McLaughlin Glass Company, Los Angeles, CA

The Glass Industry in Los Angeles

Manufacturers and Distributors in Southern California Citadel Finding Plenty of

Business and Also Much Competition, But For the Most Part

Business is Generally Stable and Great Progress in

Manufacturing is Being Made

BY THE WEARY WANDERER

LOS ANGELES, bound for some sort of civic glory, with a population growing by leaps and bounds, a city area of some 50 square miles, a tailor made harbor 14 miles from the downtown district blooming where a few years ago there was nothing but some shoals and some surf, and with a civic pride that would nauseate at times if it didn't hold one spellbound, boasts of seven glass factories within its borders. There also are two other plants of sizeable proportions located a short distance from Los Angeles which are branches of Los Angeles concerns

In addition, there are other important factories located in Southern California a short distance from Los Angeles, but these will be taken up in another article. For the present we will consider those now flourishing in this metropolis which at the present time is threatening to displace Detroit as the fourth city of the nation and has hopes some day of going ahead of Philadelphia.

It is only natural that there should be glass factories in Los Angeles. That city is reaching out and grabbing off industries right and left, some prematurely, some at the psychological moment. But, so far as glass industry is concerned, its establishment in Los Angeles has been accompanied by a pioneering spirit that makes all tales of the growth of the industry in the East look foolish.

Some manufacturers, luted to Los Angeles by false promises of some prospective clients, others over-rating the market some years ago, and others perhaps not envisioning, stiffness of competition, have located here as has been the case elsewhere, and have failed. But the seven an hand today, having withstood the struggles of earlier years, are prospering and growing and give promise of continuing .to do so if nothing unforeseen occurs.

But despite chambers of commerce, other civic boosters and anyone else connected with railroads, steamship lines or similar concerns, Southern California has not yet grown to such an extent that Los Angeles and contiguous territory could stand many more factories. The Weary Wanderer, even though he is not an expert market observer and analyst, thank Heavens, can perceive, following his visitation to the numerous plants and to numerous dealers and distributors that at the present time Southern California manufacturers are getting on their feet, in many cases for the first time, since they have been established. Any addition to the manufacturing fold would merely put the entire scheme of things out of order again.

I am not positive about my figures, but I believe that the state of Pennsylvania alone has a bigger population, hence a greater market, than three states of California, Oregon and Washington, and again lacking figures, believe that Indiana probably has a better market than Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Montana combined. So figure it out for yourself. No need to seek the services of a professional market analyist who often knows less after he starts figuring than before.

So this week we have the story of seven factories that are forging ahead after struggles and at last have reached the highway to success.

First take the Technical Glass company as an example, for when it comes to downing obstacles this company is a veritable prize winner. Its main product is glass door knobs and drawer pulls and today it turns out this product at the rate of approximately 250,000 dozen a month, manufacturing its own bases as well as the glass, and having its own stamping and plating department.

M. H. Rosenthal is president and general manager of the plant, Morris Schutz is treasurer, and William A. Anderson, secretary and plant manager.

The Technical Class company was founded in 1919 and operated at first on a comparatively small scale as is the case with virtually all the successful manufacturers in these parts. By November, 1925, its business had grown to such an extent that its products were being shipped all over the United States and exported to Europe, South America, Japan, Australia mid China. It was hard work building up such a business, but it was accomplished. Then on the morning of November 16, 1925, a fire came along and wiped out the plant.

Such a state of affairs is enough to bring .dismay to most anyone, but the officers of the Technical Glass Company refused to let the matter worry them long. They quickly built a-roof over one of the furnaces and then proceeded to erect some temporary buildings, and two weeks after the fire they made their first shipment of goods manufactured amid the ruins of the former plant.

Today they are housed in a fine new building and equipped with four 35-ton day tanks, also a smaller tank used on opal ware, and are installing another tank which will be of 38-ton capacity and will be in operation within six weeks.

