A Note on the Dynamics of Firm Turnovers in the... Pottery Industry, 1825-2010

A Note on the Dynamics of Firm Turnovers in the East Liverpool (Ohio)
Pottery Industry, 1825-2010
Myong-Hun Chang and Amanda Janosko1
Department of Economics
Cleveland State University
Cleveland, OH 44115
216-687-4523, -9206
[email protected]
May 26, 2012
Abstract
We examine the time series data on firm entries and exits in the East Liverpool (Ohio)
pottery industry between 1825 and 2010. The purpose is to identify patterns in the
movement of the firms as well as their spans of life over the course of the industry’s
development. Two patterns emerge: 1) the numbers of entries and exits are positively
correlated; 2) the life spans of all firms that existed over the industry’s life-cycle show
significant “infant mortality.”
JEL: L6, N6
Keywords: Entry, Exit, Span of Life, Pottery Industry, Industry Dynamics
1
The authors are, respectively, Professor and graduate student in the Department of Economics.
1. Introduction
Industrial migration from Britain to the United States has been a significant part of the formative
history of many major industries – e.g., textiles, mining, iron and steel. Though much smaller in
scale, the development of the American pottery industry followed the same migratory pattern.
The massive migration started in early 1800s, mostly by the journeymen potters with skills but
little capital.2 According to Thistlethwaite (1958), the migration of English potters had a single
origin, the Five Towns of Staffordshire, but two destinations, East Liverpool, Ohio and Trenton,
New Jersey. With the high rates of tariff imposed on English imports following the Civil War,
the twin centers of domestic ceramic production grew rapidly in the late 19th century to dominate
the domestic market: “Trenton and East Liverpool were the centers of production in the two
leading ceramic manufacturing states. These two centers produced 49.7 percent of all pottery
products manufactured in the United States at the turn of the century.” [Gates (1984)]
This short note explores the entry and exit dynamics of the firms throughout the formation,
growth, and the eventual decline of the pottery industry located in East Liverpool, Ohio. Its
purpose is to identify patterns in the movement of the firms as well as in the distribution of their
spans of life over the entire life-cycle of the industry. Two patterns emerge from this study: 1)
the numbers of entries and exits are positively correlated so that the period with a high number of
entries is also the period with a high number of exits and vice versa; 2) the life spans of all firms
over the industry’s life-cycle show infant mortality.
2. Data
The dataset used for our study is constructed from the list of companies that operated in East
Liverpool over the period of 1826 to present, as compiled by William C. Gates, Jr., Curator of
History for the Ohio Historical Society.3 According to this list, the earliest recorded date of
pottery production in East Liverpool is by Joseph Wells in 1826. The list contains a total of 292
firms. The dates of entry and exit are provided for 275 firms. Out of these 275 firms, 267 of
them went out of existence, while eight still remain in operation. The full list with the company
names, their years of operation and the life spans is provided in the Appendix.
For the population of 275 firms with entry and exit dates, some modifications had to be made. If
a firm exited the industry but re-entered the market under the same name at a later date, the
2
Thistlewaite (1958): “In 1815, …, potting was still in its infancy in America: a matter of primitive kilns, scattered
up and down the seaboard producing coarse wares for parochial markets. Men still had to learn to fire the native
clays; to discover clay banks near coal seams; to build the canals and railways which would transport coal to clay
and the bulky, fragile ware to distant markets; to find capital; to raise a tariff against the cheap and professional
wares dumped on the American market from the British potting metropolis; and to overcome native prejudice
against domestic wares. But above all, to establish an industry which derives from an ancient craft, it was necessary
to await the immigration of ‘practical potters’, men with generations of potting in their blood, journeyman-graduates
of an exacting apprenticeship, with an instinct for the chemistry of clays, sensitive to texture and form, skilled in
throwing, turning, in the making of moulds and in decorating. During the nineteenth century thousands of such men
emigrated to the United States to provide the essential cadre of artisans for a native pottery. And although some of
the early potters were French and German, the very great majority came from Staffordshire.”
3
The full list is available at http://www.themuseumofceramics.org/pottery.html (The Museum of Ceramics, East
Liverpool, Ohio). See Calhoun (1922) and Gates and Ormerod (1982) for additional information.
1 company was treated as having entered and exited the market twice. The Appendix will have
“episode I” or “episode II” by the firm name to represent this fact. In some cases, a firm
appeared to have left the market but was continuously still operating under a different name.
