Garden City Pottery

Garden City Pottery was a California ceramics manufacturer founded in 1902 in San Jose. Its original plant and office were located at 560 North Sixth Street. Like many West Coast potteries of the early twentieth century, the company initially concentrated on practical and architectural products, including commercial tile, pipe, sanitary ware, gardenware, and related ceramic goods. By the 1920s, it had become the largest pottery in Northern California. The company faced a severe crisis during the 1930s. The collapse of the real-estate market sharply reduced demand for commercial and residential ceramic products, leaving Garden City close to bankruptcy. Southern California manufacturers were finding success with brightly colored ceramic dinnerware, and Garden City responded by changing its product strategy. In the middle of the decade it brought in designer Royal Arden Hickman to develop consumer-oriented dinnerware, floral ware, and artware. It also recruited Paul Larkin from Pacific Pottery to help formulate a new range of colored glazes. Merrill Cowman joined the effort in 1934, and the resulting glazes included yellow, green, blue, orange, cobalt, turquoise, black, and white. The pieces were dipped into the glaze rather than sprayed, creating a distinctive saturated finish. Garden City introduced five dinnerware patterns during the 1930s: Ring, Plain, Diamond, Swirl, and Geometric. These ranges were comparatively limited in assortment, generally consisting of several plate sizes, a cup and saucer, a bowl, a creamer, and a sugar container. Some patterns also included serving and tableware pieces such as teapots, casseroles, pitchers, and tumblers. The company became particularly associated with nested mixing-bowl sets, usually made in five or six graduated sizes. Its conical bowls are frequently confused with Bauer Pottery ringware bowls, although they belong to a different manufacturer. Vases, flowerpots, bowls, and jardinieres were other important products. Although Garden City’s principal market was the Pacific Coast, its goods were distributed nationally through retailers including Macy’s and Montgomery Ward. The company operated mainly as a wholesaler, and some of its wares were sold under retailer or store-brand names. Many pieces therefore lack a manufacturer’s mark. The absence of known official catalogs and the limited surviving documentation have also made the identification of individual patterns and product names difficult for collectors. Hickman left Garden City in 1939 to join Haeger Pottery Company in Illinois, where he later established the Royal Haeger artware lines. Garden City continued developing its color range after 1940, adding shades such as burgundy, forest green, mint green, pastel yellow, tan, pink, and gray. During the 1960s and 1970s, its business shifted substantially toward redware products for the wholesale nursery trade. The company became California’s largest supplier of garden pots, moving away from the consumer dinnerware and artware emphasis that had helped it survive the Depression. The nursery business eventually became unsustainable. Imported ceramic products from countries including Korea and Italy placed pressure on prices, while plastic flowerpots offered a lighter and cheaper alternative. In 1979 Garden City left manufacturing and attempted to operate solely as a wholesale distributor. That distribution business was not profitable, and the company closed in 1987. Today, Garden City Pottery is principally remembered through surviving mid-century dinnerware, mixing bowls, vases, and garden pottery, as well as through its role in the development of California’s pottery industry.

Garden City Pottery was established in 1902 in San Jose, California, with its office and manufacturing works at 560 North Sixth Street. Its early business reflected the needs of a rapidly developing California market. Rather than beginning as a highly specialized art-pottery house, the company produced functional and architectural ceramics, including commercial tile, pipe, sanitary products, and gardenware. Expansion in the regional building and household markets helped it become the largest pottery in Northern California by the 1920s. The economic collapse of the 1930s undermined that position. The failure of the real-estate market greatly reduced construction-related demand, and Garden City approached bankruptcy as orders for commercial and residential ceramic goods declined. The company studied the successful colored dinnerware programs of Southern California competitors and decided to enter that market. During the mid-1930s it hired Royal Arden Hickman as a designer. Hickman developed dinnerware patterns as well as floral and artware forms intended to make the company more competitive with fashionable California potteries. Garden City simultaneously strengthened its ceramic finishes. Paul Larkin, recruited from Pacific Pottery, worked with Merrill Cowman, who joined in 1934, to formulate the company’s first major group of colored glazes. The palette included yellow, green, blue, orange, cobalt, turquoise, black, and white. Garden City applied these finishes by dipping the pottery into glaze, rather than relying on a spray application. The resulting products were colorful but generally more limited in assortment than the lines offered by larger dinnerware manufacturers. Five dinnerware patterns are associated with the 1930s program: Ring, Plain, Diamond, Swirl, and Geometric. Typical place settings included bread-and-butter, salad, luncheon, and dinner plates, along with larger serving plates, a cup and saucer, bowl, creamer, and sugar piece. Selected patterns added teapots, casseroles, pitchers, and tumblers. Nested mixing-bowl sets became especially recognizable products. Sets normally contained five or six bowls, and their conical forms are sometimes mistaken for Bauer Pottery ringware. Garden City also made vases, flowerpots, jardinieres, and other garden-related wares. Distribution extended beyond California. The company’s strongest presence remained on the Pacific Coast, but retailers such as Macy’s and Montgomery Ward sold Garden City products around the United States. Garden City was principally a wholesaler, and retailer-owned labels were used for some wares. As a result, many pieces were unmarked, and the lack of known company catalogs or official product names has complicated later identification. Hickman departed in 1939 for Haeger Pottery Company in Illinois, where he went on to develop the Royal Haeger artware lines. Garden City continued after his departure and expanded its post-1940 colors with burgundy, forest green, mint green, pastel yellow, tan, pink, and gray. Over the following decades, its business emphasis changed. During the 1960s and 1970s the company increasingly produced redware for wholesale nurseries and became California’s largest supplier of garden pots. That specialization could not withstand changing competition. Lower-priced imports from Korea and Italy entered the market, while plastic flowerpots became an alternative to ceramic containers. In 1979 Garden City abandoned manufacturing and attempted to survive as a wholesale distributor. The new business was unsuccessful, and the company closed in 1987. Its surviving dinnerware, mixing bowls, vases, and garden products remain collectible examples of California pottery, while its history illustrates the movement of a regional ceramics company from construction materials to consumer tableware and finally to nursery supplies.

