cumberland relics

Exploring Historical Intrigue At Cumberland County, N.J.

Archive for the tag “Wheaton Glass”

Farewell Post: Only a Hiatus

After this week’s blog posts, I’ll be waiting out the rest of 2012. These upcoming posts may very well be the last on this blog, but it’s much more likely that I’ll be returning in some fashion. Some incarnation of this blog will be continued in January 2013, possibly incorporated into another blog.

The narrow focus of chiefly Cumberland County history has been good for discovering oft-overlooked people, places, events and ideas. But I may broaden the scope. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’ll be something more ambitious. That’s a scary word that carries a connotation of –gulpresponsibility. And there is a trend of my oversold and overstated goals floundering completely. So I’ll be keeping it, whatever it turns out to be, simple and tight.

My first “greatest hit” is The First Pioneer Artist of Glasstown Speaks. I most enjoy watching the Dennis Tawes video, for he is a creative spirit. It didn’t take any prodding from me (nor much post-production editing) for him to weave together a coherent story from his disparate ruminations on art. My second greatest hit, and the post I most enjoyed writing was last week’s on The Tea Burning of 1774. It’s an event with a number of elements I find appealing: early American history, rebellion & social unrest, economics and even a little maritime activity. My third and fourth greatest hits are An Insight Into Glass and A Brief Comment on Glass Art. Glass is so central to South Jersey, especially Cumberland County. Glass, as an industry, commodity and artform, is so interwoven with the history of the area that it deserved three posts. David Iams is also very informative. My fifth greatest hit, and the post that got the most attention and feedback was the Moron post. A little low on the content side, I thought, but that will be fixed very soon. Very soon.

Thanks. After Monday, check back in January for updates.

A Brief Comment on Glass Art

I recently spoke again with Wheaton Arts docent David Iams, who remarked on the changes in glass art. How recent innovations contrast with traditional techniques that had characterized glass art for centuries.

The Landis Theater

The Landis Theater in Vineland

It was 1937 and the United States maintained neutrality against the growing turmoil in Europe. The Great Depression was winding down in severity but the U.S. was on the cusp of a recession that would hit a year later. On March 12th of that year Howard Hughes sent a steamy covert love-o-gram to Katherine Hepburn. Also on March 12th the Landis Theater opened in Vineland, New Jersey. Architect William Harold Lee constructed the design of the Landis Theater with the “streamline moderne” derivation of the Art Deco style. William H. Lee was a distinguished architect who in 1920 rebuilt America’s oldest theater, the Walnut Street Theatre, and was responsible for the interior design of the Royal Theater, the first black-run theater in Philadelphia. The parallel extremities of the theater contain glass block walls. The emphasis on unique glass work is particularly interesting considering Vineland’s neighbor city, Millville, is the home of the major glassware company Wheaton Industries. In 1987 the theater was forced to close its doors. It was restored and reopened in 2010, though it has struggled financially in the first two years of its return. Just a year and a half after its reopening the theater went to the city for tax credits to offset its debts. Luckily, this year Appel Farms arts organization partnered with the theater to help develop the theater and make it a vital part of the community again…hopefully to the effect of the theater being “in the black” and gaining financial stability in the near future. The Landis Theater is a major historic landmark in Vineland and a source of civic pride for Vinelanders. What began as a venue for film and vaudeville acts is now, in addition to all that, a community performing arts center that attracts local talent as well as big stars of stage and screen.

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The History Girl

Exploring Historical Intrigue At Cumberland County, N.J.