MILLVILLE, N.J. -- The thermometer inside the T.C Wheaton Glass Factory hovers just over 100 degrees.
Yellow flames roar like jet engines in furnaces of the circular brick stack that rises from the middle of the factory floor.
The heat is too much for a few visitors, but most stay. They sit on tiered steps in a theater-like setting to watch one man create art in front of the massive stack.
Blowing, shaping and reheating, pony-tailed Joe Mattson slowly and carefully turns an orange glob of glass - heated to more than 2,000 degrees and looking like a large dim light bulb - into a lovely multicolored vase with a metallic sheen.
When he's finished, Mattson's sweat-soaked T-shirt perfectly matches the purple in the vase.
The glass factory is the most popular attraction at Wheaton Village, which celebrates American crafts, primarily glass.
Watching glassblowers always is fascinating. And Wheaton's Museum of American Glass is a treasure house, surprisingly large and spacious. It displays at least 6,500 pieces, one of the world's largest collections of American glass. Among those treasures is the world's largest glass bottle.
In addition to displaying works of famous American glass companies, it showcases many odd and archaic glass objects once used by ordinary Americans. And some of the works would be at home in any contemporary art museum.
First-time visitors entering through the gates of this place see what certainly does look like a village, with no cars on the street, but aren't sure what to expect.
'Not historical in nature'
"A lot of people think we're Colonial Williamsburg, and we're not," said spokeswoman Janet Peterson. "We're not historical in nature, with people in costumes. We are more of an education institution. We want to promote the importance of American crafts, especially glass."
You may feel like you have the place all to yourself. On a sunny weekday afternoon, far more geese than people were strolling on the green in the heart of the "village."
Buildings and attractions of Wheaton Village accentuate the sense of emptiness, because they are scattered on more than 60 forested acres.
There is a feeling of incompleteness about the place. It originally was supposed to be a re-creation of a turn-of-the-century South Jersey glass-making village, Peterson said, but there wasn't enough funding to make that happen.
The glass factory is modeled after the original 1888 Wheaton factory, which stood about a mile away.
Three narrated glassmaking demonstrations, lasting about 40 minutes, are scheduled every day. After the demonstrations, visitors are welcome to stay and talk with the artists.
Glass objects are made all day long in the factory by Wheaton's staffers and volunteers. Visitors are encouraged to watch them work any time they like, for as long as they like.
"We pride ourselves that people can get up close and personal with our artists," Peterson said. "They will spend as much time as possible explaining the craft. Visitors enjoy that personal attention."
Despite ceiling fans and open windows, it is uncomfortably warm in the factory, at least on a summer day.
"It goes up to 110 sometimes," said John Marselis, a glass artist who is a volunteer narrator at the factory. "We don't brag about that."
Visitors watch glassblowers make vases, pitchers, bowls, platters and paperweights. "No two pieces are the same," Marselis said.
You'll learn glass-blowing is a 2,000-year-old art. One surprise is that artists work without any gloves for protection; they use wet newspapers to help shape the contours of molten glass bubbles between reheating.
The factory has glassmaking molds plus historic displays. You also can watch artists use glass-cutting tools - diamond saws, drills and grinding wheels. One was fashioning a black heart out of glass. Another was creating a flock of "scum birds" - starlings.
Glass from all over U.S.
Despite its name, some visitors mistakenly believe the museum showcases only glass made by the Wheaton Glass Co. or only New Jersey glass, rather than glass from all over the United States.
Although only one story, the museum is modeled after the Mainstay, a bed-and-breakfast in Cape May, N.J. Its lobby looks like a plush 19th century hotel lobby, with red carpets and drapes and a pair of magnificent chandeliers.
Elsewhere in the museum are a rural Victorian kitchen and a Victorian dining room.
The museum's collections generally are arranged chronologically. Some objects are beautifully displayed on glass shelves in floor-to-ceiling windows, where sunlight can shine through them.
One temporary exhibit features more than 150 rare fruit jars, in honor of the 140th anniversary of John L. Mason's 1858 patent for Mason jars. The museum's annual exhibition "Folk Art in Glass," which features more than 100 pieces, continues through Oct. 25.
The world's largest bottle is 7 feet, 8 inches tall and has a 188-gallon capacity. It was made at Wheaton Village in 1992. A certificate from The Guiness Book of Records hangs on the wall next to it. The museum also claims "the smallest bottle ever made on a machine."
