A Machine That Changed The World
If I asked you to name an important invention from the first decade of the 20th century, what would come to mind? Airplanes? The air conditioner? Tea bags? Those are all good suggestions, but how about the Owens Automatic Glass Bottle Making Machine? I bet you didn’t think of that one, did you?
Michael Joseph Owens was born in West Virginia, on January 1, 1859. With little formal education, he started working in a glass factory in Wheeling at the age of 10. By age 15, he had risen to the position of glassblower. In 1888, he took a job in Edward Libbey’s glass factory in Toledo and soon became superintendent of the plant.
Owens began working on a fully automated glass bottle machine in 1899. By 1903, Owens not only had a machine ready for testing, but he’d also formed the Owens Bottle Machine Company with Edward Libbey and others to license his machines.
Until 1904, when Owens was granted a patent for his “glass shaping machine,” all jars and bottles were either hand-blown or made on semi-automatic glassblowing machines like the Frank C. Ball Machine. For the men, boys and girls working in the glass factories, this was often dangerous, unpleasant work.
The Ball brothers, realizing the importance of Owens’ invention, purchased the Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Company of Greenfield, Indiana, on November 20, 1909, just to get the exclusive rights to make fruit jars on Owens’ fully automated machines. They knew that with these machines, the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company could look forward to many years of prosperity and growth. Without them, their factories would quickly become outdated.
The Owens Machine revolutionized the glass making industry, improved conditions for factory workers, and had a surprising impact on the lives of people across America. It did this by lowering the price of glass containers and making them uniform in weight and measure. More mothers could now bottle feed their babies and pharmacists had an easier job dispensing pharmaceuticals. It also enabled the U.S. government to set specific guidelines for packaging, making the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 possible.
Related industries, too, reaped the benefits of the Owens machine. Employment increased in breweries, dairies, soft drink and food plants across the country. Container uniformity brought about the development of high-speed machines for filling and packaging. And perhaps of even greater importance, it eliminated the need for child labor in the glass industry.
Unfortunately, success is not a constant in life. Improvements in technology invariably bring about change, replacing faded warriors with new champions. In 1930, Ball Brothers Company began phasing out the Owens machines. In 1941, the last Owens machines were replaced by remodeled Ball-Bingham, Miller JPM, Lynch and Moorshead machines.
During his lifetime, Owens held 49 patents. He died in Toledo on December 27, 1923. Today, three corporate giants are descendants of the company he helped organize in 1903: Owens-Illinois; Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass and Owens Corning.
BIZ Michael J. Owens. Undated handout photo
