# Glass in windows



## luckyscars (Mar 29, 2013)

I am finding it a little hard to determine at what time glass in windows became commonplace in domestic homes. I know glass itself is not especially modern and that there were doubtless great regional differences in its availability/cost...so to be more specific:

My novel is set in 1865 in an isolated ranch house of modest size in (mostly) unsettled rural land in Texas. Would it be realistic for a house this size in this locale to have glass panes? Currently I am thinking no, and if I am right then can anybody fill me in on what exactly would have been used instead of plate glass? Shutters of some sort? Please help!


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## Bloggsworth (Mar 29, 2013)

Almost all you need to know History of glass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Morkonan (Mar 29, 2013)

luckyscars said:


> ...My novel is set in 1865 in an isolated ranch house of modest size in (mostly) unsettled rural land in Texas. Would it be realistic for a house this size in this locale to have glass panes? Currently I am thinking no, and if I am right then can anybody fill me in on what exactly would have been used instead of plate glass? Shutters of some sort? Please help!



How long has it been there? It could certainly have had glass panes. If not, then oiled paper or scrapped/oiled hide would work to let some light in. But, it'd be more common for those windows to have heavy shutters.


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## Rustgold (Mar 29, 2013)

They also oiled linen cloth.  On a similar vein, old window glass used to partly melt (for want for a better word), and after time you'd end up with thick glass at the bottom and thin glass at the top.  Or maybe that was just old glass made in Australia.


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## ppsage (Mar 29, 2013)

I'd say your location and the effects of war on distribution and production, as well as construction date, are the big variables here; otherwise, as a commodity glass window panes will have generally been reasonably available and affordable. Better prepared itinerant merchants will sometimes have stocked a few panes or have taken orders for their next trip. At least a few panes in the kitchen will have been a required gift of all but the most parsiminious husbands, as soon as some financial foundation had been established. In this setting, windows will have been very likely shuttered in any case, as soon as practical, with hardware probably obtained via the same route as panes, although sometimes local blacksmithing might be possible, if the settlement can support it or the particular settler is a practioner. One suspects that shutters without proper hardware will have been often employed. Oilcloth or oilskin or nothing could substitute to let in light, one suspects skin, oiled or not, was most immediately to hand.


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## tabasco5 (Apr 16, 2013)

As you know, this era in rural Texas was a time of turmoil and settlers had to battle any number of potential enemies.  I don't know your intentions for the windows, but one option would be to go with the heavy shutters as Morkonan stated.  Similar to the arrow slits in castles, swinging shutters allows interior defenders to shoot from a protected position at exterior enemies.  The shutters would also allow for some air flow which may be important in a Texas summer.  I don't know if this option works for your story, but it is an option nonetheless.


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## Outiboros (May 8, 2013)

Rustgold said:


> They also oiled linen cloth.  On a similar vein, old window glass used to partly melt (for want for a better word), and after time you'd end up with thick glass at the bottom and thin glass at the top.  Or maybe that was just old glass made in Australia.


I believe that was just an urban myth, actually. The reason it is thicker at the bottom is because of the means of production, not the actual age.


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