Every Plate Tells a Story: Horn and Hardart

At the turn of the last century, the potteries along the Ohio River were working overtime to fulfill rapidly increasing orders - bricks for streets, clay products for drainage, durable toilet wares, and dinnerware. American potteries had developed new production methods and, importantly for consumers, the china produced was equal to the wares produced in England.…

Simplicity, harmony, and durability are the keynotes of the modern tendency. Household Discoveries, 1903

Ohio Valley Pottery: A Bowl is a Bowl is a . . .

Ohio Valley Pottery: A Bowl is a Bowl is a . . .Not a true statement. In my mind, there are bowls – and then there are bowls. Sometimes, bowls take on very interesting shapes. Even production pieces like those made at Steubenville Pottery for the American Modern line of dinnerware designed by Russel Wright. This…

Bailey-Walker China: Blue and White Ironstone

Bailey-Walker China: Blue and White IronstoneSometimes I look through a stack of plates with amazement. Really? Seventy-five years old? These plates are really that old? How in the world did they produce millions of plates, literally in the case of Bailey-Walker China Company and at the end of the day, have a quality product. As one…