Underneath each glass says: 

LIBBY DURATUFF 

USA 

L

Each glass is numbered (11, 17, 15, & 19).

Fishs Eddy is a dinnerware, flatware and glassware retailer originally based in Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City that specializes in found dishes and serving pieces.

History:

Fishs Eddy was founded in 1986, when founders and current owners Julie Gaines and David Lenovitz got lost in Upstate New York and stumbled upon a small town named Fishs Eddy.

Gaines and Lenovitz discovered an old barn during that trip that had stockpiled restaurant dishware that had survived a fire.

They offered to buy the whole lot, took it back to their apartment in Manhattan and used the inventory to open a store at 889 Broadway, near Union Square.

A graphic novel about the history of the story, by Gaines and illustrated by her and Lenovitz's son, called Minding the Store, was published in 2018. 

Aesthetic:

Fishs Eddy is known for offering archive and antique dinnerware, including plates and cups purchased from American Airlines and the Syracuse China Corporation.

The company also produces some of its own dinnerware, with an aesthetic often called quirky.

Its product line includes dinnerware with faces of American politicians and a skyline of New York City.

As of September 2018, the store was considered a top retailer of wine decanters.

The store has also released dinnerware and other items created in collaboration with retailers and celebrities, including Alan Cumming, Todd Oldham, Amy Sedaris and West Elm.

The Founding Fathers of the United States, commonly referred to simply as the Founding Fathers, were a group of late 18th century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence from Great Britain, established the United States, and crafted a framework of government for the new nation.

America's Founders are defined as those who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution, and others. In 1973, historian Richard B. Morris identified seven figures as key Founders, based on what he called the "triple tests" of leadership, longevity, and statesmanship: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.

Historical founders

Thomas Jefferson, a key Founding Father, was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, which Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis says contains "the most potent and consequential words in American history".

Historian Richard Morris' selection of seven key founders was widely accepted through the 20th century. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were members of the Committee of Five that were charged by the Second Continental Congress with drafting the Declaration of Independence. Franklin, Adams, and John Jay negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which established American independence and brought an end to the American Revolutionary War. The constitutions drafted by Jay and Adams for their respective states of New York (1777) and Massachusetts (1780) proved heavily influential in the language used in developing the U.S. Constitution. The Federalist Papers, which advocated the ratification of the Constitution, were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Jay. George Washington was Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and later president of the Constitutional Convention.

Each of these men held additional important roles in the early government of the United States. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison served as the first four presidents; Adams and Jefferson were the nation's first two vice presidents; Jay was the nation's first chief justice; Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury; Jefferson and Madison were the first two Secretaries of State; and Franklin was America's most senior diplomat from the start of the Revolutionary War through its conclusion with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

The list of Founding Founders is often expanded to include the signers of the Declaration of Independence and individuals who later ratified the U.S. Constitution. Some scholars regard all delegates to the Constitutional Convention as Founding Fathers whether they approved the Constitution or not. In addition, some historians include signers of the Articles of Confederation, which was adopted in 1781 as the nation's first constitution.

Beyond this, the criterion for inclusion varies. Historians with an expanded view of the list of Founding Fathers include Revolutionary War military leaders and Revolutionary participants in developments leading up to the war, including prominent writers, orators, and other men and women who contributed to the American Revolutionary cause. Since the 19th century, Founding Fathers have shifted from the concept of the Founders as demigods who created the modern nation-state to take into account the inability of the founding generation to quickly remedy issues such as slavery, which was a global institution at the time, and the treatment of Native Americans. Other scholars of the American founding suggest that the Founding Fathers' accomplishments and shortcomings be viewed within the context of their times.

Origin of phrase

The phrase "Founding Fathers" was first coined by U.S. Senator Warren G. Harding in his keynote speech at the Republican National Convention of 1916. Harding later repeated the phrase at his March 4, 1921 inauguration. While U.S. presidents used the terms "founders" and "fathers" in their speeches throughout much of the early 20th century, it was another 60 years before Harding's phrase would be used again during the inaugural ceremonies. Ronald Reagan referred to "Founding Fathers" at both his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and his second on January 20, 1985.

In 1811, responding to praise for his generation, John Adams wrote to Josiah Quincy III, "I ought not to object to your Reverence for your Fathers as you call them ... but to tell you a very great secret ... I have no reason to believe We were better than you are." He also wrote, "Don't call me, ... Father ... Founder ... These titles belong to no man, but to the American people in general."

In Thomas Jefferson's second inaugural address in 1805, he referred to those who first came to the New World as "forefathers". At his 1825 inauguration, John Quincy Adams called the U.S. Constitution "the work of our forefathers" and expressed his gratitude to "founders of the Union". In July of the following year, John Quincy Adams, in an executive order upon the deaths of his father John Adams and Jefferson, who died on the same day, paid tribute to them as both "Fathers" and "Founders of the Republic". These terms were used in the U.S. throughout the 19th century, from the inaugurations of Martin Van Buren and James Polk in 1837 and 1845, to Abraham Lincoln's Cooper Union speech in 1860 and his Gettysburg Address in 1863, and up to William McKinley's first inauguration in 1897.

At a 1902 celebration of Washington's Birthday in Brooklyn, James M. Beck, a constitutional lawyer and later a U.S. Congressman, delivered an address, "Founders of the Republic", in which he connected the concepts of founders and fathers, saying: "It is well for us to remember certain human aspects of the founders of the republic. Let me first refer to the fact that these fathers of the republic were for the most part young men."

Framers and signers

Further information: Framers

Portraits and autograph signatures of the Founding Fathers, who unanimously signed the Declaration of Independence at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia

The National Archives has identified three founding documents as the "Charters of Freedom": Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, and Bill of Rights. According to the Archives, these documents "have secured the rights of the American people for more than two and a quarter centuries and are considered instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States." In addition, as the nation's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union is also a founding document. As a result, signers of three key documents are generally considered to be Founding Fathers of the United States: Declaration of Independence (DI), Articles of Confederation (AC), and U.S. Constitution (USC). The following table provides a list of these signers, some of whom signed more than one document.