During World War II, there were shortages of many things: metal, medicine, rubber, even sugar. Before the war began, a different shortage was already being felt. Because we were at war with Germany, glass Christmas ornaments couldn’t be imported. Germany is where ornaments were traditionally made. To keep the holidays sparkling, the Corning Glass Works began producing glass ornaments.
At the time, the New York-based Corning Glass Works made light bulbs and windowpanes from sheets of glass. The glass artists used the same technology to create geometrically shaped ornaments like spheres and teardrops. “The German ones had a lot more characters, animals, fruits, and nuts. They had detailed painting and surface decorations,” says Eric Goldschmidt, a glass artist at Corning Museum of Glass (GMoG). The CMoG tells the history of Corning, Inc. and glassmaking. “Corning ornaments had their own style,” he adds.
During World War II, there were shortages of many things. Metal, medicine, rubber, and even sugar were hard to find. But there was another shortage over the holidays. Glass Christmas ornaments couldn’t be imported from Germany. That’s because we were at war with the country. Germany is where glass ornaments were made. To keep the holidays sparkling, the Corning Glass Works started to make glass ornaments.
The New York-based company made light bulbs and windows. Their products were made from giant sheets of glass. The company’s glass artists used the same technology to create their own style of ornaments. Corning’s ornaments were shaped like spheres and teardrops. “The German ones had characters, animals, fruits, and nuts. They had detailed painting and surface decorations,” says Eric Goldschmidt. He’s a glass artist at the Corning Museum of Glass (GMoG). The CMoG tells the history of the Corning, Inc. company and glassmaking.