Telling Stories

Seems like such a long time since I decided to study the material culture of the potteries. There were hundreds of potteries that dotted the countryside with access to water. I had lived in Ohio for years; but, I recognized only Homer Laughlin. I faced quite a learning curve . . . I found an odd yellow unmarked dish, identified by a friend, as Glidden Pottery. The dish belonged to the Ferris Wheel Stand for hors d’oeuvre. I wondered about the basic utility of such a device and the maker. There are basic outlines in Wikipedia. While both entries (Glidden Pottery and Glidden Parker) are well-researched, thorough and maintained. Still, I am curious. Glidden Parker remains an enigma – bits and pieces of life as an artist are scattered like a puzzle.

Glidden McLellan Parker had not planned on making pottery. He knew that he wanted to study literature and write. Described as temperamental, he was a loner with few friends. He had little interest in cities and crowds of people. Close to home, Bates College seemed like a perfect fit. The small liberal arts college nurtured and encouraged students in the English Literature Department. And importantly, he wanted to live at home with his parents.

Owen Dodson was a long, long way from Brooklyn. He knew that he wanted to write. And he was gifted. Bates College awarded him a scholarship. He worked at odd jobs on the weekends and rarely partied with other students. Self described as one of two Negroes, he was obviously different. Yet, he was surprised that it mattered at a liberal arts college. The loneliness of that first year did not deter him from his ambition. Alone, he observed others from his window. He was an avid reader. And, he began writing in earnest.

Owen met Glidden in the library in the Autumn of his sophomore year. The meeting was pivotal for both; they shared a bond, a close friendship. Owen writes that they were soul mates – sharing their work and enjoying campus life. Loneliness was left behind. As Owen wrote, “They invited a small group of writers to share their work, “Several boys and girls who are particularly interested in creative work meet, eat supper, and discuss their works. . . . [the Bates poets] worshiped beauty, truth, and read Hedda Gabler.“¹

This circle of friends was a boon for both Glidden and Owen. They flourished . . . Glidden writing plays and short stories while Owen wrote poetry and plays. Owen entered the Yale School of Drama as a graduate student. Later, Owen Bates was recognized as a distinguished poet, playwright and professor at Howard University. Glidden Parker wrote and published short stories, plays and was working on a book.²

During family vacation to the Finger Lakes, they visited the College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Glidden knew this was the place. The faculty were among the best in the country. He was welcomed and felt comfortable in the Ceramics Department. Two years later, he began making pots to sell.

In 1941, Glidden Pottery opened for business. Local potters, a few faculty members and his spouse, Pat (Harriet Hamill). Glidden developed a mixture of clay from Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. This clay allowed a relatively low firing temperature of 800 Degrees which saved time and yielded oven proof ware. Eschewing commercial glazes, Pat developed glazes that were quite remarkable. Matrix a soft blend of turquoise speckled with other colors remains the most popular glaze. As described in the New Yorker, “This Pottery which is ovenproof is distinguished by a matte surface, soft color combinations.”

Glidden Parker, much like Russel Wright, was committed to bringing his pottery to market at an affordable price. For example, a sixteen piece set sold for less than 20.00 at department stores. To achieve his goal, Glidden used Ram Molds that simplified the process. And later, a tunnel kiln was built which led to the production of thousands of pieces each week. After the process of unmolding, each piece was hand decorated. Individual pieces had interesting shapes that functioned for the cook and for the family. Glidden Pottery was distinctive certainly, the quality was obvious with a handmade look and feel. The dinnerware was stocked at high end department stores like Bergdorf’s in New York City. Soon, Glidden Pottery was featured in popular magazines – House Beautiful, Life, and Woman’s Home Companion. He also sold pottery at the Roadside Markets along with other local artists.³ The popularity of Glidden Pottery grew . . . as we would suspect.

re-imagining the everyday of life

Glidden Parker, like Russel Wright, not only realized their designs but, they were welcomed in the market. The modern consumer had a “passionate desire for color and new forms” as noted in the New Yorker. Beyond the aesthetics of their pottery, they understood that the everyday of life was casual. Parker added the words, Casual Living, above his sketch of a few designs. Wright developed a new line of ceramics with this as his design principle. Odd, that both men traced their heritage to the Mayflower and at the same time, they broke with that tradition.

