Glass Block Windows

Posted by ButterscotchAware402@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 40 comments

My family moved around a touch in my early years and I attended 4 different elementary and middle schools in 2 states. Every gymnasium had these. Maybe they're standard/still a thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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KamuiT@reddit

My elementary school had a huge renovation during my second grade year (‘91-92) and put these ALL OVER the interior of the cafeteria. I thought they were super cool at the time.

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eatsleepdive@reddit

Plenty of these remain on the north side of Chicago

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I've not seen these used with houses but on PATCO line into Philly some stops use them as the walls covering the escalators/stairs on the platform. It lets a lot of light down, you can see the trains on a stormy day, and they can withstand a lot of abuse.

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drfinale@reddit

Hello fellow Philadelphian (or South Jersian)! This was exactly what I thought of when I saw this pic!

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dinglepumpkin@reddit

My parents’ house, which they renovated into a Bauhaus-style cube in 1982, has these on either side of the front door. Great for light and privacy! Amusing though

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Addamall@reddit

Rich people would just have a wall or two made of them. Doctors love them!

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full_of_ghosts@reddit

I always associate them with dentists' offices.

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Fun-Preparation-4253@reddit

They're still used pretty regularly and when I drive by them I like to blurt out "THERE'S THE BATHROOM!"

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Lumpy_Barracuda_9968@reddit

I call these “dentist cubes” because you never saw a dentist that didn’t have these bad boys somewhere in the office.

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RemarkablePaper1798@reddit

Our tiny local Dairy Queen had these in the bottom half of the exterior walls so I associate them with Peanut Buster Parfaits.

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Primary-Strawberry-5@reddit

I kinda wanna build myself a glass block hot box

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GravyPainter@reddit

Always thought those were gawdy af

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SomeRandomPerson1517@reddit

I have always hated them too and assumed everyone found them tacky.

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Salty-Tea6815@reddit

Finally, somebody with some taste!!!

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59apache01@reddit

These things were everywhere in the '80s. They were cool looking, but I was always concerned about getting out in case of a fire or other emergency.

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Kellzy1212@reddit

This is exactly where my mind went. No way to open them or even break them.

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PierogiKielbasa@reddit

They actually break pretty easily- that’s how you replace them actually. You carefully put a hammer through the middle and just kind of shatter it out then chip away the cement. They’re hollow in the middle. Definitely takes more effort than a standard pane but it’s possible

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Deep-Interest9947@reddit

I thought houses with a few glass bloodline windows (or even a whole shower) were so sophisticated

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earfeater13@reddit

I just thought they were rich haha

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Deep-Interest9947@reddit

Sure. But like cool nouveau modern Malibu beach house west coast rich. Not antiques and old east coast mansions rich.

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larryb78@reddit

Exactly this - they were all over 90210!

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fyukhyu@reddit

I love in a house with a glass block shower wall. It's just a PITA to keep clean.

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Chessapeak-play@reddit

I have a song for this

Flower - Glass Brick Window

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Any_Cold5965@reddit

I can hear them break in Minecraft.

I do actually remember these, but not actually where they were for me

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SlapHappyDude@reddit

We had an apartment that had a window that faced the "hallway" balcony that had these and I really appreciated it

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nohombrenombre@reddit

My dad gifted his three daughters with these glass blocks with coin slots in the top. after we accumulated a bit of money in each bank (was it really a bank or did he make them for us?) we girls somehow figured out that one could use a butter knife and the money would just slide out with lots of shaking. Such good memories

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JDz84@reddit

The master bathroom in my in-laws house as a huge two wall partition for the shower and a window with them. It looks so dated.

That said, I have a huge picture window in my master bathroom. First thing we had to do when we moved in was go back out to Walmart and buy blinds because when it was time to shower we’d be visible to two neighbors and the sidewalk/street. I love the natural light, but where is the privacy? What’s the solution today?

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ButterscotchAware402@reddit (OP)

I was actually quite taken with them after looking at them before I made this post. Considerations for the future fo sho.

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