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Solarized glass and the change to selenium as a decolorizer.
The switch to selenium as a decolorizer began before WWI. Because the
Owens Automatic Bottle-Blowing Machine worked from a tank furnace, it
helped bring about the switch to selenium. Manganese dioxide was not very
stable in a tank furnace because it is difficult to maintain an oxidizing
atmosphere in such a furnace. Selenium was much more stable in that
environment. One of the earliest publication of information on the used of
selenium as a decolorizer came out in 1911 (Angus-Butterworth 1948:68-69).
Keep in mind that the half of the bottles produced in the United States in
1917 was being made on the Owens Machine. I have not seen very many
solarized Owens-made bottles.
Angus-Butterworth
1948 The Manufacture of Glass. Pitman Publishing Corp. New York
For a discussion of this transition, see "Impact of Mechanization in the
Glass Container Industry: The Dominion Glass Company of Montreal, a Case
Study." Historical Archaeology 1983 volume 19, no. 1:38-50.
Tony McNichol and I gave a paper at the SHA on dates for
suction-scarred bottoms and we have been gathering information on the
subject. Opinions we do not need, however comments with citations would be
most appreciated.
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