Henry William Stiegel, a German immigrant, first found success in the colony of Pennsylvania by operating an ironworks. He soon branched out into glassmaking, producing colorful pieces like these two pocket bottles, and founded the town of Manheim around his new factory.

Stiegel ramped up production just as the British raised taxes on colonial importation of glass before the Revolutionary War. His company successfully filled an emerging market for non-imported fine goods. As the war approached and the economy declined, however, Stiegel was no longer able to replicate his earlier successes and fell into financial ruin.