Dorothy C. Thorpe; Innovator of Glassware

Dorothy C. Thorpe, 88, who started a line of glassware at the height of the Great Depression to help ease the family’s economic burden. Her original creations were seen by such film stars as Clark Gable, who helped popularize the sandblasted tumblers, drinking glasses and vases. By the time she sold control of the Glendale-based firm shortly after the death of her husband in 1953, Dorothy C. Thorpe Originals were being sold in most of the finer department stores across the nation. In Carlsbad, Calif., on Sept. 4.