Typically, the name change reflected the addition or deletion of one or more co-owners or it
reflected the incorporation of a firm. If this was the case, these separate firms were merged into
one firm. For example, the Laughlin Brothers firm was opened in 1873 and technically exited
the market in 1877 when one of the Laughlin brothers left the firm. However, the other Laughlin
brother continued to operate the firm under the name Homer Laughlin. In 1896, the firm was
incorporated and then called the Homer Laughlin China Company. The firm continues to
operate today. In this case, the lineage of the firm was able to be traced and, instead of having
three separate entries, the company was treated as one firm that began in 1873 and operates to
this day. The list of all firms in the Appendix includes these “merged” firms that have the
comment “see note” in the comment section.
3. Entry, Exit, and Industry Structure
Starting with 1825, Figure 1 plots the time series over 186 years of the number of entries,
, and the number of exits,
. The persistence of these movements in and out
of the industry throughout the horizon is noteworthy. More importantly, however, these time
series appear to move in concert, though imperfectly. The table below shows the correlations
between the two series with up to five periods of lag for the number of exits:
,
0.360394
,
0.684669
,
0.439309
,
0.490466
,
0.346086
,
0.468828
and
are positively correlated so that the year having a relatively large
First, note that
number of entries is also the one with a relatively large number of exits.4 More interestingly, the
positive correlation is at its highest when the number of exits is lagged by one year. This
suggests a shakeout process operating throughout the horizon, perhaps as the result of random
external shocks (either in demand or supply) that were unanticipated by the producers.
While both entry and exit persist over time, we do observe that, on average, there are net entries
in early years (up to about 1900), while there are net exits in the later years. This leads to Figure
2, which shows the total number of operating firms over the same horizon. Both the rise and the
4
We also find that the gross entries are positively correlated with the net entries:
2 ,
0.618553.
decline of the industry along its life cycle are apparent in this figure. Some noticeable peaks and
troughs are precisely indicated with the corresponding years.
4. Life Spans of Firms
Inspecting the list of firms, one can see that there are substantial variations in their life spans; the
short-lived ones with only one year of operation and the long-lived ones with over 125 years. To
see the distribution of the firms’ life spans, let us create bins, each with up to five years of life
span: that is, the first bin with firms having a life span of 1 to 5 years; the second bin with those
having a life span of 6 to 10 years; the third bin with firms having a life span of 11 to 15 years,
and so forth. Excluding the eight firms that are still in business, we count the number of firms in
each bin. In Figure 3, we plot these numbers in a bar graph. It clearly shows a phenomenon of
infant mortality, in which a disproportionately large number of firms lived for less than 5 years.
The number of firms belonging to each bin of longer life spans drops down rapidly, as shown in
the figure.
While Figure 3 shows the phenomenon of infant mortality, one may further inquire about what
happens with even shorter life spans. In Figure 4, we have divided the 5-year bins into singleyear bins for up to 20 years of life span. The resulting histogram shows that a significant
proportion of firms exit the market within the first year.
5. Discussion
Several comments are in order. First, both the infant mortality and the positive correlation
between entries and exits have been observed in the empirical literature in industrial
organization. For instance, our findings are in line with three of the stylized facts presented by
Geroski (1995): 1) “Entry is common. Large numbers of firms enter most markets in most years,
but entry rates are far higher than market penetration rates”; 2) “Entry and exit rates are highly
positively correlated, and net entry rates and penetration are modest fractions of gross entry rates
and penetration”; 3) “The survival rate of most entrants is low, and even successful entrants may
take more than a decade to achieve a size comparable to the average incumbent.”
Similarly, Caves (2007) states:
Turnover in particular affects entrants, who face high hazard rates in their infancy that
drop over time. It is largely because of high infant mortality that rates of entry to and exit
from industries are positively correlated (compare the obvious theoretical model that
implies either entry or exit should occur but not both). The positive entry-exit correlation
appears in cross-sections of industries, and even in time series for individual industries, if
their life-cycle stages are controlled. [Caves (2007: 9-10)]
Further evidence is provided by Geroski and Mazucato (2001) who examined the 93 years of
data on the population of domestic U.S. auto producers. They found that the number of entrants
and the number of exiting car producers between 1895 and 1967 are positively correlated
(0.6086).
3 Second, the simultaneous occurrences of entry and exit suggest a pervasive heterogeneity among
firms, either in terms of the product characteristics or in terms of production technologies held by
them. Unanticipated shocks to consumer preferences over product attributes or to production
technologies (possibly through changes in relative input prices) can then affect the firms
unequally, thereby simultaneously inducing entries of those who are favorably affected and exits
of those who are adversely affected. Of course, such inter-firm heterogeneity can be a persistent
source of the phenomenon in question, only if there are inherent frictions in the market which
prevent the firms from instantaneously copying the most preferred product or the most efficient
technology.
