[p)~LJ~[R1~ ffi\~[Q) [R1~~[Q) . ffe\ lr1] lQ) ~ffe\[N]~ ~(Q)UU~[R{~f ~)A~~~~~[NJ(C(E THE PETERS AND REED AND ZANE POTTERY EXPERIENCE DOES NOT CIRCULATE Jeffrey, Sherrie and Barry Hershone July 1, 1990 PROPERTY OF , ZANESVILLE ART CENTER NO. ~,~i - INTRODUCTION II I I m b ored, I'm bored tak collectors have heard' th te me h~me!" ~ow often we unwilling offspring as t~e p!:nt1ff wa1l from our in-tow, obsessive quests for "t Y e dragged along on our reasures" Poor - no choice, he was caught u . · ~l~e year old Jeffrey had established for us when w pin the tradition our parents had advan tage we didn't hav etwhe:e young. But Jeffrey had an ea 1s age- he 1 d . sort of! Sherrie had wis 1 was oa ed w1th money- allowances and such unti~ s~~ed all of Jeff's birthday monies, egg . Y e age of ten he had a nice nest As we lived in Philadel hia Esther and Martin Myersp Th, t~e t~ree of us regularly visited Pottery, helping us to iear~y ad i~troduced us to American Art our own collection, for whi about it, and helpi~g ~s to start through the Myers' "p tt ch we are most appreciative. Wandering he liked- the o er~ menagerie"' Jeff spied several pieces Reed of y ~ere masculine, unmarked and cheap! Peters and Reed' d ~ourse. The then relative obscurity of the Peters and a~ ane po~tery, with their lowish prices, encouraged Jeff t o b eg1n collecting these lines. Jeff:ey began to correspond with Norris Schneider in 1981. This a~az1ngly foresighted gentleman has, as we all know, almost single-handed preserved the legacy of the Zanesville area potteries. Hi: was an endeavor for which we are all grateful and be~ause of ~hich we ~r: blessed wi!h extensive knowledge of a unique American tradition. He provided Jeff with many articles price lists and finally a copy of the only known Peters and Re~d catalog. Attending the Pottery Lovers' Festival, and meeting Alice and Lewis Bettinger, advanced the P and R "habit". The Bettingers greatly encouraged Jeffrey, and Alice and Lewis spent many hours sitting and discussing pottery with Jeff. The clincher was a stay at the Bettinger's home, and exploring the famous "basement". During that same summer we accumulated additional information with a lengthy visit to the library of the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, Ohio. The search became a quest, and resulted in Jeff's collection of Peters and Reed and Zane currently containing almost three hundred pieces. We had within just a few years met many wonderful fellow pottery collectors with whom we shared our love; exchanging ideas, buying and selling pieces, and enjoying the special camaraderie that "fanatics" develop . Nance Darrow is one of these special people, and she was soon scouting and finding pieces for Jeff. Nance a l most gave Jeff a juvenile heart attack when, for his Bar Mitzvah gift, she gave him one of the rare, marked Peters and Reed commemorative medallions made in 1915. 3 . telephone friendship soon developed . A long-distanceb gan seriously researc h'ing Peters and RWlth Al Wunsch as d w~ f~ and planted the idea for a book, Whi ~ed . Al encouraget. el with the publishing of Al ' s reprint ocf becallle more prac ica Al the Z Pottery catalog #22. Thank you . ane . hr came during the 1989 Festival in Zanesvill The c 1Mincree preferred that if we would seriously conside. First Moses es h t . 1 er wr. ' "the book" he would loan us t. e ex ens:ve co lection of Pete lting and Reed and Zane artifacts given to him by Norr~s Schneiae/s epted the offer, and were amazed at the quantity of mat : (~ a Cc . 1 . t t 1 er1a1 Moses shipped us, including price is s, ca a og pages, salesman's photos, and more.) Then, at the show in Zanesvill acquired a complete Zane salesman's sample book, and fe1 t the we finally has enough material to attempt this book. at We our thanks to the many authors and other collectors whose work advice helped up so much; including: Susan Cox and the American°r Clay Exchange, Deb and Gini Johnson who "pioneered" the literature on Peters and Reed, and Bob Bettinger and Al Wunsch for sharing their knowledge and their counsel. We certainly hope that our fellow pottery collectors and readers understand from our tone and comments that our goal for this book is to open the door to further exploration of the Peters and Reed/Zane experience. It is our fervent wish that others will come forward to provide additional information and insights into this historical perspective, be they collectors or simply interested friends with additional knowledge to contribute. Should such information become available, please contact us by writing to: Jeffrey Hershone, P.O. Box 