Kokomo Opalescent Glass Works

Kokomo Opalescent Glass Works is a historic American glass manufacturer based in Kokomo, Indiana. Founded in 1888 by Charles Edward Henry, a French-born glassmaker who relocated an existing stained-glass manufacturing business from New Rochelle, New York, the company became one of the earliest major American producers of opalescent and other decorative sheet glasses. It has operated continuously since its founding and is described as the oldest manufacturer of opalescent glass in the world and the oldest American producer of hand-cast, rolled cathedral, and opalescent glass. The company’s importance rests primarily on its role as a materials supplier to the stained-glass field rather than on a consumer-facing product brand. Its glass has been used by artists, studios, restoration specialists, architects, and makers of religious, civic, and residential windows. The company’s historical customer base included Louis Comfort Tiffany, linking Kokomo’s materials to the American opalescent-glass movement associated with late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century stained-glass design. In 1889, shortly after its founding, Kokomo received a gold medal at the Paris World Exposition for multi-colored window glass, an early indication of its international standing within the decorative-glass trade. Kokomo’s manufacturing identity is defined by variation. Rather than producing entirely uniform industrial sheets, the company has maintained a tradition of hand-mixed glass made on roller tables. Equipment associated with this process was installed in the early twentieth century and supports distinctive differences in color, density, texture, and translucency from sheet to sheet. The company has developed and preserved hundreds of color recipes, documented color combinations, and numerous texture and density formulas. These characteristics make its products useful to artists seeking visual movement, layered color, and irregularity in finished windows. The company’s historical output includes opalescent glass, cathedral glass, rolled sheet glass, and other forms of art glass. Its materials have appeared in notable architectural settings, including the former Central Library Book Delivery Room of the Chicago Public Library, now Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center. Such applications illustrate the company’s connection to civic architecture and the broader American stained-glass heritage. Kokomo’s continuing relevance comes from the combination of industrial longevity, specialized craft knowledge, and an extensive material library. It occupies a premium and heritage-oriented position in the art-glass market, serving customers who value hand production, historical continuity, and the expressive variation of opalescent sheet glass. Publicly available reference material does not establish a detailed current ownership structure, executive roster, revenue profile, or official website, so those fields remain unspecified here.

Kokomo Opalescent Glass Works was established in 1888 in Kokomo, Indiana, by Charles Edward Henry. Henry was born in Paris, France, around 1846 and moved his existing stained-glass manufacturing activity from New Rochelle, New York, to Indiana. The new operation entered an American market that was developing a strong interest in decorative windows, architectural ornament, and the use of colored sheet glass in churches, civic buildings, commercial interiors, and private homes. From its earliest period, Kokomo concentrated on colored and opalescent window glass. Opalescent glass contains areas of milkiness, translucency, and color interaction that can change as light passes through the material. This made it particularly valuable to stained-glass designers seeking effects that differed from the more regular appearance of conventional colored glass. In 1889, only one year after its establishment, the company won a gold medal at the Paris World Exposition for multi-colored window glass. The award helped establish Kokomo as a producer capable of competing for recognition beyond the American market. Kokomo subsequently became an important supplier to the American stained-glass industry. Historical documentation records sales to Louis Comfort Tiffany, one of the most influential figures in American decorative arts and stained glass. The relationship places Kokomo within the supply network that supported the development of American opalescent-glass design, although the company’s role was that of a specialist material producer rather than a designer of complete Tiffany-branded interiors or windows. The manufacturer also supplied glass for significant architectural installations. One documented example is the Book Delivery Room of the Chicago Public Library’s former Central Library. That space is now known as Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center. The example demonstrates how Kokomo’s products moved from a manufacturing setting into major civic and cultural buildings. A central feature of the company’s history is its continuing use of hand-mixed roller-table production. Equipment for this process was installed in the early 1900s. In this method, glass materials are mixed and formed into sheets in a way that permits differences in color distribution, texture, density, and translucency. These variations are not merely defects to be eliminated; they are part of the visual appeal sought by stained-glass artists and restoration professionals. Kokomo has maintained hundreds of color recipes and documented combinations, along with numerous formulas for texture and density. The company has remained in continuous operation since 1888. Its longevity gives it an unusual position in the glass industry: it is associated both with the historical development of American opalescent glass and with the continuing supply of materials to contemporary artists and architectural-glass users. Unlike mass-market decorative brands, Kokomo is primarily known within the professional and enthusiast communities connected to stained glass, architectural restoration, and art glass. Public reference material does not provide a complete account of every ownership transition, product-era change, executive appointment, or facility expansion. The documented history nevertheless supports a clear description of Kokomo as a long-running, specialist manufacturer whose identity is rooted in hand production and the preservation of a broad technical and color tradition.

