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| Truog apparently found many customers in his own back yard,
including local store owners
R. E. Johnson,
John J. Stump & Co.,
and also the Cumberland Brewing Co, but his work advertised patent
medicines and businesses from Baltimore and New York in the east
to Minneapolis and St. Louis in the Midwest. |
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Truog was Italian-born, but war forced his family to flee to Switzerland
while he was still very young. He was educated in the arts and completed
studies at the University of Zurich before emigrating to the US in 1883. He
was by now an accomplished artist and secured a position designing etched
glass patterns for the Central Glass Works of Wheeling, WV. He later helped
found the Seneca Glass Company of Morgantown, WV but it was destroyed in a
blaze in 1893 and he moved to Cumberland to establish his etching company.
Not only was Truog a talented artist, he also had a quirky sense of humor
that is evident in a series of novelty glasses. These include two “Don’t
Drown” glasses which implore the imbiber to keep the contents at a level
below that which might imperil an
etched hog or
a fly. In the same series is
an “Eye Opener” that features a
cowled monk (photo: Bill Naglik).
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Several variations on the hog theme survive. In one, the hog is handsomely
portly whereas in another the animal seems grossly inflated to the point
where it might rupture! Neither of the latter two glasses are signed, but
Truog’s hand in the floral design is so evident that they are almost
certainly his.
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Playing counterpoint to the “Eye Openers” are at least two “Nightcaps”. One
predictably features a
woolly cap embraced by a wreath of flowers, but the
cap in the second glass is worn by a
clock face whose hands tell us that the
hour is late and this had better be the last tipple!
My personal favorite Truog glasses include the whimsical “Going Back on a
Friend”, a glass that has sparked considerable debate as to its meaning.
Then there is “It’s a Long Time Between”, featuring a character whose
lugubrious face leaves little doubt that the word left hanging is “drinks”.
Then there is a deliciously lecherous gent in the “Just a Smile” glass. One
can only imagine the consequences of filling this particular glass! Finally,
there’s the wonderful “I Do / I Don’t” glass, featuring two panels within
which we see a child performing (or not) on a pot.
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One really has to wonder who would have purchased these glasses and why, but
clearly they were popular at the time because so many have survived the 100
plus years since their manufacture, most of them in pristine condition.
Auction prices on these glasses has risen spectacularly in the past two
years as awareness of them grows, from a mere $20 each to over $150. If only
the stock market performed so well! |
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| Although the Truog novelty glasses have irresistible charm, they probably
represented a sideline for the company, with the bulk of his work involving
manufacture of branded beer and whiskey glasses. Very few of these were
signed so attribution has been difficult, but first inklings that this might
be the case came with the publication of Barbara Edmonson’s book,
Old
Advertising Spirits Glasses. In the
Introductory material, she drew
attention to original designs that appear in a scrapbook that was compiled
by Truog and that now resides in the library of Alleghany College,
Cumberland. They include sketches of the monk “Eye Opener” and “Don’t Drown
the Fly” glasses mentioned above, but they also include designs for several
branded whiskey glasses. |
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