Founded by English chemist, William J. Blenko as Eureka Art Glass Company, in Milton, West Virginia in 1921, the Blenko Glass Company assumed its name in 1930. Blenko understood not only the glass process, but color, a key impact of glass design. Initially, the firm specialized in plate glass, patenting a ruby red color that could be re-fired for stained glass enamellists. Blenko introduced tableware in 1929; during the 1930’s it inclined towards a Swedish aesthetic, especially under foreman Carl Ebert Erickson from 1937-42. In 1947, Blenko hired Winslow Anderson as its first credited full-time, in-house designer. Anderson (1947-53) at Blenko was succeeded by Wayne Husted (1953-63), Joel Philipi Myers (1963-70), John Nickerson (1970-74), Don Shepherd (1974-88), Hank Adams (1988-94), Matt Carter (1995-2002), Richard Blenko (1980-2007), and Arlen Bayliss (2007-2012) as artistic directors.