Lynchburg Production Records

Dennis Bratcher

Production Charts:
Timeline by Week      Styles by Week

We have the advantage of access to production records for Lynchburg Glass Corporation. These were recovered from W. H. Loyd, Secretary and Treasurer and later President of Lynchburg Glass Corporation, by N. R. "Woody" Woodward in 1959 and provide a unique glimpse into insulator production at Lynchburg. Here, these records have been compiled into readable charts.* The first chart depicts a timeline of insulator production from late 1923 to mid-1925, in two phases. The second chart details specific production by insulator style for each week during the 51 weeks Lynchburg was making insulators and later fruit jars.

A few things to note about the records.

1. The dates given are for the week ending on that date. The plant ran six days a week beginning at midnight Sunday (for Monday production) until midnight Saturday, and production records summarized the preceding week's work. -1-

2. Statements from Lynchburg, for example in an advertisement (Employment Ad), say the plant started August 1, 1923. Yet the first production records begin with the week ending November 3, 1923. We do not know if it took those three months to get the plant into actual production, or whether insulators was made prior to October 29, 1923 and the records are incomplete. It is likely that the first insulators were made the week ending November 3, 1923.

3. From the Board Minutes it is almost certain that insulators were produced the week ending May 10, 1924, although none are listed in the Records.

4. In most cases the records give us numbers of insulators actually packed for sale, not the total number of insulators made. In a few cases the records offer a comparison between what was made, what was rejected, and the actual number packed for sale. For example we know from the records that 57% of the production run for the week ending March 22, 1924, 43,218 pieces, was rejected, presumably recycled. The records also note that about one third of the production for the week ending April 5, 1924 was also rejected. This was at a time when the company was trying to solve production problems.

5. Several style numbers are listed that do not correspond to lettering on any known Lynchburg insulators. Refer to Chart of Style and CD Numbers for further information on these.

6. The production dates of some styles are inconsistent with other documents. For example, in the document Comparison--Cost & Selling Price Insulators several styles are listed as being made in months that do not appear in the production records. This suggests that the production records as summarized below, while extensive, are not complete.

*These production statistics were complied from original Lynchburg production records and organized into charts by Dennis Bratcher. Because of deterioration of the records minor errors may be present and in some cases best estimates of illegible numbers were made. Access to the records courtesy Justin Stoudt.

Timeline of Production by Week

Chart of Production Timeline by Week -1-

*This chart is also available in Adode .pdf format.

By charting a timeline of insulator production, several aspects become more clear. We have to keep in mind that these records, while detailed, may not be complete. Also, it is uncertain whether Lynchburg-lettered insulators in clear and clear tinted were actually made at the Lynchburg plant, so they may not be included in the production totals (see Birmingham).

1. The first insulators recorded were made the week ending November 3, 1923 and the last were made May 23, 1925. However, there were none made the week ending March 9, 1924 and none are listed for the week ending March 29, 1924 as Lynchburg was trying to solve problems with the quality of the product and the high number of rejections. Also, the plant was shut down for seven months between April 5 and November 2, 1924 as the company tried once again to solve problems with quality, boost sales, and refinance the company.

2. Phase 1 production (Oct 29, 1923 to Apr 5, 1924) lasted 23 weeks (21 weeks of production). During this time, Lynchburg produced twelve of its fourteen total styles, lacking only the CD 181 and CD 306, which were both late additions to the lineup.

3. Phase 2 production (Nov 2, 1925 to May 23, 1925) lasted 30 weeks and produced ten styles. Dropped from production were the two small cables (CD 251 and CD 252), although Lynchburg replaced them with larger cables with less success (CD 180, CD 306). Also dropped were the Telegraph "Beehive" (CD 145), No. 48 (CD 153?), and the small Double Petticoat Pony (CD 160). We can assume that the CD 122 had replaced the CD 121 by this time. Production focused mainly on five key styles: small telephone (CD 106), telephone toll (CD 122), railroad signals (CD 154, CD 162), and low voltage power (CD 164), as well as the three sizes of fruit jars.

Detailed Production of Styles by Week

Chart of Production by Week

* For additional information, see Chart of Style and CD Numbers
** The Board had approved restarting the plant this week to produce insulators for which on hand supplies were low or exhausted. While no production records exist for this week, apparently insulators were made because on May 10, 1924 Mr. Gayner reported to the Board that on-hand stocks were complete. Minutes, May 10, 1924

Notes

1. We know from comments by Mr. Gayner that the furnace was blocked (kept running but at reduced temperature) Saturday night and was not put back into production until Monday morning. Some workers came to the plant on Sunday morning to clean scum from the glass tank. J. William Gayner, "How To Get Rid of Scum on a Tank Melting Flint Bottle Glass," Presented at the Atlantic City Meeting of the American Ceramic Society (Glass Division), February, 1924, in Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Volume 7, Issue 3 (March 1924), p. 200.