Third, the striking degree to which our findings show the presence of infant mortality suggests a
limitation in the textbook models of market competition, in which firms are characterized as
rational optimizers having perfect foresight. The entry and exit behaviors of the firms in our
study simply do not conform to this standard. This leads to our final point that the study of
industry dynamics may benefit from theoretical work involving firms with bounded rationality.5
Efforts in this direction, using computational methods, are made in Chang (2009, 2011b, 2012).6
References
Calhoun, W. A. (1922), ‘Early Clay Industries of the Upper Ohio Valley’, an article retrieved
from http://www.eastliverpoolhistoricalsociety.org/calhoun.htm. Caves, R. E. (2007), ‘In Praise of the Old I.O.’, International Journal of Industrial Organization,
25, 1-12.
Chang, M.-H. (2009), ‘Industry Dynamics with Knowledge-Based Competition: A
Computational Study of Entry and Exit Patterns’, Journal of Economic Interaction and
Coordination, 4, 73-114.
Chang, M.-H. (2011a), ‘Agent-Based Modeling and Computational Experiments in Industrial
Organization: Growing Firms and Industries in silico’, Eastern Economic Journal, 37,
28-34.
Chang, M.-H. (2011b), ‘Entry, Exit, and the Endogenous Market Structure in Technologically
Turbulent Industries’, Eastern Economic Journal, 37, 51-84.
Chang, M.-H. (2012), ‘Muddling through the Gales of Creative Destruction: A Non-Equilibrium
Computational Model of Schumpeterian Competition’, Working Paper #20, Department
of Economics, Cleveland State University.
5
While there have been attempts to incorporate bounded rationality into industrial organization, much of this work
has focused on modeling the consumers as being boundedly rational, while keeping the firms as profit-maximizers
with perfect foresight. [See Spiegler (2011).]
6
See Chang (2011a) for a general discussion on the need for this approach in industrial organization.
4 Gates, W. C. (1984), The City of Hills & Kilns: Life and Work in East Liverpool, Ohio. The East
Liverpool Historical Society: East Liverpool, Ohio.
Gates, W. C. and D. E. Ormerod (1982), The East Liverpool, Ohio, pottery district: Identification
of manufacturers and marks. Braun-Brumfield: Ann Arbor.
Geroski, P. A. (1995), ‘What Do We Know about Entry?’, International Journal of Industrial
Organization, 13, 421-440.
Geroski, P. A. and M. Mazzucato (2001), ‘Modelling the Dynamics of Industry Populations’,
International Journal of Industrial Organization, 19, 1003-1022.
Spiegler, R. (2011), Bounded Rationality and Industrial Organization. Oxford University Press:
New York.
Thistlethwaite, F. (1958), ‘The Atlantic Migration of the Pottery Industry’, The Economic
History Review, 11, 264-278.
5 1825
1830
1835
1840
1845
1850
1855
1860
1865
1870
1875
1880
1885
1890
1895
1900
1905
1910
1915
1920
1925
1930
1935
1940
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
1825
1830
1835
1840
1845
1850
1855
1860
1865
1870
1875
1880
1885
1890
1895
1900
1905
1910
1915
1920
1925
1930
1935
1940
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Figure 1: Entries and Exits
40
25
20
10
1869
1854
Entries
45
35
1895
6 Exits
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Years
Figure 2: Total Number of Firms
50
1901
1882
1937 1949 1952
30
1930 1943
1857
15
1862
5
0
Figure 3: Lifespan of Firms*
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
17-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-55
56-60
61-65
66-70
71-75
76-80
81-85
86-90
91-95
96-100
101-105
106-110
111-115
116-120
121-125
126-130
0
Lifespan in Years
*Excludes firms that are currently in business
Figure 4: Lifespan in Years ( ≤20 )*
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Lifespan in Years
*Excludes firms that are currently in business
7 CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY
A Note on the Dynamics of Firm Turnovers in the East Liverpool (Ohio) Pottery Industry, 1825‐2010 Appendix Myong‐Hun Chang and Amanda Janosko 5/26/2012 This Appendix contains the company information on their years of operation. Additional notes on the restructuring of some of the firms are available at the end. Table 1
Company
Acme Artware Corp.
Acme Craftware, Inc.
Adamant Porcelain Co.
Agner Foutts and Co.
Agner and Gaston
Alcock and Shields
American Ceramic Art Co.
American Chinaware Corp.
American Decorating Co.
American Porcelain Co.
American Vitrified Products Co.
Anchor-Hocking, Inc.
Anderson, Curry and Co.
Anderson Porcelain Co.
Ardyth Arts
Artistic China Co.
Babcock and Wilcox
Baggott Brothers
Ball and Morris
Barnhart Pottery Co.
James H. Baum Episode 1
James H. Baum Episode 2
A. B. Beck
Belman Pottery Co.
