Corning Glass Works - 1921 dated Stock Certificate

Stock printed by American Bank Note Company. Attractive stock in dark green with male and female vignette.

Corning Glass Works, founded in 1851 by Amory Houghton in Somerville, Massachusetts, initially operated as the Bay State Glass Co. Later, it relocated to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and became the Brooklyn Flint Glass Works. In 1868, under the leadership of the founder’s son, Amory Houghton Jr., the company moved to its ultimate home and namesake, Corning, New York. In 1915, Corning made a groundbreaking discovery by creating an improved heat-resistant glass formula. This innovation led to the launch of Pyrex, the first-ever consumer cooking products made with temperature-resistant glass.

During 1934-1936, Corning played a pivotal role in constructing the 200-inch (5.1 m) telescope mirror at Palomar Observatory. The mirror was crafted from low-expansion borosilicate glass. George Ellery Hale, the visionary behind the Palomar project, approached Corning in 1932 with the daunting task of fabricating the required optic. A previous attempt using fused quartz had failed miserably. Corning’s initial attempt was unsuccessful, resulting in voids in the cast blank. However, they learned from this setback and successfully cast the second blank. After a year of cooling, the blank faced a near-fatal flood in 1935, but it was eventually completed. The first blank now resides in Corning’s Museum of Glass.