this quaint glass museum, located in well-maintained victorian Redlands house. The curator (Joann) was exceptionally knowledgeable, and gave us the intimate details of these treasures of days gone by. Most of the display is American-made glass; these manufacturers had almost all gone out of business by the turn of the millennium. There's also an old-glass gift shop in the back.

The Historical Glass Museum has long been the only museum dedicated to American-made glass west of the Rockies. Housed in a Victorian home, it is packed with examples of glass made in America, including pattern glass, carnival glass, depression glass, elegant glass, art glass, cut glass (including some from Liberace's estate), contemporary glass and more. The museum is primarily supported by donations, and sales from the gift shop. It is worth visiting to see the type of fine craftsmanship that was once a major industry in America. In fact, glassmaking was the very first commercial business that opened in the colonial Jamestown settlement. Sadly, nearly all of the great glass manufacturers have since gone out of business, and other than small art glass businesses, often owned and operated by one individual, the American tradition of glassmaking has nearly disappeared.