The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-08-17
Po++ers On Parade
Continued From Page One)

\SOIltlIluS0 IIOlIl 1oSS OiiC/
While he spoke the low roar of the
"biscuit" kiln filled the place. On racks,
moving so slowly they seemed sta
tionary, plates and jugs were starting
and finishing the twelve-hour-and-
forty-minute journey through heat up
to 2,1OO degrees Fahrenheit. Josh
Chadwick, jiggerman; Warren Kridler,
claymaker; Harry Haislop, Kiln placer;
Harry Smallwood, packer, and the rest
of the white-shirted, white-trousered,
white-shoed crew were keeping busy.
The sales counter was crowded
Murals Tell of Trade Amnity
Beaming down on the kiln are
figures in mural depicting the CO.
operation of capital and labor in the
production not only of the exhibit but
of American pottery in general. The
initials Of the joint sponsors are prom
inent. N. B. of o. P. for National
Brotherhood of Operative Potters, the
union, an A. F. of l.. affiliate, and U.
S. P. A., the United States Potters AS
sociation. Mr.. Parker said two of his
colleagues had returned from the
union convention at Atlantic City and
agreed to back the same project next
year; they like the Fair.
The veteran craftsman asked Clay
maker Kridler to show the first step
in the process. The amorphous clay
is dumped into an air-removing ma
chine, suggesting meat-mincer eX-
cept, that the clay comes out in one
thick roll instead Of like hamburger.
Then Jumps are given to throwers,
casters and jiggermen.
Tom Parker is thrower; his art
goes back to one of the most primi-
tive learned by man, the fashioning
by hand of a graceful vessel on a
turning wheel. His wheel is turned
by electricity but otherwise it's all up
to Toms agile fingers.
| Casters, like John White or Dan
Morgan, work with "slip"-clay thin
ned with water to sort of soup. The
George Washington jugs, of which
1000 were sold in June, according to
John E. Dowsing, general manager OF
the exhibit, are cast products. The
slip is poured into plaster of paris
molds. Moldmaking is potter's work,
too, Mr.. Parker reminded, but there
simply is not room for everything at
the exhibit, SO the molds come in al
ready made.
Plates Formed on Jigger
lingering, the third technique, turns
out plates. Here, Josh Chadwick or
Larry Finley slaps piece of clay on
an embossed mold that designs the
;op surface of plate. Then the mold
revolves, and down comes the 'jigger,"
something like type-cutter, which
,arves the profile" of the plate-the
slant of the edge and the protruding
circular rim Of the bottom.
In any case, drying is next, then
The trip through the "biscuit fire. y
shen brushing, stamping with Fair
emblem, and dipping in the glaze. A
gray solution gives a bright blue; a
brown gives yellow, and so on. Then
The product goes into the second OF
gloss kiln, where it is not quite so hot
and when another twelve hour tri ip is
through it is about ready to be sold.
But not quite. First it must cool
Then the "stilts," which have kept the
plates from sticking together on the
racks, have to be removed. Mr.. Park
er said that no matter how strange
most of the potter's work might seem
20 the layman, he ought to have a
l NV oh ln ,@, 1%r Do
:ause if he turns his dinner plate up,
side down the rim would show the tell
ale spots where the stills had been
Silt marks" the trade calls them.
Work i'm Two Shifts
The potters at the Fair work in two
shifts, 10 to A and to 10. They were
selected for the job by the union, and
Mr.. Dowsing said nearly every rank
and filler wanted to come. Many of
.hem had not visited New York be-
fore.
Tom Parker came to this country
from England in 1902. He teaches
pottery at Wheeling High School and
at the West Virginia University Sum
mer session. Most Of the others at the
exhibit come from Ohio and West Vir-
sinia-from towns like East Liver
)ool, East Palestine, Grafton and Co
shocton. They include baseball fans
and fishermen, are outdoor fans in
general and are very plainly proud OF
heir trade
| AS Tom Parker puts it, "The plant
has the latest machinery ard the
attest kiln construction, yet 90 pei
cent of the work is done by hand"
| Mr.. Dowsing, who is tariff counsel
20 the U. S. p. A., said $500 of the
regular potters' plates had been sold
1t the exhibit in June and up to 1,OOC
each of special types Of plates He saic
ne hoped the Fair plant would combat
;he idea that the word imported
meant "of superior quality" and would
get across the message of American
pottery.
Meanwhile the kiln hummed and q
jiggerman slapped down a hunk OF
LAY and reached for the jigger. Ton
Parker was back at the center spot