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McKee Company History

McKee & Brothers, Pittsburgh (1853-1894) & Jeannette, Pennsylvania (1894-1904).
McKee Glass Company, Jeannette, Pennsylvania (1904-1961).

This company began as F. & J. M?Kee, a partnership between brothers Frederick and James McKee. In 1853 they opened their first factory for the production of pressed glassware in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The name was changed to M?Kee & Brother by 1859 and four years later, when Stewart McKee joined the firm, it changed again to M?Kee & Brothers. In 1888 they moved to a new factory in Jeannette, Pennsylvania in order to take advantage of that area?s abundance of coal and natural gas. In 1899 McKee & Brothers became one of the founding members of the National Glass Company, a co-operative of several factories meant to compete with the U.S. Glass Company. They remained a part of the National Glass Company until 1903 when they reorganized as the McKee-Jeannette Glass Company. That same year they introduced the first of many patterns in their Pres-Cut line, which simulated more costly cut glass at popular prices. By 1906 they had become the largest producer of glass tableware in the world with between 500 and 600 employees. As an indirect result of the failure of the National Glass Company in 1908, they were forced into receivership, but emerged stronger than ever in 1910, reorganizing as the McKee Glass Company. Their success continued through the 1920s when they utilized their prior experience in the manufacture of colored glassware to capitalize on its sudden rise in popularity, but by the 1930s they were losing business to competitors who had begun manufacturing machine-made glassware. During this transitional period, McKee was largely sustained by their popular kitchenware and oven-glass lines. By the early 1940s McKee had also largely abandoned the manufacture of hand-made glassware in favor of machine-made glass. In 1951 the company was purchased by the Thatcher Glass Company and became the McKee Division of Thatcher Glass. Finally, in 1961 the Jeannette Glass Corporation bought McKee and took over the factory for their own use.

? From The Glass Candlestick Book, volume 3, by Tom Felt, Rich & Elaine Stoer (reprinted with permission)

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Date:	28.04.2007 22:04
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Added by:	Tom Felt