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Nearcut Trademark

Nearcut Trademark (1904-1922)

 

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figure 1
nearcut2.jpg (7664 bytes)
figure 2
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figure 3

On May 1, 1905, the Cambridge Glass Company filed application with the U. S. Patent office for registration of the word NEARCUT as a trademark under the Trademark Act of February 20, 1905. In the required statement of the application, Cambridge claimed that NEARCUT "has been continually used in the business of said corporation since January 1, 1904." The patent office issued registration #47970 on November 28, 1905. Figure 1 comes from the trademark registration. The trademark registration states that NEARCUT may be stamped in the glass or on a paper label. Has anyone seen a NEARCUT paper label?

The latest usage was found in 1922. This comes from two sources. The first source is an undated Nearcut catalog #10. This catalog contains reference to the opaque colors Azurite and Ebony. No other colors were referenced. Articles from glass trade publications tell us that Azurite was introduced in January 1922, while other opaque colors were introduced in 1923. The conclusion is that Nearcut catalog #10 was printed late in 1921 for use in 1922. The second source is Cambridge advertising in these same trade publications. The last usage of NEARCUT was in 1921 while a new trademark made its first appearance in December 1922.

Figure 2 shows the trademark as it appeared in some of the trade advertising, in Nearcut catalog #10 referenced above, and in another Nearcut catalog circa 1915. None of the earlier data contained the trademark in this form.

NEARCUT is stamped in the glass in several different locations on the pieces and in different formats. The most common format is two words, one above the other, as shown in figure 3. The mark in the glass has been observed only on the heavy pressed lines that were prevalent in the early years of the Nearcut era. Although the light pressed and blown patterns were prevalent by the end of the Nearcut era, a few of the heavy pressed items were still shown.

Since the Cambridge Glass Company sold its products abroad as well as domestically, the Company found it beneficial to have a cable address for use in international communications. It remained the same to the closing of the plant. The cable address was NEARCUT.

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