One of the most fascinating aspects of digging the Hemingray factory site in Muncie that my "amateur industrial archaeologist" friends Darin Cochran, Bob Stahr and I have experienced is of the layers of soil, sand, glass, bricks and other objects. It's not only what is contained in each layer, but also how they are laid out, thus giving us a history lesson on how Hemingray and Owens-Illinois operated.

Our day usually begins by digging "test holes" to see if an area has the potential for having glass shards from production. Typically, a hole is made anywhere from one to two feet deep, and around a foot across. If it looks promising, the hole is expanded and deepened. If it seems nothing much is in it, then it's filled in and another test hole is dug. There could be a succession of test holes dug all day, or perhaps we would stick to one hole if shards are found, then creating a "crater" in the ground. As a rule, the older Hemingray products and materials are deeper down with the new Hemingray and Owens-Illinois items being closer to the surface. In some cases though, Hemingray and Owens-Illinois stirred up older areas, depositing their current items within them. Still, we can usually determine the approximate age of the layers, even with the invasion of later dumpage. One example of this is when I was digging through a late 1920's to early 1930's ice blue bottle and insulator area, I found 1880's and 1890's oil lamp shards with a peacock blue CD 151 shard in a thin vein running through a section of the ice blue area. The ice blue area in question had shards of Blatz beer bottles among others, some sodas, and several White House vinegar jug and bottle parts -- all in ice blue, just as the insulators are.

Each individual layer seems to have its own character about it, not only in how compact the glass-containing soil is showing long-standing settlement, but the types and colors of soil from different periods of time in Hemingray's long history. This soil is usually consistent in its concentration of glass and other items from certain production periods along with building materials coming from the same periods. The natural soil in a layer might be of clay, hardpan, or even topsoil. Some layers may not be soil-rich and is man-made, such as railroad ballast, a by-product resembling black, burnt slag. Some layers are of pure glass like insulator parts, bottles, glass block and other pressed and blownware, and/or crushed glass with varying colors of glass cullet or "chunks." Other layers consist of building materials such as bricks, furnace blocks and bricks and tile roofing. Another layer may consist of metal such as bottle caps, nails, nuts and bolts, tin, machine parts and even the occasional threading mandrel for insulator pinholes.

Two views of factory dump areas -- a "Field of Dreams".

These layers can explain certain time lines in Hemingray's history as well. First of all, the railroads came to Muncie, before the plant was built. This is evidenced by the fact that there is railroad ballast in the next to lowest layer in a test hole, above virgin soil like hardpan. The next layer up, which is yellow clay, contains glass shards of early Hemingray production, such as Globe fruit jars, tobacco jars, oil lamps and screw-capped flasks. (See top photo on cover.) 

A theory is, once the railroads were in, there was extra ballast that was spread out on the ground level at the time. Next, the holes for the foundations of the buildings were dug, which contained the yellow clay. The topsoil and clay was then spread out around the new buildings. As expansion went on, any soil removed had scrap glass from production mixed in then laid out towards the rear of the property, where there was more room. Some dumping of soil with glass in it also had been placed near the front and sides, but it's difficult to say exactly when this occurred -- perhaps earlier, perhaps later. The glass in clay soil at the back of the property, that is laid out on top of the railroad ballast, is very well mixed and is well bonded to the soil.

In subsequent years, both Hemingray and Owens-Illinois continued dumping layers of glass mixed with sands of various types, soil, bricks, blocks, roofing and other items throughout the property. Where gas, oil, water and drain lines were to go, additional soil was removed and placed elsewhere, also mixed with dumpage. There were holes and ditches dug on occasion, all across the property as well. Sometimes they seemed to pile up glass and other things on the surface, letting vegetation grow over it or perhaps the dumpage would sink into the ground. In one case, I think a pile of CD 162 H.G.Co's were sitting around near a building that was subsequently torn down, then the CD 162's were scooped into the foundation. We have dug up several purple CD 162's from that foundation that range in shades from SCA/clear to royal purple. The CD 162's were clear at first, turned purple in the pile over time, with the outer ones getting darker and ones inside staying clear or light purple, then all were placed into the foundation with soil, other insulators and cullet. 

