Elias Hungerford received a patent for these glass window blinds in 1866. They were designed, he said, “to give light which enters the room any desired tint to correspond with the color of wall paper and carpets or furniture, thus giving to the room a most pleasing and harmonizing appearance.” He insisted that his blinds would never require painting or varnishing, and that they could be produced very inexpensively. Amory Houghton Sr., president of the Brooklyn Flint Glass Works in New York City, agreed to manufacture the blinds. In 1868, Hungerford and some local investors persuaded Houghton to move to Corning and rename his factory the Corning Flint Glass Works. The blinds were not a commercial success, and only a few sets survive. The set shown here came from Hungerford’s house in Corning.