About National Cambridge Collectors

Volunteers dedicated to preserving the art and history of Cambridge Glass

National Cambridge Collectors (NCC) started in 1973 when ten Cambridge Glass collectors gathered to form an organization for the purpose of building community and preserving the heritage of glassware made by the Cambridge Glass Company. From those early discussions, NCC was formed and began publishing The Crystal Ball newsletter. Since that day in 1973, nearly 8,000 people have been directly affiliated with the organization.

NCC opened its first museum in 1982, only to see it largely destroyed by a flood in 1998. This setback didn’t last long, however, as just 4 years later in 2002 the museum reopened on South 9th Street in the heart of Cambridge, Ohio. This new museum is a world-class facility, professionally managed and dedicated to integrating itself into the surrounding community.

In 2006, NCC purchased the last-remaining large group of molds used in the original Cambridge Glass factory, and has since acquired warehouses to store these molds, tools, and and other factory production items. As we look to the future, NCC is also constantly digitizing our materials and updating our Virtual Museum — a digital library on this very website dedicated to accessible research and education materials about Cambridge Glass.

Today, we have not only the phenomenal archive of Cambridge Glass history in our (physical and digital) museums, but also a growing endowment fund and — most importantly — an incredible group of members and volunteers dedicated to preserving the history of this beautiful glass.

NCC is very proud of how far we’ve come in the past 50 years of our preservation activities — all of which has been accomplished while maintaining the highest of operating standards as provided in our statement of The Accountable Nonprofit Organization.

Out of tragedy comes greatness

Over 3 days in June 1998, heavy thunderstorms and hail caused significant damage across much of Southeastern Ohio and West Virginia. On the night of Sunday, June 28th, rising waters in the Cambridge, Ohio area resulted in the flooding of the original National Cambridge Collectors, Inc. Museum.

In total, approximately 5-and-a-half feet of water flooded the museum building, and a team of about 25 volunteers worked through the night to elevate countless irreplaceable pieces of Cambridge glassware above the rising flood waters.

As the flooding receded and NCC members took stock of the outcome, the damage to glassware in the building was found to be miraculously light compared to earlier expectations — no doubt due to the brave efforts of the heroic volunteers. In total, fewer than 100 pieces were found to have sustained damage from the floods, standing in stark contrast to the heavy damage done to paper materials, resale inventory (such as NCC books), and the building itself. Sadly, the NCC Museum was closed for the season — but not forever.

Thanks to the excellent guidance provided by the Corning Glass Museum (who previously experienced similar flooding), freezers were brought in to quickly freeze important paper catalogs for future scanning, allowing NCC to preserve as much Cambridge documentation as possible. With the help of NCC members, the local Cambridge community, fellow glass clubs, and glass enthusiasts around the world, NCC was able to raise the funds needed to build our current world-class museum in downtown Cambridge, Ohio.

While the flood of 1998 was nothing short of a disaster, it forced NCC to examine what sort of work is necessary to truly preserve the history of Cambridge Glass, leading us to serve our mission with our current Cambridge museum, warehouse collection, and new digital preservation in the form of our Virtual Museum.