C. Dorflinger & Sons

Dates

• Existence: 1852 (date of establishment) - 1921 (date of dissolution) - 1921

Biography

Christian Dorflinger, founder of the glass cutting firm C. Dorflinger & Sons, was born in Alsace in 1828. He apprenticed at the St. Louis Glass Works in France before immigrating to the United States in 1846. After working as a journeyman glass blower, Dorflinger established the Long Island Flint Glass Works in Brooklyn in 1852. In the late 1850s and early 1860s, Dorflinger opened other glass factories and glass working businesses in Brooklyn.

In 1863, Dorflinger retired from his businesses and moved to Pennsylvania. But in 1865, he opened another glass factory, Dorflinger Glass Company, in White Mills, Pennsylvania. Two years later, he opened a cutting shop there. His glass business continued to grow in the 1870s, and in 1881, his sons joined him in managing the company. C. Dorflinger & Sons produced glass ware for many prominent customers, including four United States presidents.

In addition to making its own cut glass ware, C. Dorflinger & Sons supplied blanks to more than twenty cutting shops. The business thrived until the death of Christian Dorflinger in 1915. World War I and prohibition brought further downturn in the cut glass industry. The factory closed in 1921.

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