Wilkerson glass

MOUNDSVILLE, Wv

Est. 1975

Learn how our business transformed from a fascinating hobby to a full-time career.

WHERE TO BUY

Visit our Etsy storefront for available retail items.

about us

Fred Wilkerson made his first paperweight in 1975, at the age of 12, when his father, a worker at Fostoria Glass in Moundsville, West Virginia, built a furnace to make paperweights as a hobby. Fred worked alongside his father as much as possible, while studying his every move with profound curiosity. He spent the next 10 years polishing his skills before enlisting in the United States Air Force. In 1989, after serving his country for four years, Fred returned to his passion of making glass and decided to make Wilkerson Glass his full-time career, where he would work alongside with his father.

Today, almost 50 years later, Wilkerson Glass is still going strong. On most days, you will find Fred hard at work keeping the business alive in memory of his father who passed away in 2021. Almost every immediate family member has participated in the glassmaking process at some point in time, as some jobs require a set of extra hands. Fred's nephew, Branden, now assists him in the glass shop daily. Fred’s daughter, Dalis, shares her father’s love of creating glass paperweights. She has taken the talent and skill learned from her father to Oglebay Park in Wheeling, West Virginia where she demonstrates the art of paperweight-making to park visitors at Oglebay Institute’s Glass Museum.

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