The Libbey-Owens-Ford Company (LOF) was a producer of flat

glass Glass is a non- crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenchin ...

for the automotive and building products industries both for

original equipment manufacturer An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

s and for replacement use. The company's headquarters and main factories were located in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...

, with large

float glass Float glass is a sheet of glass made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal, typically tin, although lead and other various low- melting-point alloys were used in the past. This method gives the sheet uniform thickness and very flat su ...

plants in

Rossford Rossford is a city in Wood County, Ohio, United States, located along the Maumee River in the Toledo metropolitan area. The population was 6,293 at the 2010 census. The town includes the intersection of Interstate 75 and the Ohio Turnpike. Ross ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, Laurinburg,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

, and Lathrop,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The company was formed in 1930 by the merger of Libbey-Owens' sheet-glass operation with the Edward Ford Plate Glass Company, both located in Toledo.Syrup Off the Roller: The Libbey-Owens-Ford Company

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of ...

, 2012-01-03. Accessed 2014-01-28. Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company Records, 1851-1991

, 2012-01-03. Accessed 2014-08-10. The company's heritage dates back to 1818 with the founding of New England Glass Company of East Cambridge, Massachusetts, which relocated to

, and in 1892 changed its name to Libbey Glass Company under the direction of

Edward Drummond Libbey Edward Drummond Libbey (April 17, 1854 – November 13, 1925) is regarded as the father of the glass industry in Toledo, Ohio, where he opened the Libbey Glass Company (later Libbey, Inc.) in 1888. Biography Libbey was born April 17, 1854, in C ...

. In parallel, Michael Owens and associates completed work in 1902 on the first fully functioning automatic bottle-blowing machine (the successor of which was honored as a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via " continuing ...

), and in 1903 incorporated the Owens Bottle Machine Company. In 1912, Owens acquired rights to Irving Wightman Colburn's invention for manufacturing

plate glass Plate glass, flat glass or sheet glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windscreens. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is ...

. In 1929, the Owens Bottle Co. acquired the assets of Illinois Glass Co. of Alton, Illinois, and renamed itself the Owens-Illinois Glass Co., making it the largest glass company in the world.

Owens-Illinois O-I Glass, Inc. is an American company that specializes in container glass products. It is one of the world's leading manufacturers of packaging products, holding the position of largest manufacturer of glass containers in North America, South A ...

Glass Company acquired Libbey Glass Company in 1935, but spun it off as a separate company in 1993. In June 1916, the Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Company was organized, and in 1917 the first Libbey-Owens plant opened in Charleston, West Virginia. In 1922, a Libbey-Owens sheet glass plant opened in Shreveport, Louisiana, becoming both the city's largest manufacturer and employer (However, this plant converted operations between 1972 and 1974 to Libbey Glass table-glassware manufacturing, which it continues today). In 1928, Libbey-Owens was the first company to produce automotive

laminated safety glass Laminated glass (LG) is a type of safety glass that holds together when shattered. In the event of breaking, it is held in place by a thin polymer interlayer, typically of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), lonoplast polymer ...

and won a contract to supply the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

with windshields for the Model A. Libbey-Owens merged with the '' Edward Ford Plate Glass Company'' in 1930 to form Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company. In April 1986, LOF sold its glass business and name to the Pilkington Group, a multinational glass manufacturer headquartered in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. The remaining three business units of the company, Aeroquip, Vickers, and Sterling, were retained and the holding company was renamed TRINOVA Corporation. The Sterling business was later sold and in the late 1990s, the company adopted its two leading business unit names, and continued as Aeroquip-Vickers, Inc., until being absorbed by

Eaton Corporation Eaton Corporation plc is an American-Irish multinational power management company with 2021 sales of $19.63 billion, founded in the United States with global headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and a secondary administrative center in Beachwoo ...

in 1999. As part of the Pilkington Group, the company retained the LOF name. However, in June 2006, Pilkington was acquired by

Nippon Sheet Glass is a Japanese glass manufacturing company. In 2006 it acquired Pilkington of the United Kingdom. This makes NSG/Pilkington one of the four largest glass companies in the world alongside another Japanese company Asahi Glass, Saint-Gobain, and ...

, and the LOF name was abandoned in an effort to rebrand globally under the Pilkington name.

References

External links

LOF company history, from LOF records
at the

's Ward M. Canaday Center. * https://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/exhibits/oi/OIExhibit/timeline.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Libbey-Owens-Ford Glassmaking companies of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Ohio Companies based in Toledo, Ohio 1818 establishments in Massachusetts Manufacturing companies established in 1818 American companies established in 1818