Learn More About Franklin Art Glass, Which Made Wendy’s Lamps

On Feb 3, 2022

Franklin Art Glass created the original lamps in Wendy's

I recently learned that Franklin Art Glass studios in German Village made lamps for the original Wendy’s. What can you tell me about that, and have any survived? These have to be counted as two of our city’s legendary businesses. And you are right, Franklin did indeed make lamps for Wendy’s.

Some background: Franklin dates from 1924, when Henry Helf started the business Downtown at 214-216 Oak St., coincidentally close to the first Wendy’s site. Franklin Art Glass remains owned and managed by the fourth and fifth generations of the Helf family. The firm moved in the early 1960s to 222 E. Sycamore St. and has long been known for its art glass creations.

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Sporting Franklin Art Glass lamps (and also strings of colored beads, which those of a certain age will recall), Dave Thomas’ first Wendy’s restaurant opened Nov. 15, 1969, at 257 E. Broad St., where the Catholic Foundation is today. Coburn Morgan, a designer for several other restaurant businesses, worked with Franklin on “plain bottom” and “flower bottom” lamp designs and also a domed design using techniques of the Tiffany studios in New York. The Wasserstrom Co. (started in 1902 and also a family-owned local legend) provided kits, including the lamps, for other Wendy’s restaurants.

As for surviving lamps, there are some around. The Helf family has a few, they turn up occasionally in antique shops, and Franklin still makes miniature versions for Wendy’s. And if you should be so fortunate as to find an old Wendy’s lamp in need of restoration, Franklin Art Glass is ready to help.

Retailing in Downtown Columbus today seems mostly food-related, but it must have been a lot different years ago. What kinds of retailers were there?

CQ wrote in the December 2014 issue about how many department stores we once had Downtown, and also about some of the other retailers on North High Street between Broad and Spring streets. Now, it’s time for a deeper look. The stretch of High from Spring to Town arguably was the retail core. In the mid-1950s, there were 107 retail businesses in those five blocks: eight jewelry stores; 16 shoe and shoe repair shops; 24 clothing stores; five department stores (Boston Stores, Lazarus, Madison’s, Morehouse Fashion and The Union) in seven locations; five chain stores (H.L. Green, J.C. Penney, S.S. Kresge, Woolworth, W.T. Grant) in nine locations; and seven restaurants. There were 36 others such as leather shops, drugstores, print shops and so on. Amazingly, there was only one vacant storefront.

What’s left today? Only a single retailer from that era, but several buildings, among them The Union, Bott Brothers saloon, Boston Store, the White-Haines and Madison’s complex, Woolworth and Lazarus. And the sole surviving business? Drumroll, please: the Peanut Shoppe at High and State. Established in 1936 as one of 300 owned by Planters Peanuts, it’s one of around 10 remaining nationwide, all independently owned. It was at 5 South High between 1936 and 1978; then 46 North High from 1978 to 2014; then 21 East State, where its iconic neon Mister Peanut sign still beckons patrons.

Jeff Darbee is a preservationist, historian and author in Columbus. Send your questions to [email protected], and the answer might appear in a future column.