Glass and Windows during Abraham Lincoln’s Time

When Abraham Lincoln lived, there were some interesting changes and characteristics in the windows that were used on homes.  The architecture being used to build homes had expanded to include many, many different types.  The window treatments became fancier and more of a statement than just something to cover the windows with.  Even glass saw big changes during the 1800s, when Lincoln was alive.

Changes to Window Glass Manufacturing

Glass made some very big advancements in the 1800s.  Around the year 1825, two companies (Bakewell, Page, and Bakewell Company of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Boston and Sandwich Glass Company) both started to manufacture pressed glass.  Now, pressed glass was not used as windows for homes, but was instead for dishes, bowls and other knick knacks.  To make pressed glass, the companies poured the liquid into a mold and used a plunger press it in until the liquid solidified.

Around the same time though, glassmakers switched from making crown glass for house windows to using the cylinder process.  The glassmakers would take the molten glass and have it blown into the shape of a cylinder.  Then when the cylinder cooled they would take it and slice it down one side, reheat it, and it would open up into a large sheet of glass.

Plate glass, using molds like the pressed glass companies started using in 1825, wasn’t used for larger pieces of glass until 1850.

Window Treatments

Window treatments in the United States during the 1800s started moving towards being a decorative element of homes just as much as they were a necessity to cover the windows for privacy.  During the first part of the 1800s, the country was in a time between winning the war for independence and before the start of the Civil War.  It was during this period that women started to add fringes, tassels and tiebacks to their curtains to make them look fancy.  Lace curtains also came back as a popular window treatment at this time.

Over the course of the entire 1800s, roller shades, interior shutters, and intricate curtains also become popular window treatments.  The popularity of these specific styles all depended on what part of the country you were in.

During and after the Civil War, what window treatments were used in regions specifically touched by war went back to being for necessity and what materials were available at the time.