How the WordenSystem™ Began

In 1972 Howard Worden was asked by his wife Kathryn to make her a stained glass lamp shade. Using a primitive pattern and scraps of glass which he scrounged together, he took a whole winter to make his first shade. Using a small glass grinding unit, which he assembled, and some modified household pliers for glass breaking, he completed a small lamp which still hangs in the entryway of his home in Granger.

During the beginning period of learning to cut glass and hunting for tools to help, Howard became convinced that he could make forms and patterns which would make the process of making a stained glass shade available to the average craft person. He then proceeded to design and patented a method for making leaded stained glass lamp shades using copperfoil construction.

Using styrofoam molds which were manufactured according to his design, Howard designed patters which were carefully fitted to the curvature of the round molds. He also wrote detailed instructions outlining the steps to follow, using the "WordenSystem™", to construct a shade.

Using his business knowledge gained as part owner and manager of a fishing tackle business, Howard sold new semi-kits which included molds, patterns, and instructions to an emerging market of home hobbyists interested in making Tiffany style lamp shades out of stained glass.

The new "WordenSystem™" helped open up stained glass to the average person. The knowledge of how to make a stained glass shade and easy to use patterns were now readily available to everyone, not just to someone who completed a long apprenticship under a master craftsman.

Inspired by Kathryn, who endured a winter of glass grinding dust as Howard made her lamp, the H.L. Worden Co. has been in existence for more than 24 years, first as a proprietorship and later as a corporation. What started as a hobby for Howard Worden has evolved into a business which sells world wide and has helped bring appreciation of stained glass to generations of hobbyists.