The gear stem patented and assigned to the Sloan Bros has been suspected for some time as being made for a very short time by Utility. This would have been prior to applying for the patent. This recent discovery adds some credence to that theory.
While working with a friend on an estate, a cardboard box was found in a dark corner of a shelf in the basement. The contents were covered in layers of coal dirt and were removed and cleaned. These two stems were among the contents along with Cambodia Ware and Mandalay Dine patterns of the same colors. All of the stemware was wrapped in newspaper dated June 1952. Apparently they were repacked from their original barrels which used to fill the basement. Another important item to note is, among this accumulation, which numbered a couple of thousand pieces, there was not a single piece of glass which can be attributed solely to Sloan Bros. All items were either from the Dugan Glass Company, the Lonaconing Glass Company or Utility Glass Works. The story is, when Utility closed, the remaining wares were moved to this location from which sales continued until it was no longer profitable.
