dagblog - Comments for "A Happening in East Liverpool"

Oxy, this is weird, but I

Ramona — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 23:17:11 +0000

Oxy, this is weird, but I think I had that same art deco enamel-top set! The retractable leaves came out at both ends instead of the sides and the chairs were white wood, rather plain except for a black geometric line design on the backs, with solid wood seats. They were damaged in a basement flood that involved sewage and had to be thrown out. Sad.

Oxy, nothing I collect is

Ramona — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 23:03:00 +0000

In reply to What wonderful treasures,

Oxy, nothing I collect is expensive, mainly because I've never been able to afford expensive, but I love digging around in dusty shops for treasures. I've been a vintage dealer for more than 20 years and while my tastes have changed over time, they still tend to lean toward folk and factory art rather than fine art.

Some of what I've collected (and sold) over the years has increased in value, and that's always fun, but I really just love antique and vintage anything much more than contemporary anything.

Glad to know there's another one like me here!

The relationships between

Oxy Mora — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:00:11 +0000

In reply to AA, that American-made "cheap

The relationships between craftsmanship, patents, concept, design, original cost and so forth are always a mystery to me. Somehow, most of them have to hit all at the same time to gain my interest, especially if I'm outside my field, which is books. A couple of years ago I bought a white enamel top, with black enamel trim, kitchen table and four chairs. It simply reeked of the thirties and early forties. I researched the company and found out that the company, in Pennsylvania, had patents and sold millions of these. But I've only seen one in this mint condition. I'm not sure of the original cost, but the thing is that they were not durable. If I leaned back on one of these chairs, it would crumble beneath me. So the result is that a set of tables and chairs is scarce. But mostly I like the lines, the utter simplicity of them, with an art deco motif. I found out the company's plant had become a super fund site---it seems the company's process was also highly toxic. So I hope environmental concerns will play a role in re-starts.

What wonderful treasures,

Oxy Mora — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:43:12 +0000

In reply to A Happening in East Liverpool

What wonderful treasures, Ramona, thanks for the exhibition. I see we have the collecting gene in common.

Oh yes a lot of it was big

cmaukonen — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 01:28:25 +0000

In reply to Yes, it was, and some of it

Oh yes a lot of it was big and heavy but quite was functional as well as beautiful.

Fortunately a lot of the big heavy pieces did not make it past the kiln and a lot of kilns did not make it past the pottery,

Yes, it was, and some of it

Ramona — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:50:35 +0000

In reply to Hand thrown pottery was a

Yes, it was, and some of it was beautiful, but most of it was heavy and awkward to use as dinner services. They took up a lot of room in cupboards, too. But the decorative pieces were and are wonderful, so once the parents' kids have grown they'll be buying up that stuff because they grew up with it and it reminds them of a time gone by.

Nostalgia rules.

AA, that American-made "cheap

Ramona — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:46:24 +0000

In reply to Yeah the Starbucks move looks

AA, that American-made "cheap stuff" might have been about the design at the time, but the craftsmanship is what keeps it popular among vintage buyers. Many of those early Ohio factories had patents on processes that made their wares more durable for every day use. I have vitreous pieces that are more than 50 years old that don't have a scratch on them, even after years of use.

Most of American production pottery wasn't cheap. Cheap goods came from the dime store and were made in Japan. Department store china was usually made here and commanded prices that took a chunk out of most paychecks. Top ceramic designers like Rockwell Kent and Richard Wright had their names on quality pottery and it sold in high end stores, along with English and German china.

We've lost any claim to fame when it comes to design and manufacturing, and it has hurt us all. Nothing wrong with shopping at Ikea or Target or even Walmart if you choose, but I think it's reason to celebrate when any sign of a return to American-made goods comes along.

It would be wonderful if millions of workers could get jobs as skilled craftsmen, but that won't happen. On the other hand, there are millions of people who would be happy to be working at assembling goods made here, as long as working conditions were acceptable and wages were adequate.

It's pathetic that we're reduced to celebrating such a small victory as happened in East Liverpool, but there it is. I'm going to celebrate it and hope for many, many more.

The issue brought up is: do

EmmaZahn — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:39:26 +0000

In reply to Yeah the Starbucks move looks

The issue brought up is: do people really really want a big part of our next generation to go back to assembly-line work making tires and white tube socks?

That is exactly the impression I get whenever a labor issue comes up around here, at least for those of our next generation who fail to indebt themselves buying a soon-to-be-useless credential from soon-to-be-defunct college/university.

Wouldn't you prefer your children, if they are working with their hands, be a carpenter, plumber, or glazer of custom handmade pottery?

While these are socially-valuable skills that I think everyone should acquire to a certain degree, I really would prefer that they not become areas of acute economic competition. That would just give rise to more as well as more powerful trade unions (guilds) which have historically impeded the spread of knowledge and skills to the general population.

My suggestion to bring manufacturing back is motivated more by the idea that to maintain our economic independence as a country, we should at least be able to make things ourselves, whether by hand or by machine.

I remember reading after 911 and pre-Iraq that there were essential parts used by our electric utilities as well as by our military that we did not have the capability to make ourselves at that point in time. This struck me as extremely unwise.

Now I know socks and dinnerware are not what most would think of as essential goods but they do make life more pleasant and that should count for something when deciding whether or not to let go of both the knowledge and the supply line of raw materials needed to make them.

Thanks for the opportunity to articulate some of my economic thoughts. Usually they just spin around in my head going nowhere. :-D

Hand thrown pottery was a

cmaukonen — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:22:51 +0000

In reply to A Happening in East Liverpool

Hand thrown pottery was a major big deal in the 1970s and 80s but the demand for it just collapsed. Nobody wanted it any more. The fad had run it's course.

I know, my brother used to do it and some family friends did it. End a psychology prof at the local university had a business for a while.

AA, interesting take on this,

Ramona — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:00:00 +0000

In reply to Look it up on eBay. I did.

AA, interesting take on this, and I do appreciate your expertise. I agree that the cost and availability of products from China and elsewhere have done much to turn us into a throw away society, and that's a shame. But in the case of the Starbucks mugs, when they're charging $10 and up per mug they're making a profit, no matter where the product comes from.

Buying from China doesn't guarantee low prices. Every high end store in the country buys foreign goods low to sell high to Americans. You can buy $200 a place-setting china that came from the same Chinese factory as a $20 place-setting. There's no real advantage to the consumer to buy Chinese high end products, and every moral reason not to.