• 1900

  Early twentieth-century roller-table equipment introduced

  [1]Kokomo Opalescent Glass Worksen.wikipedia.org

  Equipment associated with the hand-mixed roller-table process was installed in the early 1900s, supporting the varied colors, textures, and densities that became characteristic of Kokomo glass.

• 1889

  Gold medal at the Paris World Exposition

  [1]Kokomo Opalescent Glass Worksen.wikipedia.org

  The company received a gold medal for multi-colored window glass at the Paris World Exposition, giving its young operation international exhibition recognition.

• 1888

  Company founded in Kokomo

  [1]Kokomo Opalescent Glass Worksen.wikipedia.org

  Charles Edward Henry established the glass works in Kokomo, Indiana, after relocating his existing stained-glass manufacturing business from New Rochelle, New York.

• Documented supply relationship with Louis Comfort Tiffany

  [1]Kokomo Opalescent Glass Worksen.wikipedia.org

  Historical records identify Kokomo as a supplier of glass to Louis Comfort Tiffany, connecting the company to a major strand of American stained-glass history.

• Glass used in a major Chicago civic interior

  [1]Kokomo Opalescent Glass Worksen.wikipedia.org

  Kokomo glass was used in the Book Delivery Room of the Chicago Public Library’s former Central Library, now Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center.

A heritage American manufacturer serving the premium art-glass and stained-glass market, distinguished by hand-mixed production, extensive color knowledge, historical continuity, and natural variation between sheets.

• Stained-glass sheet glass · 1888

  Opalescent sheet glass

  Kokomo’s signature material is opalescent sheet glass, characterized by milky translucency and changing interactions between color and light. The sheets are intended for stained-glass windows, decorative panels, restoration, and other art-glass applications. Hand mixing and the company’s extensive recipe library produce variation in color distribution and opacity, allowing artists to select pieces with different visual effects.

• Architectural and stained-glass sheet glass · 1888

  Rolled cathedral glass

  Rolled cathedral glass is a translucent sheet material used in stained-glass and architectural glazing. Kokomo is identified as an American producer of rolled cathedral glass, with production methods that can create differences in surface character and light transmission. It is suited to windows and panels where controlled color and translucency are more important than fully transparent vision glass.

• Decorative art glass

  Textured and density-varied art glass

  The company maintains numerous formulas for surface texture and glass density. These materials give stained-glass makers additional ways to shape the way light scatters, passes through, or is interrupted by a sheet. The product family reflects Kokomo’s craft-oriented approach, in which material variation is a valued design feature.

• Colored architectural glass · 1888

  Multi-colored window glass

  Multi-colored window glass was among the company’s early recognized products and received a gold medal at the 1889 Paris World Exposition. The category encompasses colored sheet materials used by stained-glass artists and architectural glass designers to build images, patterns, and ornamental windows.

1. 1Kokomo Opalescent Glass Worksen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Kokomo Opalescent Glass Company, Inc.indianahistory.org
3. 3There's A Place Called Kokomo (Opalescent Glass)mascontext.com