Texas Glass by Michael David Smith
Bibliographic detail
- Title: TEXAS GLASS: An Illustrated History of The Three Rivers Glass Company, 1922–1937
- Author: Michael David Smith
- Year: 1989 (first and only edition)
- Publisher: Self-published, author-direct sale from Austin, Texas
- ISBN: TBD — verify in-hand
- Pagination: TBD — verify in-hand
- Format: Thin softcover; light periwinkle cover; centered type stack with byline at base and a cover photograph of an embossed 3 RIVERS milk bottle in front of mold hardware
Physical description
Thin light-periwinkle softcover with a centered type stack and Smith’s byline at the base. The cover photograph is an embossed 3 RIVERS milk bottle in front of mold hardware — a fair preview of the company marks documented inside. Author-direct copies were mailed from Austin in plain envelopes. Condition: TBD — verify in-hand. No known inscription on this copy (the matching Goodie Box copies, HH-LIB-2014-0002, came as a separate lot).
Provenance
Discovered through an online write-up of Smith’s book that pictured an H and H Crystalvac jar. The book was ordered directly from the author by mailing a check to Austin, Texas; this copy arrived prior to the 14 June 2014 day-trip to Three Rivers. Accessioned as HH-BOOK-2014-0006; accession date 1 June 2014. A second batch of copies acquired in-person at The Goodie Box (Three Rivers, TX) on 2014-06-14 is held separately as the Goodie Box lot (HH-LIB-2014-0002 / HH-BOOK-2014-0007).
Provenance correction (2026-05-16): An earlier note had mistakenly linked the 2014-06-14 Goodie Box receipt ($297.00) to six eBay-acquired bottles from jays-emporium (closed 06/11/14). The receipt’s correct provenance link is to in-person Three Rivers bottle purchases at The Goodie Box plus the additional copies of TEXAS GLASS. The earlier inferred-link claim is withdrawn; see Three Rivers, Texas and A Visit to Three Rivers for the corrected chain.
Why it matters
TEXAS GLASS is the foundational reference for the H and H Crystalvac glass-supplier story. Three Rivers Glass Company was H&H’s earliest Crystalvac jar supplier (1932–1936/37) — the initial 250,000-jar order is documented in the June 1932 launch press. Smith 1989 is the primary monograph on the Three Rivers plant; the KB cites it across 14 pages including Three Rivers Glass Company, Three Rivers Glass Bottles, Crystalvac, and Charles R. Tips.
The Charles Arnott photograph on page 50 (also held separately as the Goodie Box copy frontispiece, HH-LIB-2014-0002) is the single most-cited image: it shows (l—r) clear H & H Coffee, amber H & H Coffee — the comparison pair that established the H&H tie before any field-find confirmation existed.
Complementary academic sources now in the KB:
- Lockhart c.2010s — covers the Bastrop, LA satellite plant Smith doesn’t.
- Hinson 1998 — short paper; third independent source.
Three independent sources now triangulate any Three Rivers-marked bottle attribution claim.
Notable contents
- Comprehensive plant history (1922–1937) with founding, expansion, and 1936 closure.
- Page 50 — Three Rivers Glass H&H Coffee jars — the foundational image for the Crystalvac attribution.
- Embossed-mark and mold-number catalog useful for in-field bottle attribution.
- Photographic plates from Smith’s research; partial bibliography of trade-press sources.
Related
- TEXAS GLASS — Goodie Box lot (HH-LIB-2014-0002) — additional copies, in-person purchase.
- resources/texas-glass.md — citation-pointer page.
- companies/three-rivers-glass-company.md — the company Smith documents.
- brands/crystalvac.md — the H&H product line the book established.
- library/index.md — full library holdings.