An old Coca-Cola bottle in the museum is amber and shaped like a beer bottle. There's also a set of Edison Christmas lights, made in 1915. You'll see old medicine bottles, umbrella ink bottles, glass urinals, whale oil lamps, holy water bottles, milk bottles, glass knives used for cutting fruit and glass insulators.
Wheaton Village visitors learn the first successful glass factory in America was in southern New Jersey. It was the Wistarburgh Glass Works, founded in 1739.
At one time, South Jersey had more than 200 glass factories, because of its deposits of high-quality silica sand and plenty of Pine Barrens lumber to burn in furnaces of those factories. After the advent of the railroad, Glassboro, Bridgeton, Salem, Vineland and Millville became major glass-making centers.
Dr. Theodore Corson Wheaton helped finance a new glass factory in 1888 in Millville. He eventually became sole owner and the company was named after him.
Early in this century, glassmakers were replaced by machines that could produce thousands of units a day, rather than hundreds. Only 14 companies still make glass in South Jersey. Three operate in Millville. One, Lawson Mardon Wheaton, evolved from the original Wheaton glass factory.
Wheaton Village is named for its founder, Frank Wheaton Jr. He is a grandson of the founder of the original Wheaton glass factory. When the village opened in 1970, he was president of that company, then simply called Wheaton Inc. Except for a 122-year-old schoolhouse moved from another site, the buildings are re-creations of turn-of-the-century architecture.
Being a not-for-profit arts organization means Wheaton Village has to raise money for everything, Peterson said. Some people incorrectly assume Wheaton Village is owned and operated by Lawson Mardon Wheaton. That misconception creates fund-raising problems, she said, because potential donors assume the village is owned by a profit-making company and don't want to contribute.
Also in Wheaton Village is Crafts and Trades Row, where ceramics, lamp-worked glass, wood carving and tin-smithing are demonstrated by artists.
Outside are pottery kilns and a couple of unfinished sculptures of nude women.
Another attraction is the small Down Jersey Folklife Center, which has photos and objects documenting "expressive traditions in New Jersey's southern eight counties." Wheaton's newest attraction, it opened in 1995.
Wheaton Village also has a Stained Glass Studio, operated by artist-in-residence J. Kenneth Leap, and a half-scale model of an 1863 train, which takes visitors on a quarter-mile ride.
Visiting Wheaton Village
Hours: Wheaton Village is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through December, then Wednesdays through Sundays in January, February and March. It is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and Easter. Plan to spend at least three hours in Wheaton Village. Don't miss glass-making demonstrations at 11 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. daily.
Admission and fees:There is no charge for shopping and strolling, except during special events. Admission is for the glass factory, glass museum, crafts and trades row and Down Jersey Folklife Center. There is no charge to go into the stained glass studio.
Admission is $6.50, $5.50 for adults 62 and older, $3.50 for children. Children under 6 are free. Parking is free.
Admission is $1 less from January through March, because the crafts and trades row is closed those months.
Adults who pay $45 can make an appointment to design and make their own glass paperweight, assisted by one of Wheaton Village's master glass artists. Call (609) 825-6800, ext. 2753.
Programs: Wheaton Village offers a variety of educational programs for children and adults, including weekend craft workshops. Those programs attract participants from a wide area.
More information: Write: Wheaton Village, 1501 Glasstown Road, Millville, N.J. 08332-1566. Or call: 800998-4552 or (609) 825-6800. Computer users can check www.wheatonvillage.org
Works for sale
Works of all the artists you meet at Wheaton Village can be purchased in the village's shops. You can buy 15-cent marbles in the General Store or $26 marbles in the Gallery of American Craft, which sells contemporary works by regional craft artists. Currently in the gallery is "Crafts in Nature: Creations for the Garden." Items in the gallery range from individual beads that cost $3.50 to vases that sell for $5,500. In the Paperweight Shop, which adjoins the gallery, you can spend as much as $10,500 for one paperweight. It even sells paperweights that look like bagels.
Merchandise in the Christmas Shop includes balls ($18) and icicles ($3).
Brownstone Emporium sells glassware from quality American manufacturers and the village factory, including hand-blown creamers ($19), double-glazed bowls ($70) and witch's pitchers ($120) with ball-shaped lids that were supposed to keep out evil spirits.
Pub Date: 9/23/98