Sales had far exceed their expectations. No doubt, the extraordinary volume of sales confirmed their beliefs of the aesthetic of the modern household. The editor of About the House described, “an almost pathetic and largely frustrated eagerness” by consumers. Householders looked to modern trends instead of the advice in The Frugal Housewife.⁴ Conspicuous consumption was an unintended consequence that was not understood by the Old Guard. J. Stuart Johnson wrote, “Whenever new shipments arrived, near‐mob scenes developed at Macy’s and elsewhere.”⁵

Financial success required business acumen including management skills.⁶ This point was not lost by the editor of About the House who noted that Russel Wright understood business. This is not a surprise. Wright was an industrial designer engaged in solving problems much like an engineer. Wright had his feet grounded in the natural world. The color and beauty of the natural world inspired his glazes. The shape and form designed for the ease and usage by humans. Wright was not a potter; but he accomplished “beautiful design” with the “advantage – and limitations – of the machine.”⁷

Each piece of Glidden Pottery was painted and sculpted by hand after removal from the kiln. Kiln marks were knocked off the bottom. The process is slow. It is hard to imagine producing thousands of pieces in one week – but, they did. Skilled potters like Fong Chow were essential along with others who finished each piece. Parker borrowed to finance the expansion of the pottery to meet consumer demand.

The trajectory of Glidden Parker and Russel Wright are mirror images. The production go Glidden Pottery and American Modern began and ended at nearly the same time. The closure of both potteries was the result of the opening of the American market to ceramics produced in Japan. The Federal Trade Commission eliminated and/or reduced tariffs on ceramics imported from Japan, Europe and England. While the reductions were offered in the spirit of friendship, less costly goods from Japan flooded the markets. On the other hand, French Limoges represented luxury to consumers. The market pressure was to the detriment of American Potteries. By some estimates over 1000 potteries in the region closed soon after the Legislation. The closure of the Glidden Pottery ended in the devastation of bankruptcy. When Steubenville Pottery closed its doors in 1959, the potters and employees lost their income and too often, their homes. Sterling China and Iroquois China produced vitrified china designed by Russel Wright for a few years beyond most closures.

Glidden Parker was an artist. He wrote stories, made pottery, painted, and designed stained glass. At the peak of production at Glidden Pottery, he published a short story and two plays. His short story, Bright and Morning, was included among the best published in 1950. His stained glass designs are outstanding.⁸ Yet, he never escaped, the melancholy described by Owen Dodson. Years later, Glidden committed suicide.⁹

Short Bibliography

Glidden Parker in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glidden_Parker

Glidden Pottery in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glidden_Pottery `

Sterling China, https://www.themuseumofceramics.com/sterling

Iroquois China, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_China_Company

Bruce A . Austin, Tourists and Trade: Roadside Craftsmen and the Highway Transforming Craft (State University of New York, 2023)

Glidden Parker, Bright and Morning, The Kenyon Review, Winter 1949 • Vol. XI No. 1.

James V. Hatch, Sorrow is the Only Faithful One, Arnold Rampersad (Reprint, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1995).

Ronald J Kransler, Glidden Pottery: Alfred Mid-Century Highstyle Stoneware ( Universal Publishers,  About the House, The New Yorker (Sept. 17, 1949: p. 82 – 87)

 The International Museum of Dinnerware Design, https://dinnerwaremuseum.org/main/glidden-pottery/

The Museum of Modern Art included Glidden Pottery in the exhibition, Useful Objects of Fine Design. The piece was described: “covered casserole, oven proof pottery . . . Cover to be used as serving dish. Glazes to order” ¹⁰

Footnotes

1. James V. Hatch, Sorrow is the Only Faithful One, Arnold Rampersad (Reprint, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1995). ↩︎
2. A short story, The Axe, was published in The Literary Workshop in 1934. ↩︎
3. Bruce A . Austin, Tourists and Trade ↩︎
4. Child, Lydia Maria, The Frugal Housewife: Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy. Boston: Marsh & Capen, and Carter & Hendee, 1829. ↩︎
5. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/12/23/archives/russel-wright-pioneer-designer-in-the-modern-mode-is-dead-at-72.html?smid=url-share ↩︎
6. About the House, The New Yorker (Sept. 17, 1949: p. 82 – 87) ↩︎
7. Fong Chow, Craft Horizons  1953-08: Vol 13 Issue 4 ↩︎
8. https://www.mlive.com/opinion/jackson/2014/06/brad_flory_column_huge_glass_m.html ↩︎
9. Grant, Nathan L. “Extending the Ladder: A Remembrance of Owen Dodson.” Callaloo, vol. 20 no. 3, 1997, p. 640 – 645. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cal.1998.0068. ↩︎
10. https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2730 ↩︎