The new building is one of the most complete and affords one of the most compact and well regulated plants from air efficiency, standpoint to he found on the Coast. There it a large department for the manufacture of the bases as well as the glass manufacturing department, both naturally lighted and up to the minute. There is ample warehouse space, a cutting shop that is a model of neatness, a plating department, and large, well lighted offices. There also, is a fully equipped machine shop, where all the moulds used by, the company are made.

Incidentally, the plant is not without its original manufacturing features, chief of these being a patented invention of Mr. Anderson on the crowns on the furnaces. The process of building the crown permits of the blowing of air through the crown and then mixing it with the gas.

One of the largest plants on the Coast is that of Southern Glass Company in Los Angeles, of which F. G. Bennison is general manager. This plant is equipped with two continuous tanks, one of 170 tons capacity and the other 290 tons, and equipment includes eight Lynch machines. A full line of milks, beverages, in fact containers ranging from two ounces to a gallon, are manufactured by this company and amber and green ware also is made. The plant is most up to date and modern in all respects. It was established seven years ago and has been forging steadily ahead since its inception, surmounting the difficulties that are common to all glass manufacturers in this territory.

The W. J. Latchford Company is another thriving concern in Los Angeles, which also operates a second plant at Compton, Cal, a short distance from Los Angeles. Mr. Latchford was the founder of the Southern Glass Company Los Angeles, but in August, 1925, left that company of which he had been president, and in December, 1925, started his own plant, in Los Angeles. Later he acquired the Compton plant, in which he previously had been interested for a number of years. Associated with Mr. Latchford, who is well known in the glass industry throughout the country, is his son, Baird Marble.

The Compton plant is a hand plant, used almost exclusively for the manufacture of five gallon bottles, with an average annual production of some 200,000 gallons. The Belgian oven system of annealing is employed in this plant, which is equipped with six of the ovens, and 72 hours is given to the annealing process. The Los Angeles plant is equipped with two Lynch machines operating with Bethel feeders. Mason jars, beers, sodas and liquors are produced at this plant.

Another thriving Los Angeles concern is the McLaughlin Glass Company, of which William McLaughlin is president and general manager. This company has been established for several years and is growing steadily, making a varied line of ware, by semi-automatic process. Electric insulators are one of the chief products but cylinders, five gallon bottles, aquarium bowls, two gallon utility jars, soda fountain coolers and other wares are made. The plant is well located from a standpoint of shipping facilities. Belgian ovens are used for annealing large ware and two automatic lehrs for small ware. Equipment includes two tanks.

The West Coast Glass Company also is located in Los Angeles and incidentally it is apropos to remark here that anyone visiting the glass factories of the Southern California metropolis is told to visit this plant to meet William Carter, the general manager. Now that proved one of the disappointments to the. Weary Wanderer on this trip, for he was unfortunate enough not to meet Mr. Carter when he called at the plant and hence did not make the acquaintance of a man who is held in high esteem by his glass manufacturing colleagues. G. H. Bennison is president of the company which maintains a compact little plant equipped with one continuous tank and semi-automatic machines. Milk Bottles are the sole product now being manufactured. The output is taken care of chiefly in and about Los Angeles and the company has been making quiet progress for a number of years.

The Sunset Glass Company at Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles, of which W. S. Williams and F. M. Smith are the owners and operators, is another plant, not of huge proportions, but nevertheless a considerable factor in the glass industry on the Coast, that has been operating steadily. Its specialty is a line of reamers for oranges and lemons an has been quite successful in this line.

The Co-Operative Glass Company and the Crystal Glass Company, the former manufacturers of bottles and containers and the latter of pressed ware, no longer are operating and the companies, it is reported, have become inactive with no plans for resumption of operations.

The Columbia Glass Company is another thriving little Los Angeles project, manufacturing rough and ribbed glass, but it is a part of an organization that will be discussed in a later article.

Latest advices are to the effect that a Mission Glass Company soon will begin operations in manufacturing pressed ware, and plans for such a step now are being formulated and pushed to completion.

And that represents the extent of the glass industry in Los Angeles. It will be seen that most of the plants are healthy and growing, and that although none of them are as large as the large plants in the East, nevertheless they are in a growing city and a growing community on the ground floor, and ready to expand as rapidly as the expansion of their market warrants.