The glass industry has long been an important part of Ohio’s economy. In Lancaster, you will find the Ohio Glass Museum which celebrates the glass industry and the pieces that make our world more beautiful and functional every day.

While their mission is to tell the story of Ohio’s glass industry, their current focus is on Lancaster’s famed Anchor Hocking Glass Company. There’s an impressive exhibit that runs through this August. 

We were fortunate to have a really great tour guide, a fellow who once worked as the head of new products for Anchor Hocking. He told us the story of how the company came to be with tremendous reverence for founder I.J. Collins who most people in town just called Mister Collins. He told us a little about his own career traveling to far flung places across the country and the globe. He talked about the impact this company had in Lancaster and how it survived the Depression years. 

They have some gorgeous pieces of Anchor Hocking glass including some that I grew up with and a few things I didn’t even know existed. Honestly though, the best part to me was our tour guide’s storytelling style and knowledge. He had a lot to say about Mister Collins, a small town boy from Maryland who learned and developed a passion for glass making around the turn of the 20th century. He ended up opening his own factory in Lancaster in 1905 after the local factory he worked for closed. Mister Collins kept that business going through the Depression, selling his goods for cheap just to keep his workers employed. He focused on developing the colored glass that would be known as Depression glass. It’s still highly collectible and a favorite among glass lovers. 

 Mister Collins rebuilt his factory in less than six months after a terrible fire leveled the first. When his glass jars didn’t sell, he started using them to bottle mustard that did sell. He was the first to approach baby food companies and suggest they bottle rather than can baby food. He then purchased another factory that made caps for his bottles. The man was smart and savvy and he clearly loved his job.. 

Our tour guide said that Lancaster didn’t feel the Depression to the extent other places did. That’s because Mister Collins kept his people working and money continued to be exchanged in the city. Our guide referred to the city being under a literal and figurative glass dome that shielded them from the horrors and hardships of those terrible years.

When I asked about his favorite piece, he showed us something he helped to develop. It’s pictured here.

Allow more time than you think you need. This isn’t a large museum but they have packed in a lot of things to admire. By the time we bought tickets, did the tour and watched a glass blowing demonstration, we were there for close to two hours. 

Admission is just six bucks. There are other museums and nice shops for your entertainment in downtown Lancaster. Maria’s Mexican Restaurant, just up the street from the museum, is located in the old Elks Lodge, a gorgeous 1919 era stone building with beautiful windows and fantastic atmosphere. The food is good and the prices are decent too.

Want to learn more about the Ohio Glass Museum? Click here.

You’ll find Maria’s Mexican restaurant at this link.