Sneath Glass Company

The Sneath Glass Company /sniːθ/ was an American manufacturer of glass from 1892 until 1952. Original products were mainly lantern globes and other lighting merchandise. The company transitioned to a maker of jars and glassware used in Hoosier cabinets, which were especially popular in residential kitchens during the 1920s. As demand for Hoosier cabinets faded and the use of consumer refrigerators increased, products for refrigerators became important for the company.

The company began in Tiffin, Ohio, in 1892, when businessman Samuel B. Sneath purchased the Tiffin Glass Company and renamed it. Additional owners were his son Ralph Davis Sneath and John W. Geiger. Theodore J. Creighton provided glass–making expertise and was plant manager. Production began during February 1892. The Sneath Glass works in Tiffin was destroyed by a fire in 1894. The company rebuilt its factory in Hartford City, Indiana, and resumed production later in the year. The company was reorganized with five stockholders, including the two Sneaths, Geiger, and experienced glass men Henry Crimmel and his son A. Clyde Crimmel.

In the early 1950s, glass manufacturers faced competition from the new plastics industry, and the company did not make enough product transitions. During 1952, the nation had a system of price controls that attempted to control war–time inflation, but the company's workers held a strike demanding better wages and fringe benefits. Already losing money, the company could not raise prices, and closed permanently.