Charles Flickinger began his career in glass as a stained glass craftsman and designer. His early years in New York were spent working at several leading glass studios. At Rambusch Decorating, he became involved in bent glass while working on the restoration of the Statue of Liberty's torch. He later pursued his interest in bent glass by apprenticing to leading bent glass craftsmen Maurice Heaton, Sidney Cash, Hans Deutch, and John Morgan.

In 1985, he opened Flickinger Glassworks in a small loft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The business expanded and moved to its present 7,000 square foot shop on New York Harbor in 1990.