Today in Wheeling History: February 19 — Charles E. Blue and William B. Jones receive reissued patent for their "Machine for the Manufacture of Narrow-Neck Bottles" (1901).
On February 19, 1901, Wheeling inventors Charles E. Blue and William B. Jones received Reissued Letters Patent No. 11,890 for their "Machine for the Manufacture of Narrow-Neck Bottles." The original patent, No. 650,722, had been issued on May 29, 1900. The reissued patent covered a revolutionary press-and-blow machine that mechanically produced glass bottles and jars, replacing skilled hand-blowers with an automated process.
Blue, born June 8, 1862, in Charleston, West Virginia, was the son of Charles Edwin Blue of Hampshire County and Elizabeth Jane Hoge of Wheeling. He organized the Wheeling Mold and Foundry Company on June 5, 1893, at 18th and Eoff Streets, with partners including Conrad Rader, Arthur G. Hubbard, and William V. Hogue, starting with capital of $100,000. The foundry specialized in glasshouse molds and machinery. Blue's glass-making machine — dubbed the "Blue Machine" — was first tested at Hazel Glass Company in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1895. By September 1897, the company had built eighteen machines for Hazel Glass, Beatty-Brady Company, and Atlas Glass Company, with twelve more under construction. Glass entrepreneur Charles N. Brady invested in the enterprise, and the collaboration proved transformative, producing Mason fruit jars at unprecedented scale and helping end the hand-blown era of glass manufacturing. Blue also later directed major contracts for Pennsylvania Railroad tunnel segments under the Hudson River and parts for the Panama Canal locks. He resigned as president of Wheeling Mold and Foundry in 1914 and retired to Ridgeway Farm in Albemarle County, Virginia, where he died October 3, 1947, at age 85. He is buried at Riverview Cemetery in Charlottesville, Virginia.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling WV — Wheeling Mold & Foundry (https://tinyurl.com/ywt6kb5b), Find a Grave — Charles Edwin Blue (https://tinyurl.com/cbd5d4sd), Wheeling Heritage — Made in Wheeling (https://tinyurl.com/3jmsh5kf), West Virginia Northern Community College — Hazel-Atlas Glass History (https://tinyurl.com/3fntnd87), Google Patents — USRE11890 (https://tinyurl.com/43z4t4s7), Wikipedia — Charles N. Brady (https://tinyurl.com/mumtxbm6)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; U.S. Patent Office, Find a Grave
On February 19, 1901, Wheeling inventors Charles E. Blue and William B. Jones received Reissued Letters Patent No. 11,890 for their "Machine for the Manufacture of Narrow-Neck Bottles." The original patent, No. 650,722, had been issued on May 29, 1900. The reissued patent covered a revolutionary press-and-blow machine that mechanically produced glass bottles and jars, replacing skilled hand-blowers with an automated process.
Blue, born June 8, 1862, in Charleston, West Virginia, was the son of Charles Edwin Blue of Hampshire County and Elizabeth Jane Hoge of Wheeling. He organized the Wheeling Mold and Foundry Company on June 5, 1893, at 18th and Eoff Streets, with partners including Conrad Rader, Arthur G. Hubbard, and William V. Hogue, starting with capital of $100,000. The foundry specialized in glasshouse molds and machinery. Blue's glass-making machine — dubbed the "Blue Machine" — was first tested at Hazel Glass Company in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1895. By September 1897, the company had built eighteen machines for Hazel Glass, Beatty-Brady Company, and Atlas Glass Company, with twelve more under construction. Glass entrepreneur Charles N. Brady invested in the enterprise, and the collaboration proved transformative, producing Mason fruit jars at unprecedented scale and helping end the hand-blown era of glass manufacturing. Blue also later directed major contracts for Pennsylvania Railroad tunnel segments under the Hudson River and parts for the Panama Canal locks. He resigned as president of Wheeling Mold and Foundry in 1914 and retired to Ridgeway Farm in Albemarle County, Virginia, where he died October 3, 1947, at age 85. He is buried at Riverview Cemetery in Charlottesville, Virginia.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling WV — Wheeling Mold & Foundry (https://tinyurl.com/ywt6kb5b), Find a Grave — Charles Edwin Blue (https://tinyurl.com/cbd5d4sd), Wheeling Heritage — Made in Wheeling (https://tinyurl.com/3jmsh5kf), West Virginia Northern Community College — Hazel-Atlas Glass History (https://tinyurl.com/3fntnd87), Google Patents — USRE11890 (https://tinyurl.com/43z4t4s7), Wikipedia — Charles N. Brady (https://tinyurl.com/mumtxbm6)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; U.S. Patent Office, Find a Grave
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