A well defined strata showing typical layer separation by color.
Note the oil lamp stem "cylinders lamp" in the clay layer (arrows).

Through our use of test holes, we also have found small pockets of glass that only go a few inches or so and stop. Other areas may have a lot of undulation, with mixes of natural soils and man-made items, stretching several yards. We don't know of course, when starting a hole, whether we are entering an area in the middle or just skirting the rim. We have to be persistent and dig in different directions to find out where the limits of a particular area are.

Over the life of the plant, both Hemingray and Owens-Illinois built and tore down buildings, large and small, and rebuilt furnaces yearly. Building bricks dot the ground in most layers along with furnace bricks and blocks. It is interesting to note that most furnace bricks carry the names of the manufacturers on them and come in varying shapes and sizes. Some are even coated with glass. A few building bricks have the name "M & S" on them and appear to be vintage red bricks from the earliest post-wood plant buildings.

Red amber cullet chunks with CD 162 H. G. Co. purples.

1901 penny imprint on a CD 162 purple H.G.Co.

Since our permission to dig might end at any time, we have tried to concentrate on the areas that contain the earliest of Hemingray's production -- back to 1888 or so. Earlier in our digs, not realizing the extent of areas having older items in them, we dug mostly in late Hemingray and Owens-Illinois periods, such as ice blue, 7-up green and clear areas. (See bottom photo on cover.) The earliest production is harder to identify for one thing, because these items were made around a hundred years ago, and also most non-insulator items were known only to the wholesalers they sold to and not after that. Our focusing on the early production is on bottles, tableware, jars including battery jars, oil lamps and shades, various other blown and pressed ware and previously unknown Hemingray marked and unmarked insulators.

One piece of history we found while digging into the early period was remnants of what I think may be items relating to the disastrous 1892 fire in which Hemingray and their neighbor, C.H. Over Window Glass Company, burnt to the ground. It is known that the first factory buildings were wood, then after the fire, were brick. In one part of the rear property, in a hole containing early period items, some two feet down, I found burnt cedar wood board pieces with and in a two inch layer of burnt, melted glass containing old insulator pieces and other ware. All this in the familiar yellow clay soil. Was this the remains of the famous 1892 fire? To help support this theory is the fact there were about twelve amber Globe fruit jar lids melted together in a stack, warped milkglass smoke bell parts and slumped early insulators including light colored CD 145 H.G.CO. petticoats and a couple different CD's with the Patent Dec. 19, 1871 embossing. Of course, there were other fires at Hemingray over the years, but it had to be a great fire to create such a thick and long puddle of melted glass that extends to the rear of the property. By the way, the cedar boards do not smell burnt at all. They just smell like cedar.

Suspect 1892 fire disaster results. Left to right: Combination of 
various aqua insulators, a dozen Globe fruit jar lids (rear), smoke bell 
top (front), 2" thick aqua "puddle", CD 145 H.G.Co. Petticoat.

We may never know exactly if these items are specifically from the 1892 fire, but what we do know is both Hemingray and Owens-Illinois buried things all over the factory grounds. Perhaps for convenience, or maybe to level the ground in places or use as cheap landfill to support buildings and drives. We don't know if the dumping at the plant was done early on at just the plant, or simultaneously at other sites like city dumps. Some of the same types of production items from later years have been found by diggers at the "famous dig" at a city dump some 25 years ago as we find now at the plant. An exception is Lowex-named insulators. Virtually all Lowex must have gone to the city dump because only a few minuscule pieces have been found by us. As far as I know, the items in the earlier dig is of the 1920's era on up.

A grouping of seemingly out of place items from the factory dump. 
Left to right: Porcelain plate shard with a neat design--from the
commissary or ?, CD 133 W. Brookfield with absolutely no trace of
use--at plant for examination?, Bromo Seltzer bottle in cobalt blue--
maybe used to make Hemingray blue or cobalt insulators, and a shard
 from a milk bottle--Hemingray didn't make these so it's probably cullet.

