The Hemingray Glass Company was an American

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

manufacturing company founded by Robert Hemingray and Ralph Gray in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in 1848. In its early years, the company went through numerous and frequent name changes, including Gray & Hemingray; Gray, Hemingray & Bros.; Gray, Hemingray & Brother; Hemingray Bros. & Company; and R. Hemingray & Company before incorporating into the Hemingray Glass Company, Inc. in 1870. The Hemingray Glass Company had factories in

and

Covington, Kentucky Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking rivers, across from Cincinnati to the north ...

with main production in

Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is a city in Delaware County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It is located in East Central Indiana about northeast of Indianapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 65,195, down from 70,085 in the 2010 c ...

. Although Hemingray was best known for its

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

insulators, the company produced many other glass items including

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal ...

s, fruit jars, pressed glass dishes,

tumblers Tumbler may refer to: * Tumbler (firearms), a part of the firing mechanism in older firearms * Tumbler (glass), a type of glassware * Tumbler (pigeon), a pigeon breed * Tumbler (Project Xanadu), a unique identifier of a unit of text or an e ...

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

jars, fishbowls, lantern globes, and

oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. The ...

s. In 1933, the

Owens-Illinois Glass Company O-I Glass, Inc. is an American company that specializes in container glass products. It is the largest manufacturer of glass containers in North America, South America, Asia-Pacific and Europe (after acquiring BSN Glasspack in 2004). Company ...

purchased the company, but the Hemingray name was retained at the production facility in Muncie. The main plant in Muncie closed in 1972, and the company ceased producing insulators. The complex is now used by

Gerdau Gerdau S.A. is the largest producer of long steel in the Americas, and the 33rd largest steelmaker worldwide, with approximately 13 million tons of production in 2023. Gerdau uses mini mills, integrated mills, and direct reduced iron plants; 71 ...

Ameristeel, a steel production company headquartered in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Insulators

Hemingray was best known for producing

and

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

pin insulator A pin insulator is a device that isolates a wire from a physical support such as a pin (a wooden or metal dowel of about 3 cm diameter with screw threads) on a telegraph or utility pole. It is a formed, single layer shape that is made out of a no ...

s used on

utility pole A utility pole, commonly referred to as a transmission pole, telephone pole, telecommunication pole, power pole, hydro pole, telegraph pole, or telegraph post, is a column or post used to support overhead power lines and various other public util ...

s. To give an overview of the large variety of styles produced, the following table contains the twenty most common. The table provides two numbers: the Consolidated Design (CD) number and the style number. The CD number is from a classification system developed by collectors that refers to the shape of the insulator, and is independent of the Hemingray Glass Company. However, the style number (or name) was assigned by Hemingray to each insulator. Due to slight modifications in design over years of production, single styles can span multiple CD numbers.

References

External links

Hemingray.net online museum

Hemingray Glass Company

Hemingray.info: Pictures and descriptions of Hemingray insulators

Hemingray Glass Company - Summary
Glassmaking companies of the United States Dielectrics Defunct glassmaking companies Defunct manufacturing companies based in Indiana Manufacturing companies based in Ohio Muncie, Indiana Manufacturing companies established in 1848 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1966 1848 establishments in Ohio 1966 disestablishments in Indiana {{US-manufacturing-company-stub

Insulators

See also

References

External links