Glass Cane Treasure Leans into Family Legacy

See the glass cane on permanent display in the Coca-Cola room at the Vigo County History Center.

By: Tamie Dehler

This charming glass cane is a recently acquired artifact of the Vigo County
History Center.  It has an interesting past, linking it to two significant companies in the
history of Terre Haute–the Root Glass Company and the Coca-Cola Company–as well
as two brothers who worked in the bottle factory. The Root Glass Company was founded by Chapman Root in 1901.  It was located on the northeast corner of 3rd and Voorhees streets and was a prime manufacturer of soda, beer, and water bottles in light green, amber, and flint (clear)
hues for several different companies. Coca-Cola is an Atlanta, Georgia, company that started out serving fountain drinks and by 1899 had begun bottling their product. Their bottles were unremarkable: straight-sided, inconsistent colors and shapes, some with labels that fell off when wet. The trustees decided they wanted a bottle design as unique as their logo.  In 1915, they
notified several glass companies nationwide that there would be a competition to
design a new and distinctive bottle for their drink.

Back in Terre Haute, the Root Glass Company had been destroyed by a tornado
in 1913 but was rebuilding. The Root family decided to take on this challenge and
formed a team, including machinist Earl R. Dean, to work on a design.  Dean came up
with a shape based on the curved and ribbed contour of the cocoa bean pod.  The
company submitted his design and won the competition over eleven other contenders. 
Earl Dean is remembered as the creator of the iconic Coke bottle.  But there was
a second, lesser known, Dean brother who also worked at the Root Glass Company. 
This was Earl’s older brother Calvin “Cal” Dean, a machinist and glass blower.  He is
the creator of this week’s historical treasure. Calvin Andrew Dean was born in 1888 in Richmond, Indiana, to William Dean and Emma Brandenberg. They moved to Terre Haute early on. He is listed as a glass blower in the 1910 city directory.  In 1918-1919, he served in France during WWI and was gassed in combat.  After returning home, he was employed at Root Glass for many years.  He never married, moved to Florida in his later years, and died there in 1965. 
He is interred in the family plot at Highland Lawn Cemetery.   

  
Cal Dean fashioned this cane in the bottle factory around 1920.  He presented it
to his cousin, Glenn Brandenburg, and it passed through the family until it was inherited
by Steve Dilworth, who donated it to the History Center with other family artifacts.
This simple yet elegant hand-blown glass cane is 23.5 inches long and made of
Coca-Cola’s characteristic “Georgia Green” colored glass with an amber core.  The
shaft is square, allowing for a sparkling play on light as the cane is turned. Both the
handle and the bottom tip have decorative spirals leading to rounded ends. A most interesting feature is the amber core. Is this core made from amber glass or is the cane
actually hollow and filled with Coca-Cola?  Investigation into glassblowing techniques
reveals that it could have been made either way.  So, this intriguing question remains.