The Weishars of Wheeling have played roles in the evolving glass industry for five generations.
photographed by CARLA WITT FORD
WHEN YOUNG JOSEPH JOHN WEISHAR TOOK A JOB at Wheeling’s Central Glass Works in 1880, it set his family on a long adventure in the glass industry. By the 1930s, his son and grandson, J.D. and Joe Weishar, were working at Central, too.
And in 1939, Central went out of business.
That could have been the end of the Weishars in glass. To understand what happened next, you need to understand “mould,” the industry term for what most of us call a “mold”—a precisely machined metal cavity where molten glass is hardened uniformly into pieces like drinking glasses or headlight lenses. J.D. Weishar decided to provide moulds to the makers of moulded glass. He bought Central’s mould-making equipment and set up shop in his aunt’s threecar garage on Wheeling Island: Island Mould & Machine. He moved it to the north side of Wheeling in 1947 but kept the name, and it operates there today.
The Weishar men like to say that mould makers are the unsung heroes of the glass industry. Pieces made from the company’s moulds touch every part of daily life. Do you have the iconic Blenko water pitcher? Island Mould made the moulds for both the large and small ones, along with lots of other tableware, barware, and collectibles—and everything from walk–don’t walk lights to wing tip lenses for airplanes to scientific glassware.
The company has had more than 100 clients. Some names are familiar to fans of West Virginia glass—Davis-Lynch, Fenton, Fostoria, Pilgrim, Seneca. Others are international—Lenox, Steuben.
In 1962, J.D. and Joe Weishar took on a project that, roundabout, would secure their company’s future. Not knowing for certain that they’d be able to sell it, they created a goblet mould in the popular Moon and Star pattern. L.E. Smith Glass Company loved it. The company couldn’t afford to buy the mould, but it leased that and other Moon and Star moulds that followed, for decades—a nice side income and a toehold for the Weishars in Moon and Star production.
Island Mould passed into the hands of Joe Weishar in 1965 and then to his sons, Thomas and John Weishar, in 1989. It turned out to be the company’s peak year, with 17 employees. But the Weishars set in motion what became a slow but timely pivot. Half-size reproductions of vintage glass were popular in the 1980s, so they produced half-size Moon and Star pitchers and tumblers. The sets were a hit, and Weishar Enterprises was incorporated to create Moon and Star glassware. The company eventually acquired all of the Moon and Star moulds and became the sole maker and distributor of the pattern.
Today, Island Mould is the only U.S. maker left of moulds for hand-moulded glassmakers—shops like Blenko and Mosser. The demand for moulds is lower these days, but the Moon and Star glassware business is up: John Weishar estimates that the many dozens of items produced for Weishar Enterprises by regional glassmakers amount to four times the mould business. “We’re making some of the most sought-after glass in the country,” he says. “We have a distributor in the Midwest that distributes to Amish variety stores and general stores across the country. We ship to Australia, Canada, and 49 states.” The Weishars are strong supporters of the Moon and Star Glass Collectors Club—his daughter even writes its newsletter.
That’s a fifth generation involved in glass. “Our family has been in the glass industry for over 140 years,” Tom Weishar notes. “I don’t think any other family in the country has been in it near that long.”
Shining Moments in the Weishar Family’s Glass Journey
A Clear Connection
John Weishar tells how his family’s genuine interest in glassmaking has kept them in business.
Taking a risk. When Island Mould made the first Moon and Star goblet mould, the guy from L.E. Smith had mentioned they were thinking about it, but he said, don’t make it yet. My grandfather and dad figured, let’s just make it. L.E. Smith couldn’t afford it, but it led to a relationship where they leased Moon and Star moulds from us. With the money Island Mould got from that, they were able to upgrade their equipment in the ’60s and ’70s.
Responding to the market. A lot of glass collectors are interested in rare things, so at first, we made very limited production of a few things. Then we started dealing with the Amish and had to increase production. When the mid-century modern craze started 10 or 15 years ago, they wanted more colors. Then people wanted fairy lights, or mini courting lights, and we designed an ornament, and now there’s glowing glass. We’ve tied into each one of those niches. It’s fun.
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