The factory site also contains things that seem somewhat out of place. One thing is window glass. There are shards of thick clear window glass as well as stained glass, like church window glass in various colors and styles. Since Hemingray didn't have the capacity to make large window glass, it probably was made by Over Glass Company next door. After Over burnt to the ground with Hemingray in 1892, it was rebuilt. Sanborn Fire Insurance maps show Over operating in 1896, but between that time and 1902, it became American Window Glass Company Plant #11 and was then torn down and the lot vacant according to a 1911 Sanborn map. At some point in that time, Hemingray purchased the land from American Window Glass Company, and Owens-Illinois built the first glass block warehouse bay by 1934. In the next couple years, two more warehouse bays were added, which still stand today. The window glass we find now could be from Over or American production or could be cullet altogether. Years later, during the ice blue era, Owens-Illinois made window glass on a small scale we think, for their own use or for a small contract. We have found ice blue shards of a couple different patterns of window glass with a chicken wire-type mesh encased in the glass along with ice blue bottles and insulators from that time period. 

Another group of seemingly out of place items we found are bottle shards and whole ones along with various other glass objects made by manufacturers other than Hemingray or Owens-Illinois. These were probably cullet that they bought from scrap glass dealers, since we have found some bottle tops with caps still on them. In some cases, bottles were used at the plant and thrown out along with production scrap glass. I found a few shards and whole Coca-Cola 6 oz. bottles with some having the Muncie, Indiana name on the bottom. Nehi soda and Barq's root beer shards also were found. A number of cobalt blue Bromo Seltzer - Emerson Drug Company whole bottles and shards have been found and have the '''M' in a circle" embossing on the bottom, denoting they were made by Maryland Glass Company. Bob Stahr's theory for these being present is they might have been used to produce Hemingray blue, although I think they might have been used in cobalt insulator production. Many Bromo Seltzers found had rusted caps still on them. Perhaps the employees didn't bother de-capping these, so they were tossed out along with other capped bottles, not of Hemingray origin. Many, many bottoms also have been found belonging to the Bromo Seltzers. With such a number of them, I can't believe they were at the plant to settle stomachs! Additional non-Hemingray cullet shards include: milk bottles, Root Glass Company sodas and various beer bottles.

Two types of glass inkwells. 
Small, very lightweight one and a 
cone-shaped heavier style.

It's now easy for us to distinguish between Hemingray made and foreign made objects. We have gotten more familiar with molding techniques, color differences and symbols used by glass manufacturers to separate out the questionable glass. Other manufacturers have used the very same patterns that Hemingray had on some of their products, so the finer points on how to tell has become somewhat of an art. 

Some Hemingray "Solid Citizens". 
Left to right: CD 154 Hemingray-42, CD 121 Hemingray-16, 
CD 137 Hemingray D-990, CD 106 Hemingray-9, and a solid bottle 
in front resulting from the second step in an automatic press not 
happening before the glass hardened. The insulators were either 
mold warm-ups or molds coming apart.

CD 1070 Hemingray-109 deadend style 
that has a warped "big mouth" opening.

Most of the time, we have located bottles and oil lamps for example, after finding matching shards at the plant, in antique shops and malls. In some cases, bottles and oil lamps have been found before the shards. One example of this that still excites me, is a finger hold oil lamp my sister has had for years, which has a hand applied handle that was suspicious to me because very similar handles have been dug up by us at the plant. I borrowed the lamp to show Darin and Bob, and since the pattern of the bowl is not known, the technique of handle application made it possible. While I still had the lamp at home, Bob dug up shards of that very pattern! One piece I got from Bob was placed against the lamp and it fit like a glove. Needless to say, that lamp never was returned to my sister. It became a birthday present to me, from her. I have since located shards myself of the lamp, further proving its of Hemingray origin. In locating these products of Hemingray, one has to be sure of its origin, so money isn't wasted on look-alikes, when searching out Hemingray products in antique malls, shops, flea markets auctions and wherever else. On a side note, when one of us discovers an oil lamp, bottle or other Hemingray item, and the others haven't seen the pattern yet, we bring it to the plant for "show and tell", thus giving a homecoming to the item. It's an unusual feeling to bring an item back to the place it was made a hundred years ago.

