Last Updated: Apr 02, 2019     Views: 458

The book, The Complete Cut & Engraved Glass of Corning by Estelle Sinclaire and Jane Spillman, includes a chapter about J. Hoare & Co. on pages 26-51.

"J. Hoare & Company was the first of Corning's many cutting companies and one of the longest lived. It had its origin in a cutting firm that started in Brooklyn in 1853; hence the date in their trademark, which is often confusing to collectors. The founder of the firm was John Hoare, who was born in Cork, Ireland, on April 12, 1822. He learned the trade of glass cutter, probably from his father, James Hoare, and worked in Belfast before he went to England, where he worked for several different cutting firms in the Birmingham area, including Thomas Webb & Sons. It was in England that he married Catherine Dailey, probably in 1845. When Hoare and his family came to the United States in 1848, he was already an accomplished glass cutter. (He had one son, James, who way born before the Hoares left England.) In fact, Hoare came to New York to ply his trade, and in 1853 he stared his own business, probably with one or more partners."
p. 27.

The text continues with a description of Hoare's company in Brooklyn and his move to Corning, NY.

On p. 32: "In 1912, an article in the Leader [Corning newspaper] stated that Hoare's business was picking up and the men would go back on a 5 1/2 day schedule and get 10 percent pay increases. However, the decreasing importance of cut glass by 1915 is indicated by the fact that Corning Glass Works requested J. Hoare & Co. to move -- the space the cutting shop occupied was needed for other purposes. Hoare moved to the building on Bridge Street formerly occupied by George W. Drake's Cut Glass Company. The number of Hoare employees had by then fallen to about 50. Two years later Hasell W. Baldwin sold his interest back to the Hoares: Jack (John S.) Hoare closed his factory in Wellsboro and came home to Corning to run the Bridge Street plant. Although James Hoare remained titular head of the firm, he had been injured in an automobile accident and was not in good health. In spite of the change in management, the cut glass industry continued to decline and J. Hoare & Co.'s fortunes fell with it. The Leader of October 29, 1920, reported that the company was bankrupt. James Hoare died the following year, and John S. Hoare in 1926." 

 

 

 

 

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