BRYCE BROTHERS COMPANY, Hammondville, Pa. (1893‑1896), Mount Pleasant, Pa. (1896‑1967). The involvement of the Bryce family in glass manufacture extends back to the early 1840s. The original Bryce brothers, James, Robert and John, founded Bryce, McKee and Company in Pittsburgh around 1850. After various changes of name, the company was reorganized as Bryce Brothers in 1882 - two of the original brothers, Robert and James, being joined by five of the latter's sons, as well as one son of Robert's. In 1891, Bryce Brothers became factory "B" of the United States Glass Company.
Most of the Bryce clan took positions with U.S. Glass. However, in 1893, two of the younger generation, Andrew H. and J. McDonald Bryce, withdrew to found the new Bryce Brothers Company. They purchased the bankrupt Smith‑Brudewold Company's plant at Hammondville, which they operated until 1896, when they moved to a brand new factory in Mount Pleasant. Their specialty was blown stemware and tumblers, with a full variety of offerings for the hotel and bar trade. From the beginning they also offered many forms of decoration, including etching, cutting, sand blasting, iridescent finishes, enameling, gold bands, etc. Bryce Brothers remained a major producer of blown stemware and tableware through most of the twentieth century. In 1948, they began using a logo that advertised "Bryce, hand blown, since 1841," apparently referring to the year when the original John Bryce got his first job in the glass industry, working for Bakewells and Company. In 1965, Bryce Brothers Company was purchased by Lenox, Inc., the Trenton, New Jersey, china manufacturer, who continued to operate the factory under their own name until the 1990s. ? Adapted from The Glass Candlestick Book, volume 1, by Tom Felt, Rich & Elaine Stoer (reprinted with permission) |
