kokomo opalescent glass company tour

If you are in the Kokomo area you will enjoy the factory tour they give. Mind you, the factory was built in the 1890's and are still being used to make beautiful colored glass. Before the tour we were able to go out into the artist area and they were all so helpful and answered questions about their projects. It was easy to hear the guide and he was friendly and helpful. However, the tour started over 2o min. late because the person in charge was on the phone with an artist from New York. Either call her back and get someone else to start the tour. The first area you see after leaving the gift shop is where the large furnace is - so much heat is used in the manufacture!

This tour was so informative. The guide was extremely knowledgeable and it was fascinating to see how art glass is produced. The price for the tour is so very reasonable and it lasted for 1 1/2 hours. The retail store was just full of glass eye candy. It is amazing that the oldest art glass factory is tucked away in the town of Kokomo and is still in operation, making beautiful products that are shipped all over the world. Highly recommend!

My visit to this 100+ year old factory was amazing in every way. The tour guide was friendly, fun and well versed in the history of the place and he managed to bring that history to life with stories of people who had worked there back when and present employees. My group had the pleasure of watching artisans at work; my favorite was a demonstration of the technique used to make a singe round bead from a flat piece of Kokomo glass - fascinating and tedious. I now understand why gass beads are priced as they are. It is a painstating process! I reoccommend this tour and visit to anyone interested in artisan glass and/or the history of Indiana (a natural gas pipeline enticed many businesses to the Kokomo area, including glass factories. At one time, the small town had six!

The tour guides here do a splendid job showing you around this 126-year-old factory. They wear a loudspeaker system which allowed everyone in our group to be able to hear the tour guide with relative ease. Watching the guys make the glass panels was incredibly interesting - they are highly skilled.Even though the glass blowing shop was not operating on the day we visited, the tour guide still made the overall visit informative, interesting, and enjoyable. She answered every question asked expertly, and followed up to make sure everyone in the group heard the question and understood the answer. Very nicely done.

Ansolutely amazing process. Had never seen anything light this before. Had a family come for the tour from Japan in our group. Highly recommend the Op Shop tour. If your are looking for an unique gift, check out their gift shop. Everything is "one of a kind".

When I went, I expected to see just one thing being made. But to my surprise, they make and sell lots of glass items. Their glass is sent all over the world. The tours are very interesting.

Went here while in Kokomo for business. So glad I did. It was very interesting to see how the glass was made through the different stages from the molten form to the final product. Everyone was friendly and very knowledgeable. The artists are very talented.

Even though I'd seen videos of the tour, they can't begin to convey what it's like to actually watch this process. You don't get this close to the production line when you tour a cornflake factory these days, and surely eventually you won't be able to get as close to these workers as you can now. Go before it's too late!

Located about an hour north of Indianapolis, this glass factory is worth the drive! The tour guides are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable since they work in the factory. The tour takes you through the entire glass making process as you walk throughout the factory. You learn the history of Kokomo Opalescent along the way. It's neat to see the various colors and textures that are possible. So many beautiful creations are made there! The gift shop has a variety of items for sale. Tours last about an hour and are only given at 10AM each weekday, so plan accordingly.

We really enjoyed this, it was very knowledgeable about the making of glass awesome gift shop, they even gift wrap for you, I am going back for more gifts! P.S. I only bought one thing for us! Ha ha

This is the tour that all tours should be. An in depth, close to the action, informative, view of the production of stained glass. The tour guides are not professional guides. They are the artists and employees of the company. They KNOW what is going on and are enthusiastic about sharing that knowledge. The tour shows the glass being manufactured close up. At one point, we were mere feet from molten glass. Bonus were the artisans creating beautiful things out of the glass. I will definitely make the 4 hour drive to see this again.

If you are a stained glass enthusiast, you will love this tour. If you're NOT a stained glass enthusiast, you will love this tour! This was our second trip to Kokomo Glass and the tour was outstanding! We left our house at 4AM to get to Kokomo by 10AM for the tour. It's the only time of the day they do the tour because the glass workers start their shift in the middle of the night to be done working by the time the weather warms up. I'm pretty sure they're done working by about Noon every day. We got a lot of good information and history about the company. We were able to get within 2-3 feet of where they actually throw the ladles of glass onto the platen to be rolled out into sheet glass. It's pretty amazing to watch. They have a hot glass studio there where you can watch glass blowers. Other types of glass demos going on as well... stained glass, glass cutting, etc. Also a great gift shop. All the glass in the gift shop is made right there. This is a must see. It's $5 for the tour and they will deduct the cost of the tour from anything you purchase over $25. You must go!

If you love glass, then this is an amazing opportunity to see a working operation. I stumbled onto the idea of visiting Kokomo as I was planning a trip across Indiana. We left home at the crack of dawn to see the 10am tour (only time they do it!) Well worth it. Interesting history to the company which adds to the overall value/experience of seeing this glass company. Great tour, nice people, lovely gift shop. I originally thought that we'd just stop at the gift shop later in the day, but I'm really glad we made the effort to get there early enough to go on the tour. Stumbled onto Artie's Tenderloin on Main Street for lunch. A perfect addition to a really fun, cool morning.

I took a glass fusing class just before starting a cross country move from AZ to the northeast. I already had our trip planned out and reservations made at each stop. During the class, someone mentioned the tour at the Kokomo Opalescent Glass company. I convinced my family it was a worthy detour so we revised our trip itinerary to go 60 miles off route and add an extra hotel stop. Since the tours are only in the morning, we drove the night before to Kokomo, IN. (other reviews for the hotels). There were some private group tours that same day so it got a bit crowded in the shop/lobby but once the tour started, it was worth it! The tour was very informative, the folks who work there clearly like their jobs, they had a lot of patience with questions that were asked. I really couldn't have asked for anything better. I'm floored by how much of what they do is the same as its always been done. Save up before the trip because there are many, many beautiful pieces made by the super creative artists who work there as well as an astonishing selection of glass. I settled on something small that would travel well, but I hope to go there again. As a budding GOG artist myself (glass on glass mosaics) it is a great experience to add that connection to the glass I use.

Tours are only in the morning, so be sure to check out the details. This glass factory has been in existence for maaany years and the tour gets you up close to the process. And the gift shop has GORGEOUS stained glass pieces. You can also buy glass "rejects" to make your own projects. Check out the "heads and tail"