History of the A. H. Heisey Company

The A. H. Heisey Company was founded in 1895. Mr. Heisey, of German parentage, was 56 years of age when he came to Newark to establish his glassware business. He was well known in the glass industry, having been associated with it since early manhood and took for his wife the daughter of George A. Duncan of the very successful Duncan firm.

The firm first began producing glass in April, 1896, most of it being pressed glass in large table sets to imitate cut glass. After a few years a new simple "colonial" line was introduced which was crystal clear, flawless and would not lose its brilliance. This was readily accepted and throughout the entire life of the firm the Heisel glass was know for the quality and brilliance of their crystal glass.

Heisey was one of the first glass firms to adopt a trade mark. The H within a diamond was designed from a son's fraternity pin. The exact date of the introduction of the trade mark is unknown but is estimated to be circa 1900.

The first colored glass produced by Heisey was Emerald green followed by Opal (custard and milk glass) and some amber. Some early pieces have also been found in Vaseline. This dates back to the 1896 - 1910 time period. The era of colored crystal glass by Heisey began early in the 1920's and continued into the 1930's. It was during this period that the majority of the colored cyrstal, so popular among today's collectors, was manufactured. Two colors, Dawn and Limelight were introduced just a few years prior to the closing of the factory.