# The Moore Brothers at Fislerville Clayton New Jersey



## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

In 1850 the boro of Clayton New Jersey was named Fisler Town. This name was changed to Fislerville. A glass factory was erected by Dr. Jacob Fisler and Benjamin Beckett at the corner of Linden and New Streets on the East side of the Glassboro and Malaga turnpike on a 75 acre heavily wooded plot. In 1851 Mr.Edward Bacon took over for Mr. Beckett.The glass works name was The Fislerville glass works.This would be the name until the year 1859. The business did well for the first 4 years and a second furnace was added.The town began to grow as workers began to move into tenant homes that were built by Mr Moore.

   In 1855 Mr. Bacon died in a very trajgic train accident in Burlington City New Jersey.Jacob Fisler and Mr Becketts widow sold the business to John M. Moore who leased the glass works buildings from Dr. Fisler the first three years and bought the business out right in 1858. The factory was originaly small and it consisted of a 2 pot furnace, a store, a large barn, and small 4 room houses for the glass workers.In 1859 George C Hewitt and Jeremiah D. Hogate became part owners and the company name was changed to John Moore and Company. Late in the year 1863 Mr Hewitt sold his share of the business to John Moores brother P.Wilson Moore who joined as a partner in the business. The name was changed to Moore Brothers and company. Late in the year of 1863 Jeremiah Holgate sold his remaining interest to the two Moore brothers The glass factory name was changed again to the Moore brothers glass works.

 The factory became very successful and Mr Moore began to purchase quite a bit of real estate in the town.Mr. Mr. Moore also bought the Fisler & Harding Pond, renamed Mooreâ€™s Lake (now Silver Lake) located on the west side of the town. Like other early glass works the company store redeemed script money known as "shinnies" or "shinplasters" good at the company store for food, clothing, furniture, etc. 
 The Moore Brothers were the sole owners of the works from 1865 to 1880. In the year 1881 Francis M Pierce,Harry Steelman,and Charles Fisler the grandson of Jacob Fisler bought into the glass works and the name changed again to Moore Brothers and company. The company in the year 1912 had over 600 employees making them the largest glass works in the country at the time. They would continue to run another two years but the Automatic bottle machine developed by Michael Owens at the Whitney Plant in Glassboro and the first world war brought an end to a business that spanned more then 63 years.


 The following ad ran in the Philadelphia Reifs Mercantile exchange Newspaper in September of 1865. 

 The Fislerville Glass works are now in blast.
 Fislerville Glass works at Fislerville Gloucester County N.J.
 Office -33 South Front Street Philadelphia

 Moore Brothers

 Manufacturers of Druggist,Perfumers glassware,wine,Porter,,mineral water
 pickle, preserve,jellies,Syrup,Sauce,Capers and olives,whiskey,bitters bottles 
 of every description and their famous Air Tight Fruit Jars along with 
 Crockery Dealers Glassware.Window glass of every size can be had,
 Particular attention paid to private molds

 John N Moore
 Peter Wilson Moore  

 These works were just like Thomas Whitney's in Glassboro and Dyott in Philadelphia.They had their own Mold Shop,saw mill,Company store,paint shop,flattening house and large storage shed. In the year 1857 Karl Peterson left Phillip Dolfein and Samuel Huffsey in Philadelphia at 9th Street and Joined the Moore Brothers making Molds for them.The following bitters bottles were made and blown here. Drakes,Indian Queen,Perrine's Apple Ginger Bitters,and Goffs. The Mckearins only attributed 1 historical flask to this factory and that was the quart sized GI-107 Jenny Lind/Glass Factory embossed Fislerville calabash flask. With a talent like Karl Petersen on hand you can bet a few more historical flasks and fancy perfume bottles were made here since he was trained by the best glass mold makers in the country at the time Phillip Dolfein and Samuel Huffsey in Philadelphia.

 I have studied the style of the Jenny Lind Flask and compared it to the following other flasks in my collection which were quite likely to have been made at these works also.The Hunter Fisherman Calabash Flasks G XIII- Pictorial Flasks group 1850 to 1880.The following flasks the GXIII-4 the GXIII-5 and the GXIII-6 all have the same scalloped base of the neck and they are identical in make up to the Jenny Lind/Glass Factory embossed Fislerville calabash in every other aspect.The only other company local who was also producing scalloped neck calabash flasks were the firm of Sheets and Duffy at the old Dyottville glass works in Kensington Philadelphia. Mckearin attributed the GXIII-4 to the Whitney Glass works which is possible because of the close proximity to the Moore Brothers works.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

Workers posing in 1909.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

Company store script money.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

2.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

3.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

Here is the famous Jenny Lind quart sized calabash Mckearin Numbered GI-107 historical flask.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

2.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

3. The 4 barrels under the glass factory. This is one way to determine the originality of Moore Brothers flask from the long necked Clevenger  copy cat flask made in the 1930s through the 1960s. The Clevenger flask only had 3 barrels under the factory.