Two clear bottle tops dating to the late 1800's.

If it wasn't for the extended digging permission granted by the owner of the plant site, the shards and items found to date might have been lost forever making it truly impossible to learn all we can about Hemingray production. I can certainly say that Hemingray was not just an insulator company, but a very prolific Glass Company. They were larger than any of us thought, and they seemed to run the gamut in production from a simple clear inkwell to a very ornate peacock blue table oil lamp. I hope to continue to dig there in hopes of finding a shard from each category, if not each item itself, therefore unlocking the mysteries of a long lost product line.

Thanks to Bob Stahr and Darin Cochran, my digging compatriots, for assistance with the details in this article and to Randy Kimery of Columbus, Indiana for photographing the Hemingray products and companion shards.

Furnace brick from the present "B" furnace which is being demolished, and 
a chunk of the last glass to flow from Hemingray-Muncie after approximately 
84 years there. The name of the manufacturer on the brick is "REMMEY CRY", 
which is certainly appropriate. Seeing the glass on the floor of the furnace 
chamber, a tear came to my eye realizing I was seeing the very last glass 
coming from Hemingray furnaces -- after a long 124 years of glassmaking.

The following is a list of non-insulator glass shards and whole, non-pintype insulator glass shards and whole and non-glass items of interest found in various holes throughout the plant site. They come from both the Hemingray and Owens-Illinois eras. Some newer items of glass were made under the Owens-Illinois tradenames of Libbey, Kimble and American Structural Products. A few items listed are items "presumed" to be certain types of products and will be followed by a "?". More digging and research needs to be done to confirm the unknowns we locate.

• Glass block shards in various patterns including factory-painted in several colors and flashed amber. Blocks come in their own colors of ice blue, green tint, smoke and clear. 
• Picture tube faceplate and cone shards in clear and smoke. Said to be for 1950's - 1960's television sets made by RCA and Zenith. 
• Toothpick holders, tulip pattern, clear. 
• Stoppers for 1950's Old Fitzgerald whiskey bottles, called "Diamond Decanter", clear.
• Shot glass shards, clear.
• Clothes washer door glass shards, clear.
• Glass land mine shards, clear.
• Ice cream shop glassware shards from 1950's and 1960's, ribbed pattern, clear, including sundaes, parfaits, sherbets and malts.
• Vase shards in ribbed pattern, clear.
• Flower box shards in ribbed pattern, clear.
• Two types of Globe tobacco jars shards including barrel shape in red amber and panel pattern in yellow amber.
• Quilted and plain flask shards, clear, including "coffin" shape and "pumpkin seed" shape.
• Various other shards including tops, sides and bottoms of beers, ales, whiskeys and mineral waters "?" in the colors of clear, olive green and ambers.
• Demijohn and carboy shards in clear and aqua. "?" (Large and thick shards of big bottles were found.)
• Inkwells, including early small round plain and early cone shape in clear.
• Wall tubes, ribbed, aqua and ice blue in various sizes.
• Johnny balls, aqua, various sizes.
• Large jar lid shards, clear, with brass or bakelite nuts.
• Various battery jar shards including tops, bottoms and sides in clear and light aqua.
• Apothecary and laboratory item shards in clear. "?" 
• Ashtray shards, clear, in a couple of patterns.
• Syrup pitcher shards, clear, including tops, sides and applied handles.
• Miniature CD 154 Hemingray 42 in aqua.
• A couple of patterns of stove oil jars, in ice blue and 7-up green.
• One gallon jug shards in ice blue.
• Mayonnaise-type product jar shards dated 1958, clear.
• Various sizes and types of metal files.
• A few pliers.
• Various bottle caps including steel for beers and sodas, aluminum for water bottles.
• Thread gage, no guts to it, but it's for a standard pinhole.
• Gas valves including one named "Lynch".
• Brass oil lamp collars and a couple of burners.
• Various metal and mechanical parts such as pipe, gas line, valves, gauges, wire, blowpipes "?", angle irons, nails, nuts, bolts, metal cutouts, tin and light sockets.