People have been drinking beer for over 10,000 years and some of the earliest canteens are thought to have been fashioned out of animal skin. By around 8,000 BC, beer drinking vessels evolved into terra cotta pots and bowls when kilns and pottery wheels became commonplace. It wasn’t until 50BC, when the Phoenicians mastered the art of glassmaking that beer glasses were first created.
Over the next couple centuries, glassblowing spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.
During the 14th century, tankards and beer steins were created and became the first vessels specifically designed for drinking beer. It wasn’t until the 1800s that beer glasses became popularized.
By the 20th century beer glasses became an art form; during that period, the handled beer mug was created, a popular form used today. Over time, more designs were created including dimpled glasses and thin waisted pint glasses.
In 1876, William King of Pittsburgh, PA filed one of the first 10,000 patents approved in the US. King patented a glass with a series of convex vertical flutings and a handle. William King went on to patent several glass jug and jar designs, but his beer mug patent has become one of his most important contributions.