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## AntiqueMeds (Sep 13, 2012)

neat stuff.
 I remember noting the calabash were from there.


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## AntiqueMeds (Sep 13, 2012)

Here is the front of the Moore jar I found.
 Pretty much your run of the mill mason pint.
 I suppose they are rather plentiful.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

Here are the calabash flasks the Mckearins failed to attribute here to these works. Once you see them it is quite obvious they were likely made here as they are quite similar in design to the Jenny Lind GI-107 shown prior in this post. The GXIII-4,5 and 6 Hunter Fisherman quart sized calabash historical flasks. First are a pair of GXIII-4 flasks in amber and light aqua.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

Nice Matt, I know someone on the forum has to have an Airtight Moore Jar in their collection I don't unfortunately.Matt your jar could have been made anywhere between 1885 and 1900 I am guessing.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

2.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

3.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

4. On this flask the GXIII-4 the hunter is facing and shooting his shot gun at a duck to the left. His gun is pointed in the air on a forty five degree angle.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

5.Fisherman holding his fishing pole between his legs and a fish on the line near his hand.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

6. The top LTC lip and the scalloped neck where it begins on the bottles body.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

7. In amber. Mckearin lists these as plentiful. You don't see a lot of them around,so they may be more then likely rated as scarce particularly in amber.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

Next up is the GXIII-5 Hunter Fisherman. The Hunter is looking to his right and he is shooting again on a 45 degree angle at a pair of ducks.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

The Fisherman side of the bottle. The fisherman is similar to the GXIII-4 but he is facing to the right this time. There is a large tree next to the body of water on the far right which is different from the previous flask.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

3. Again the LTC collar and the neck at the bottom has the scallops just like the GI-107 Fislerville Jenny Lind flask.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

4.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

5. Mckearin lists this flask as comparatively scarce. Here is a good shot of the hunting dog on this one.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

6.The hunter firing to his right on a 45 degree angle.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

7. Tough to see on this picture but to the right of the dog are a pair of bushes and rocks.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

8. The fisherman facing to the right. This is the only one in this like grouping that the fisherman faces to the right.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

9. To the right of the body of water is a mill on the north shore. You can make out the wheel in this close up.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

10. The large tree to the right of the lake. This is the only one in this group that has a tree in the relief.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

11. What is different about this one again from the others is the base of the flask is oblong shaped with a rough large pontil where on the GXIII-4 and 6 the base is round.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

The Mckearin listed rare GXIII-6 Hunter/Fisherman Calabash Flask. On this flask the hunter is different again from the other two as he is shooting at a 90 degree angle instaed of a 45 degee one. He is facing to the right also like the previous flask.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

2.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

3. Here is the LTC neck again sporting the scallops at the bottom of the neck.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

4. There is a large puff of smoke on this one coming from the end of the gun.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

5. That olive striation is deeply embedded into the glass.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

6. A pair of birds flying to the far right of the hunter.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

7. Side view of the medial ribbing seen on all three flasks.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

8.Nice close up of the fish on fisherman side of the flask.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

9.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

10. The bottom on this one is round where as the previous one you remember was oblong.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

11.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 13, 2012)

I have some more information on the glass works for tomorrow. If you put this coordinate  39Â° 39.285'N 75Â° 5.23'W  into the your smart phone,GPS or Google maps you will be at the Moore brothers glass works.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 14, 2012)

1 more picture of a group of glass workers and boy helpers outside of the Moore Brothers glass works taken about 1910.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 14, 2012)

One more a layout of the glass works.


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## AntiqueMeds (Sep 15, 2012)

that card is a creat image. Is that a post card or what?


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## AntiqueMeds (Sep 15, 2012)

You really need to do your own website/blog Steve.
 It kills me seeing your content sink into the mire of the daily chit chat.
 You obviously expend a lot of effort towards presenting it here and it doesnt seem like that much more effort to go the last mile and give it its own deserved home. 
 It would also free you from the editing lockdown imposed by this site (you always want to change, add, and update content over time).
 You can always post links here when you add content so the experience for ABN readers is at least equal or better.. 

 Just my opinion of course, do what makes you happy.


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## Steve/sewell (Sep 15, 2012)

Thanks Matt.
  It is a poster sized print of an original one of the town. The original print is at the Wheaton Glass museum. Your advice makes sense I will do it as soon as I free myself from some other projects I have going on.


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