| Company: |
Adams Glass aka Adams & Co. |
| Pattern Name: |
X.L.C.R (Excelsior)
|
| Production Start Date: |
circa 1890 |
| Production End Date: |
circa 1904 |
| Circulation End Date: |
circa 1926 |
Sometime in the mid to late 1800s, a man named John Adams (no relationship to the President) founded a company in Pittsburgh, PA called
"Adams Glass" aka "Adams & Co.". John Adams had developed a process of making glass using lime instead of lead, which significantly reduced the
cost to produce glass pieces and subsequently made his company very successful.
He died sometime around 1886, leaving his sons Adolphus and William in charge.
Sometime around 1890, Adams & Co. released the X.L.C.R. pattern. It is unclear how many pieces were included in that pattern line, and advertisements discovered from
that time period for Adams & Co. suggest not many, maybe as few as 4 pieces, which might stand to reason as it would have been expensive to make a full catalog of pieces
prior to knowing if there would be public adoption and demand.
Adams & Co. only produced this line as themselves until sometime in late 1891 when they merged (along with a lot of other glass companies) with United States Glass Company
(U.S. Glass Co.). Once merged, they became known as "U.S. Glass, Factory A", located at S. 10th St & Sarah St.
It is unclear what the progression of the pattern was from the time of merger forward, but we see a full catalog published by/as U.S. Glass in 1892, and a smaller catalog that referenced most of the full line up in 1898. Most experts believe that it was in full production until 1904. From that point forward, there are fewer and fewer references to the pieces, with
some pieces referenced in a 1914 catalog, and a Caster Set referenced in a 1926 catalog. After 1926, the pattern was no longer listed by U.S. Glass Co.