The Glass Blower’s Death Sentence: How Machinery Turned a Skilled Trade into a Fast Track to the Grave
In Washington state, glass blowers are earning less and dying younger as machines replace men. A union president tells an industrial commission that the 'pace that kills' has turned a once-respectable craft into a brutal struggle for survival.
WASHINGTON, March 21.—For 20 years the wages of glass blowers in this country have decreased and the conditions of their life and labor have grown worse. These two important statements were made by Dennis A. Hayes, president of the Glass Blowers' Association of America, before the Industrial Commission.
Men now earn $12 a week for a period of ten months, sometimes only seven or eight months in a year, he said. Previous to 20 years ago they had better wages and worked a longer period. The life of a bottle blower was easier and he could work until 60 years of age.
The work has become more intense, and today the blower must keep up the pace that killed his predecessor. No blower can hope to live past 45 years old, at which his usefulness as a glass blower is ended. There are now sixty-four members of society to be enjoyed by the blowers, but the character of their work and life prevented them from enjoying them.
The introduction of machinery has been fatal to the glass blowers. Its use resulted in the dismissal of a large proportion of the men.
This 1903 report on the physical toll of industrialization mirrors modern debates about 'gig economy' burnout and the health impacts of automation. While we no longer rely on hand-blown glass, the tension between worker safety, wage stagnation, and technological efficiency remains a central labor issue today.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.