950670, Lake Mary, Florida 32795. And finally, we lovingly dedicate this book to Alice and Lewis Bettinger. A THE PETERS AND REED POTTERY COMPANY THE ZANE POTTERY COMPANY THE HISTORY th By e middle of the 189O's , many potteries in Ohio such as R~okwo~d, Weller and Roseville had become well established financially successful and nationally prominent Th • ' encouraged ma~y other potters, most of whom had.war:~~ ~~~c~::se larger_potteries , to go out on their own and establish their own potteries. ~oh~~ - Pet:~s and Adam Reed were working for the Weller Pottery in u nam. 7n Weller appeared to be concentrating more on his art potte~y lines, Peters and Reed decided to go into a business partners~ip together and formed the Peters and Reed Pottery Company in about 1897. They hoped to fill the apparent void in pottery_production that Weller would leave by discontinuing the production of flower pots. Legend has it that Peters and Reed found a suitable lot in South Zanesville'. fil1 7d their wheelbarrows with tools, pushed them down Maysville Pike and built their first pottery shop. History, howe~er, tell~ us that they in fact went into operation in 1897 by renting the Linden Avenue pottery built by the Clark Stoneware C~mpany some six years before in South Zanesville, Ohio, a small village south of Zanesville. Their resources being fairly limited, they started production limited to flower pots of red earthenware, the product they had envisioned would be in demand as Weller's production diminished. Although the company is reported to have done well from its start, Peters and Reed did not have quite the demand they anticipated for their products as Weller proceeded in 1899 to purchase the old American Encaustic Tiling Company plant on Marietta Street and resumed producing flower pots, cooking utensils and other similar items. Norris Schneider reported that Frank Ferrel recalled that Peters and Reed found operating a business did not bring the instant wealth they had imagined. Ferrel later heard them discuss their optimistic plans to have a turkey for their first Christmas as entrepreneurs, then changing their choice to beef, then chicken, and finally eating white bacon. However, they persisted and kept the pottery going, and soon added the production of jardinieres which they decorated with cold colors, or house paint, to their line. Peters and Reed displayed their imaginative talents as businessmen from the onset of their business. There was no transportation available for those of their workers who lived in Zanesville to get to the plant in South Zanesville when they started their business. So they bought an old "bandwagon'' and proceeded to provide two way 5 transportation to "Southtown" for these workers. They al wagon to haul goods to the railroad stations for So Shipment . Used ti.,,e Although they had an option to buy the Linden Avenue 9 Peters and Reed could not yet afford such a p Pottery . 189 , . h b G urcha ln property was instead boug t Y eorge Young f or his R se. 'I'h pottery leaving the Peters and Reed Pottery without osev1 lle e then proceeded to purchase a pottery, the ol d South Za home. 'I'he · th 1 1 · anesv · 1 Y Stoneware company, 1n e same genera oca t 1on in South l le Zanesville. A Zanesville Times Signal article of September 15 , 1957 b Schneider indicated that the Peters and Reed Pottery CompY Norris incorporated in 1901 for $25,000, with Adam Reed as presi~ny w~ Pletcher as vice president, Harry S. McClelland as secreta;nt, S,T, John D. Peters as treasurer. Y ana The Zanesville article locates the plant as "a little ou tside th city limits, but in easy access to the railroads, three of the e being within a stone's throw". Illustrations of the plant wer/ included with the comment that back of the plant was an inexhaustible deposit of the best clay, obviously containing the red clay which became their "trademark" for over twenty years. THE GREAT STANDARD GLAZE MYSTERY-----SOLVED???? For many years we collectors of Peters and Reed have been faced with a dilemma as to who truly manufactured the beautiful high glazed, brown, sprig decorated Standard Glaze pottery attributed to Peters and Reed. These authors currently are not aware of any authentic documentation (no original articles, no ads, no pictures nor any catalogs) which supports the premise that Peters and Reed made the brownware. However, numerous knowledgeable individuals within the pottery "circles" have reported discussions with "old timers" who worked in the various potterieS, or had knowledge of Peters and Reed, who have confirmed Peters and Reed as the manufacturers of the Standard Glaze.