Glass artisan with molds for bending glass

The structure to teach artisans has changed over the last two centuries in America, but many artisans still learn their skills from master craftsmen. When glass artisan Charles Flickinger set up his workshop in Red Hook, Brooklyn in the 1980s, the glass works he purchased included hundreds of custom made metal molds for bending glass which dated back to the 1830s.

Broken face of the clock at Grand Central Terminal before restoration

Restoration work is an important component of contemporary artisan production. Duct tape held together the bent glass clock face from Grand Central Terminal before its repair in the 1980s.

The clock at Grand Central Terminal after restoration

Flickinger Glass Works repaired the broken clock face by remelting the glass in one of its 19th century metal molds.