T. B. Clark & Company
American Brilliant Glass Education and Research - HBG
T.B. Clark & Company - Brief Historical Sketch and Trademarks
Brief Historical Sketch and TrademarksThe company, established originally as Hatch and Clark in 1884, became T. B. Clark & Company the following year. The company’s original cutting shop was in Honesdale, PA, but a new factory was opened two miles away in Seelyville in 1891 with the Honesdale location continuing to serve as the company’s headquarters. Clark used cutting blanks made by the Dorflinger Glass Company in nearby White Mills. Of the three trademarks, below, the script signature in the center is frequently found acid-etched on the company’s cut glass. The other two trademarks, both registered, probably were used only on paper labels and printed matter. T. B. Clark & Company closed in 1927.
T. B. Clark & Company established a subsidiary, the Maple City Glass Company (a cutting shop), in Seelyville in 1898. When J. S. O’Connor sold his cut-glass factory in Hawley, PA to Clark in 1902, Clark moved its Maple City company to O’Connor’s old factory. The three maple leaf trade marks illustrated here are said to have been acid-etched on glass cut by Maple City, but the writer can only confirm those on the left and the right. The Maple City factory closed in 1911.
The Clark company also established a second subsidiary, the Lackawanna Cut Glass Company, in Scranton, PA, in 1900. This “direct from factory to consumer” business existed for only a few years, c1903-c1905. Lackawanna’s trademark, an L enclosed within a diamond, was acid-etched on some of its glassware, and it may also have been used on a paper label.
An even more shadowy business association existed between T. B. Clark & Company and C. G. Alford & Company. This company acid-etched the glass it sold with the trademark ALFORD within a diamond, similar to Lackawanna’s trademark. Alford maintained the fiction that it produced the glass it sold. Most, perhaps all, of Alford’s glass was cut by T. B. Clark & Company.
Catalogs (Clark, Maple City, Lackawanna, and Alford)[Compilation Catalog, 1896-c1910] T. B. CLARK & CO., AMERICAN CUT GLASS. American Cut Glass Association, n.d. Bound with 1905, 1908, and c1910 Clark catalogs and 1904, 1906, 1909, and 1911 Maple City catalogs. Each catalog is paginated separately. (The 1896 catalog is also available separately [Pyne Press 1972, pp. 107-132]). [1901 Catalog] T. B. CLARK & CO., RICH CUT GLASS. American Cut Glass Association, n.d. (38 pp.). [1903-5 Catalog] LACKAWANNA CUT GLASS CO. American Cut Glass Association. n.d., [iii] + pp. 4-84 (CMG f-8271C). [1904 Price List] C. G. Alford & Company, NYC, 10 pp. (CMG f-53C) [1905 Catalog] C. G. Alford & Company, NYC. OUR 1905 SHOWING OF RICH CUT GLASS, 56 pp. [CMG f-53C]. Patented Patterns (1886-1924)All patents were assigned by their patentees to T. B. Clark & Company except those marked with an asterisk (*). These patents remained with the patentees. Patent No. / Catalog or “Coined” Name / Patentee / Application Filed / Date Granted 16,720 / “Strawberry Diamond and Star” / Walter A. Wood / 12 Feb 1886 / 1 Jun 1886 18,621 / “Baker’s Gothic” / Thomas A. Baker / 18 Aug 1888 / 25 Sep 1888 19,780 / “Pointed Star” / William Henry Hawken / 25 Feb 1890 / 29 Apr 1890 20,570 / “Maltese Cross” / John Billard / 3 Feb 1891 / 10 Mar 1891 21,466 / “Sea Shells” / Walter A. Wood / 12 Mar 1892 / 12 Apr 1892 30,086 / Waldorf / Thomas B. Clark / 3 Jan 1899 / 31 Jan 1899 (*) 32,150 / “Lapidary Center” / Thomas B. Clark / 30 Dec 1899 / 30 Jan 1900 (*) 40,051 / “Cornflower” / Robert H. Pittman / 20 Apr 1909 / 15 Jun 1909 40,213 / Prima Donna / Thomas B. Clark / 9 Jun 1909 / 10 Aug 1909 (*) 63,795 / “Exotic Flower” / William P. Moran / 18 Jan 1923 / 15 Jan 1924
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The 1901 T.B. Clark Company Catalog is available for ACGA members to browse or print their own copy:
Content courtesy of Warren and Teddie Biden and Jim Havens