Wheaton Industries was a long-standing famous manufacturer of glassware

Glassware

This list of glassware includes drinking vessels , tableware, such as dishes, and flatware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry whether made of glass or plastics such as polystyrene and...

 and ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

s products in Millville

Millville, New Jersey

Millville is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city population was 26,847. Millville, Bridgeton and Vineland are the three principal New Jersey cities of the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area which...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. A spin-off of the original firm (which returned to its pharmaceutical glass roots) adopted the name in 2006

Founded in 1888 by Dr. Theodore Corson Wheaton, it became a mainstay of the economy of southern New Jersey, which gained a reputation as the center of commercial glass manufacturing in the United States. The company was run by the Wheaton family for nearly its entire existence, and its height it had 41 factories throughout the United States and subsidiaries in 20 other countries. Many of its vintage products continue to be collectors items. Formerly a subsidiary of Alcan Packaging as Wheaton Science Products

Wheaton Science Products

Wheaton Science Products is a subsidiary of Alcan based in Millville, New Jersey in the United States. The company manufactures glassware products for scientific and laboratory applications....

, it was taken private in November 2006, and is once again known as Wheaton Industries.

History

The company was founded by Thedore C. Wheaton, a pharmacist

Pharmacist

Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...

 and businessman

Businessperson

A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...

, who in 1883 settled in Millville, in Cumberland County, New Jersey

Cumberland County, New Jersey

Cumberland County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population is 156,898. Its county seat is Bridgeton. Cumberland County is named for Prince William, Duke of Cumberland....

, southeast of Philadelphia. Southern New Jersey had by that time emerged as the center of U.S. glass manufacturing because of the prevalence of natural resources such as wood, sand, and silica

Silicon dioxide

The chemical compound silicon dioxide, also known as silica , is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula '. It has been known for its hardness since antiquity...

. Wheaton became particularly interested in the manufacture of pharmaceutical glassware, and in 1888 he established a small factory on the outskirts of Millville to manufacture his own bottles. The company became known as the T.C. Wheaton Co. Anticipating future growth of the company, Wheaton purchased 25 square blocks in Millville in an area bounded by Third Street, Wheaton Avenue and north to railroad siding which allowed the company to expand over the following decades. Wheaton's son, Frank H. Wheaton, Sr.

Frank H. Wheaton, Sr.

Frank Hayes Wheaton, Sr. was president of Wheaton Industries from 1926 to 1966 and chairman of the board from 1931 until his death...

, entered the company in 1889. Two years later, the company suffered a financial setback when T.C. Wheaton entered into a bad business venture that left the company ten years to pay off.

Frank Sr. assumed the presidency of the company in 1931 after the death of his father. He became known as the "dean of American glassware" during his tenure as company president. Despite the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, the company expanded greatly during the 1930s through the use of automation

Automation

Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...

. The expansion continued through the 1940s and 1950s with acquisitions and new factory construction. The Millville facility became the basis of the local economy, employing family members over several generations throughout the 20th century.

Frank Wheaton Jr. took over the management of the company from his father in 1966. Frank Sr. remained board chairman until his death at age 102 in 1983. While he was company president, Frank Jr. founded Wheaton Village, a non-profit living museum and artisan colony in Millville which preserves the heritage of traditional glassmaking in southern New Jersey. He was ousted by the board of directors in 1991 after a long-running dispute with the Internal Revenue Service

Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...

.

In 1996 the company was acquired by Algroup, a firm based in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, that was itself acquired by Alcan of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 in 2000. Frank Jr. died in 1998. In 2002 the molded glass operation was spun off as The Glass Group Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 2005. Its assets were purchased by Indian based Gujarat Glassn and Kimble Glass, a subsidiary of Gerresheimer, a German concern.

Today

Amcor Packaging of Australia now owns the glass tubing and plastic operations in Millville. Wheaton Science Products was spun off in late 2006 and was re-christened Wheaton Industries.
Collectibles
The original Wheaton Industries' large variety of products, including recognizable consumer products, spawned a community of collectors with sales on sites such as eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

. Many of the company's products are on display at the Museum of American Glassware at Wheaton Village, which remains a popular tourist destination.