A Touch of Glass

by Emily Rippe
Toledo—a.k.a. the Glass City—has been producing glass products since the late 19th century. You might already be familiar with some of the bigger players, including the Libbey Glass Company (high quality glassware), Owens Corning (glass fiber technology), and the Toledo Museum of Art's fabulous glass art collection. But out of the glasswork now pops up Hidden Television, makers of the ever-popular VanityVision Mirror (the company's most sought-after product), which is a custom-sized mirror for the bathroom with a 22" or larger LED TV built in.

"Toledo is the best place in the United States to find experts in glass, and companies to partner with," said Hidden Television owner James Baker. "It's also a central hub between the east and west coasts, as well as North America in general, making our shipping times excellent to all parts of the U.S. and Canada."

That's good news for Hidden Television clients, known to include Arnold Schwartzenegger, Peter Gabriel, Michael Moore and Vanilla Ice. According to Baker, it's the customer who has always been the source of inspiration behind this Toledo-based project. It all started about ten years ago when Baker began selling small two-way mirrors on Ebay for hobby projects out of the garage. Baker quickly noticed a trend where customers would call to ask if they could hide their televisions with the product.

"My biggest inspiration was the day I got a call from the Oprah talk show, she was interested in doing a special on home decor for small spaces," Baker said. "After hearing from her show, I realized there was a big future for this, and opened a factory on South Avenue in Toledo."

The Oprah show was just the beginning of a series of television placements for Hidden Television. According to builder and Hidden Television team member Nick Leyland, the past year has broken the glass ceiling (so to speak) for the company, presenting numerous possibilities with celebrities and network television shows.

Personally, Leyland has done projects for the DIY show "Man Caves" with retired football player Tony Siragusa and James Cameron, "Extreme Home Makeover" with Ty Pennington, and "The Vanilla Ice Project" (airing on the DIY Network on Saturday, January 21). Each project has been a unique experience for Leyland, such as building a 30 foot wall of mirrors with TVs behind it in Iron Chef Michael Symon's home in Cleveland.

"For a small company in Toledo, I think it is wild that we have such a unique product that garners this kind of attention, and I'm glad to be a part of it," Leyland said.

Of course, you don't have to be high-profile to appreciate Hidden Television's products. An array hidden televisions are available at different price points, as well as teleprompters, two-way mirrors, hidden compartment efurniture, bulletproof glass and framed art. For more information, visit them online at www.hiddntelevision.com, and be sure to check out their new main headquarters and showroom location at the corner of Reynolds and Airport, opening next month.
Published: 01/20/2012 7:00 am

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