Antique Mosaic Glass Works
Originally situated on the second floor of the Y. P. Therkelson floor in Perth Amboy, was The Antique Mosaic Glass Works. The earliest press reports on the firm appeared in November of 1908 advertising for workers. Incorporation papers show a substantial initial $10,000 investment on a $50,000 commitment.
The company was started by Russian immigrant brothers, Morris and Hyman Rippenbein, who were well established in the tobacco business. A third brother, Albert would eventually join. Arriving in America around 1881, Hyman changed his name in 1906 from Rippenbein to simply Rippen. From our current understanding, their Tobacco business continued while the new line of business making leaded lamps was started.
Workers at Antique Mosaic included Joseph Leader (salesman and an Incorporator), Thomas Bogue (a Cutter), John O'Tool, Oscar Wilson, Elsy Albert, Henry Hendrickson, Nettie Saunders, Hyman Schwartz. In their short 2 year duration manufacturing shades, staffing proved to be a continual problem. The newspapers frequently covered workers' comings and goings.
No copies of this 1908 trade-journal catalog have surfaced to date, leaving any documentation of their product line strictly speculative. Crude as the cover illustration may be, it appears to feature a small aperture. Should a copy of this catalog eventually emerge, it would be instrumental in differentiating their lamps from those produced by rival firms.
One of the recurring and significant figures across Perth Amboy’s lamp-making firms is Louis J. Veith.
A French immigrant from Paris, Louis J. Veith arrived in the United States in 1895, with his family following shortly thereafter to settle in Hillsdale, NJ. While the original family name was Vietti, the family adopted the name Veith for official Census records and local press announcements. Both Louis Veith Sr. and his son, Louis Jr., became important figures in the industry, contributing their extensive metalworking and glass expertise to the production of stained-glass windows, mosaic shades, and lamp bases.
By mid-year of 1909, Antique Mosaic had made the move to their Braga Hall premises on Division Street just 3 blocks from Amboy Works.
In December 1909, Antique Mosaic publicly announced the launch of a new metal electroplating and finishing venture located at Braca Hall on Division Street. Shortly thereafter, the firm began advertising in the Perth Amboy Evening News to promote these services. While records indicate that Louis Veith was employed as a metalworker, it remains unclear whether these accounts refer to Louis Veith Sr. or Jr.
Antique Mosaic’s venture into electroplating proved remarkably brief. By March 1910—only months after its debut, the plant was already listed for sale, and by May, the company had entered bankruptcy. The Rippenbeins converted the former glassworks facility into a shipping department for their tobacco business.
The scale of the closure was significant; reports in the local press and industry trade journals confirmed that the company's entire workforce, numbering approximately 300 employees, was dismissed as the firm entered bankruptcy proceedings. Given that Amboy Works staff number in double digits, we find 300 at Antique Mosaic to be either a very unlikely number, or a misprint.
Following the press announcement of the closure on May 10, 1910, the company stated it was preparing to relocate its operations to Philadelphia. Apparently, this move never materialized. The last mention of Antique Mosaic was in a July 1911 trade journal advertisement, which offered a remaining inventory of 250 domes and shades for sale, citing the owners' retirement from active business.
Louis Veith likely purchased the plating business and started his own firm, Art Nouveau Shade Works and set up shop at 176 New Brunswick Avenue.