THE ROOTS OF A BUCKEYE TRADITION
There are a lot of really good pottery companies in the United States, and quite a few of them were, or are in Ohio. Ohio has always been a hotspot for pottery, both along the Ohio river, and in and around the communities of Zanesville and Roseville.
It didn't take the early pioneers to Ohio long to discover that the clay soil might be a challenge to farming, but it was a boon to pottery making.
Companies such as Weller, Roseville, Hull, and, of course, Brush Mccoy, sprang up from the earliest roots of the home pottery businesses.
My particular love of the McCoy pottery started from it's affordability, and grew when I realized that these pieces were, more often then not, the loving, work of individuals, who put their own personalities and artistic creativity in each piece.
Through the years we talked to many people in the Zanesville area who told us that their grandmother worked at the McCoy factory, or their uncle, or their mother. Everyone knew someone who worked there. In an area where industry was scarce, these factories were important, and people who never dreamed that they had an artistic flair, or a creative urge went to work every day and became artists.
As we have collected pieces, we are sometimes awed at a piece that is undoubtedly McCoy, but painted in such a unique way that it is one of a kind. It has also made collecting more of a challenge!
There are many books on the market full of McCoy pottery, and still, there are pieces out there that were never cataloged. While, searching for the Spirit of 76 pattern, we soon discovered that we no sooner believed that we had every piece ever made than we found another one.
While collecting McCoy cookie jars is still our first love, we have branched out to some of the other McCoy pieces such as the Spirit of 76. The problem here was that when we found one piece, we needed to find another, since our goal was to have two complete sets for our sons, who were both born on the 4th of July, five years apart.
We also collected most of the wagon wheel planters, vases and lamps, which we discovered came in gray, green, yellow, brown and red.
McCoy was famous for manufacturing advertising pitchers for anyone from Welch's grape juice to Hershey's to Hiram Walker. They also did banks, ashtrays, and other advertising memorabilia for local towns.
I have collected a few of these pitchers, and a few of their many, many, wall pockets, but I finally had to draw the line somewhere.
So, off we go into another flea market season, and my husband, armed and outfitted with reference books and maps, like a big game hunter on safari, will undoubtedly track down another treasure!
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It didn't take the early pioneers to Ohio long to discover that the clay soil might be a challenge to farming, but it was a boon to pottery making.
Companies such as Weller, Roseville, Hull, and, of course, Brush Mccoy, sprang up from the earliest roots of the home pottery businesses.
My particular love of the McCoy pottery started from it's affordability, and grew when I realized that these pieces were, more often then not, the loving, work of individuals, who put their own personalities and artistic creativity in each piece.
Through the years we talked to many people in the Zanesville area who told us that their grandmother worked at the McCoy factory, or their uncle, or their mother. Everyone knew someone who worked there. In an area where industry was scarce, these factories were important, and people who never dreamed that they had an artistic flair, or a creative urge went to work every day and became artists.
As we have collected pieces, we are sometimes awed at a piece that is undoubtedly McCoy, but painted in such a unique way that it is one of a kind. It has also made collecting more of a challenge!
There are many books on the market full of McCoy pottery, and still, there are pieces out there that were never cataloged. While, searching for the Spirit of 76 pattern, we soon discovered that we no sooner believed that we had every piece ever made than we found another one.
While collecting McCoy cookie jars is still our first love, we have branched out to some of the other McCoy pieces such as the Spirit of 76. The problem here was that when we found one piece, we needed to find another, since our goal was to have two complete sets for our sons, who were both born on the 4th of July, five years apart.We also collected most of the wagon wheel planters, vases and lamps, which we discovered came in gray, green, yellow, brown and red.
McCoy was famous for manufacturing advertising pitchers for anyone from Welch's grape juice to Hershey's to Hiram Walker. They also did banks, ashtrays, and other advertising memorabilia for local towns.
I have collected a few of these pitchers, and a few of their many, many, wall pockets, but I finally had to draw the line somewhere.
So, off we go into another flea market season, and my husband, armed and outfitted with reference books and maps, like a big game hunter on safari, will undoubtedly track down another treasure!
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