Caldwell Paint and Glass

In 1943, John started a small service company in Lenoir called Caldwell Paint and Glass.   His primary supplier was Pittsburgh Paint and Glass and he simply sold their product line of paints and glass to the local market.  During the post war building boom driven by the returning soldiers, he installed glass for residential wood windows.  This opportunity was available because in those days wood windows manufactured in local shops were not factory glazed but delivered to the site without glass.  Residential mirrors at that time were often just flat mirror sheets with polished edges and 4 holes drilled in the corners for mounting.   Commercial buildings of that era used large expanses of plate glass for displays and he provided and installed those products all over northwestern North Carolina.  Around 1945, as the automobile became larger in everyone's life Caldwell Glass bought a set of flat glass automobile patterns and fabricated laminated glass for the replacement industry. In those days there were no glass parts for cars distributed in the area, so having the patterns for those parts allowed the company to cut replacement glass for any car from an inventory of flat laminated glass. The same wet belt sander used for mirrors provided the smooth edges for the auto glass.   In those days the glass business was profitable because the business model was to buy raw materials and fabricate it on a local basis to fit the needs of the customer.  This would not last forever as newer products were introduced into the market and the distribution side of the business became a more efficient method to produce more complex products.  In the early 50's the paint business was sold and the business became Caldwell Glass Inc.  By the late 50's Caldwell Glass pretty much stopped cutting flat laminated glass because the use of curved glass parts for the automobile eliminated flat glass use in cars and trucks.  Storefront construction continued to become a bigger part of the business because of retail growth and even some use in modern residential construction.