A Brief History Of Drinking Glasses
Glasses, in all their forms have been used to enhance our lives and create a more appealing world with which to view it. It is ironic that such a far-reaching and important material is derived from the most common and simple elements. The history of glass and the different types of glasses it is used in making begins with its development, likely to have occurred in the Middle East at around 3000 B.C. Raw material was melted as best as was possible in small furnaces, barely achieving the necessary temperature to create glass. Since the means and technology were extremely limited, glass in any form was a rare and precious commodity. Glasses to drink from were certainly not an accessory on your average kitchen table. From there, glass manufacture became more efficient with the use of soda lime, and developed to a higher level in Venice, Italy. Glasses as we have them today became more widely available only after nearly revolutionary developments in glass manufacture occurred in the 1890's. So the next time you reach into your cupboard, which is filled with different sizes and shapes of drinking glasses, to get a drink of water, you can think of it developmental lineage. Once considered the commodity of kings, we now have glasses as one of our cheapest materials.