• 1987

  Company closes

  [1]Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org

  The wholesale-distribution venture proves unprofitable, and Garden City Pottery ceases operations.

• 1979

  Manufacturing ends

  [1]Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org

  Facing imported ceramic competition and the rise of plastic flowerpots, Garden City exits manufacturing and turns to wholesale distribution.

• 1960

  Focus shifts toward nursery pottery

  [1]Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org

  During the 1960s and 1970s, Garden City increasingly concentrates on redware products for wholesale nurseries.

• 1940

  Additional postwar-era colors are introduced

  [1]Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org

  After 1940, the company adds colors including burgundy, forest green, mint green, pastel yellow, tan, pink, and gray.

• 1939

  Royal Arden Hickman leaves Garden City

  [1]Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org

  Hickman departs for Haeger Pottery Company in Illinois, where he later creates the Royal Haeger artware lines.

• 1934

  Colored-glaze program is developed

  [1]Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org

  Merrill Cowman joins the company, and he and Paul Larkin formulate an initial palette of brightly colored glazes for new consumer products.

• 1930

  Expansion into colored dinnerware

  [1]Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org

  During the 1930s, Garden City introduces the Ring, Plain, Diamond, Swirl, and Geometric dinnerware patterns.

• 1920

  Becomes the largest pottery in Northern California

  [1]Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org

  By the 1920s, Garden City had grown into the largest pottery manufacturer in Northern California.

• 1902

  Garden City Pottery is founded in San Jose

  [1]Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org

  The company begins operations in San Jose, California, with an office and manufacturing facility at 560 North Sixth Street.

Originally positioned as a regional producer of practical architectural and sanitary ceramics, Garden City later repositioned itself as a maker of colorful California dinnerware, floral ware, and artware. In its final manufacturing phase, it focused on high-volume redware containers for the wholesale nursery industry.

• Dinnerware · 1930

  Colored dinnerware

  Garden City’s 1930s dinnerware was created as a response to the popularity of brightly colored Southern California ceramics. The five principal patterns were Ring, Plain, Diamond, Swirl, and Geometric. Sets generally included several plate sizes, a cup and saucer, bowl, creamer, and sugar piece, with some patterns adding teapots, casseroles, pitchers, and tumblers. The company used dipped colored glazes in shades such as yellow, green, blue, orange, cobalt, turquoise, black, and white.

• Kitchenware

  Nested mixing-bowl sets

  Nested mixing bowls were among Garden City’s most recognizable household products. Sets were made in five patterns and generally contained five or six graduated bowls. The conical shape of many examples has led to confusion with Bauer Pottery ringware bowls, although Garden City’s products were made by a separate company. These sets are now frequently encountered in the vintage ceramics and collector markets.

• Decorative ceramics · 1930

  Floral and artware

  As part of its Depression-era recovery strategy, Garden City added decorative floral and artware alongside its dinnerware. The range included vases and related ornamental forms finished in the company’s colored glazes. Royal Arden Hickman was brought in to design new products in this area before leaving for Haeger Pottery in 1939.

• Garden ceramics

  Gardenware

  Garden City produced flowerpots, garden bowls, jardinieres, and other horticultural ceramics throughout much of its history. Gardenware became increasingly important in the company’s later decades, when it shifted toward redware products made for wholesale nurseries. This specialization eventually made Garden City a major California supplier of ceramic garden pots.

• Nursery supplies · 1960

  Redware nursery containers

  In the 1960s and 1970s, Garden City concentrated on mass-produced redware pots and containers for the wholesale nursery industry. The products served commercial growers and garden retailers rather than primarily being marketed as decorative consumer ceramics. Imported pottery and plastic alternatives eventually eroded the competitiveness of this line.

• 1979

  Exit from manufacturingStrategy

  Background

  Imported ceramic goods from Korea and Italy, together with the growing use of plastic flowerpots, made the nursery-pottery business increasingly difficult to sustain.

  Action taken

  Garden City stopped manufacturing and attempted to operate exclusively as a wholesale distributor.

  Aftermath

  The distribution venture was not profitable, and the company ultimately closed in 1987.

  Source

• 1930

  Diversification into colored consumer ceramicsStrategy

  Background

  The collapse of the real-estate market caused demand for Garden City’s commercial and residential ceramic products to fall sharply, placing the company near bankruptcy. Southern California potteries were attracting customers with colored dinnerware.

  Action taken

  Garden City recruited Royal Arden Hickman to design dinnerware, floral ware, and artware, and brought in Paul Larkin and Merrill Cowman to develop a new palette of dipped glazes.

  Aftermath

  The company established recognizable dinnerware and decorative-ware lines and continued operating through a major change in product mix.

  Source

1. 1Garden City Potteryen.wikipedia.org