| Company: |
Lancaster Colony Corporation |
| Pattern Name: |
Colony Crown (Ruby Crown / Color Crown) |
| Production Start Date: |
1970 |
| Production End Date: |
c 1985 |
Before you read this page, read the section on Indiana Glass as this page has somewhat truncated information based on their connection with Indiana Glass.
In 1961, a merger occurred between 5 companies which included Lancaster Glass Corporation and Colony Glass. This merger resulted in the formation of Lancaster Colony Corporation,
which by way of Lancaster Glass Corporation included the Indiana Glass Company (which remained as a subsidiary of Lancaster Colony Corporation).
In 1969, Lancaster Colony Corporation went public and opted to broaden their offerings to include specialty foods.
In 1992, Lancaster Colony Corporation incorporates in Columbus, OH (I believe they had previously been headquartered somewhere in Indiana but don't quote me).
In 2002, Lancaster Colony Corporation shut down the Indiana Glass facility in Dunkirk, IN for good, and shifted all glass production to Sapulpa, OK, where production of glass continued
but was still branded as Indiana Glass.
Right now, if you're interested, you can visit them on-line at: LancasterColony.com
Lancaster Colony Corporation has a much more robust history than what I am presenting here, which is focused only on their involvement with the King's Crown pattern.
Some of this presented history is conjecture based on what I know/understand of the company's timeline, marketing material I can find, physical examples of shipping materials,
conversations with past Indiana Glass employees, and inspection of the pieces during the two eras.
Prior to acquiring Indiana Glass Company, Indiana Glass had started manufacturing their version of the pattern, labeled "Line #77" as well as "King's Crown". When Lancaster Colony Corporation
("Colony") finished forming, Indiana Glass seemingly retained autonomy for the creation and management of the pattern. Pieces produced were branded with the Indiana Glass company logo.
By 1970, Colony had amassed a large sales force and demand for their product was high. It is at this time that we see a few things start to happen. First, Colony launched "Tiara Exclusives",
a specialty line of tableware that essentially was a blue line of King's Crown.
We also start to see a change in the product line:
- A reduction in piece type offerings, removing such things the 13 1/2" Plate, and the high-rimmed ice tea tumbler.
- A change in the rims, both a reduction in the size and a decrease in the flare, as well as a standardization of the rims making them consistent from piece to piece (perhaps the rims were now created and added by machine as well).
- There is a removal of some color lines, such as the cranberry stain.
- A new very vibrant and red ruby color replaces the older, purpler tinged ruby stain. This is standardized across all pieces, and Colony not only changes the marketing to show Colony instead of Indiana Glass, but they rename the line "Ruby Crown".
- Three new standardized solid glass colors are added, Olive, Gold (amber yellow), and Blue. These are also marketed as Colony instead of Indiana Glass, and the line is named Color Crown.
- Gold and Platinum pieces are rebranded to Colony and renamed Gold Crown and Platinum Crown respectively.
Interestingly, there is evidence that non-Colony Crown pieces were also made during this period, still branded as Indiana Glass.
This included a short-live blue stain, and a plethora of colors for the wedding bowls.
Finding an exact date of discontinuation of the pattern has been difficult. It appears that Colony stopped general manufacturing sometime around the mid-1980s,
but most certainly by 1989 when they Indiana Glass stopped producing pieces for the Tiara Exclusives line.
In 1998, Colony had around 700 employees at the Dunkirk, IN Indiana Glass facility. Records indicate that it was a very large percentage of Dunkirk's total employment picture.