Belmonte China
Bel-Mar
BelMar China Co.
Bel-Mar Pottery Co.
Bennett Brothers
Benty Brothers
Bisc Novelty Manufacturing Co.
A. C. Blair China Studios
William Bloor
John Boch
Emanuel Booth
Booth Brothers
Boulton and Co.
Brunt and Bloor
Years Lifespan
1941-ca. 1945
5
ca. 1945-1970
26
ca. 1909-ca. 1924
16
1863-1883
21
1883-1884
2
1882
1
1902
1
1929-1931
3
1923
1
1914-1932
19
ca. 1910-ca. 1968
59
1972-1982
11
1878
1
1903-1915
13
ca. 1945-ca. 1961
17
undetermined
N/A
ca. 1921-ca. 1930
10
1853-ca. 1897
45
1846-1856
11
ca. 1955
1
1883-1884
2
1888-1896
9
1879
1
undetermined
N/A
ca. 1952
1
1950
1
1912
1
ca.1932-1935
4
1839-1844
6
1900-1906
7
1917-1919
3
1945-1960
16
1860-1862
3
1907-ca. 1919
13
1873-1876
4
1854-ca. 1865
12
1882-1883
2
1848-1853
6
1 Comments
No dates available
Decorator
No dates available
See Note
Table 1
Company
Brunt, Bloor, Martin and Co.
G. F. Brunt Porcelain Co.
Henry Brunt and Son
Wm. Brunt and Bros.
Wm. Brunt and Co.
Wm. Brunt Jr. and Co.
Wm. Brunt Pottery Co.
Wm. Brunt Sr. 1859
Wm. Brunt Sr. and Son
Wm. Brunt Son and Co.
Bulger, Starkey and Co.
Bulger, Worcester and Co.
Bullock and Anderson
Bullock and Garner
W. C. Bunting Co.
Burford Bros. Pottery Co.
Burgess and Co.
Burgess, Webster and Viney
William Burton
Burton and Williams
George Buxton
California Pottery Co.
Cameo China Co.
Cardinal Stoneware Co., Inc.
Cartwright Bros. Company
Cartwright Bros. Pottery Co.
Ceramic Specialties Co.
Chester China Co.
Chic Pottery Co.
China and Vitreous Products
Corp.
William Colclough
The Colonial Co.
Columbia China Co.
Continental Kilns
Albert Corns
Corns China Co.
Craven Art Pottery Co.
F. R. Cross and Co.
Years Lifespan
1875-1882
8
ca. 1900-1914
15
undetermined
N/A
1856-1859
4
ca. 1885
1
1860-1877
18
1892-1911
20
undetermined
N/A
ca. 1868-1874
7
1878-1892
15
1877
1
1877-1880
4
1850
1
1847
1
1947-present
66
1879-1904
26
1890-1893
4
1867-1869
3
undetermined
N/A
ca. 1901
1
1884-1891
8
1898
1
ca. 1949-ca. 1952
4
ca. 1975
1
1896-1927
32
1880-1896
17
ca. 1933-ca. 1944
12
1920
1
1937-1945
9
No dates available
No dates available
No dates available
undetermined
N/A
No dates available
ca. 1850/1879-1881
1903-1929
1910
1944-ca. 1953
ca.1898
1889-1932
1905-ca. 1910
1884
N/A
27
1
10
1
44
6
1
Lack of credible dates
2 Comments
See Note
Table 1
Company
Years Lifespan
Croxall Brothers
1844-1852
9
Croxall Pottery Co.
Curby, Starkey and Co.
Davidson - Stevenson Porcelain
Co.
Joseph Dennis
Dennis and Outrim
Douds and Barnes
Douds and Foutts
Douds and Moore
Douds and Sebring
Douds and Welch
Dovey, Webster and Co.
Dresden Pottery Co.
East Liverpool Art China
East Liverpool China Co.
East Liverpool China and Enamel
Co.
East Liverpool Crockery Co.
East Liverpool Electric Porcelain
Co.
East Liverpool Encaustic Tile Co.
East Liverpool Pottery Co.
East Liverpool Potteries Co.
East Liverpool Railway Co.
East Liverpool Sanitary
Manufacturing Co.
N. J. Eisenhuth Novelty Works
The Empire Company
Enterprise Art China Company
Etruria works
Hermann Feustal
Flentke, Harrison and Co.
William Flentke
Flentke, Worchester and Co.
Foster and Garner
Foster and Rigby
Foster and Rowley
Fowler and O'Connor
1856-1914
1875
59
1
1914-1932
19
1875-1886
1879-1880
ca. 1851
ca. 1872
1866
1857-1860
1869
1848
1925-1927
1898-ca. 1908
1947-present
30
2
1
1
1
4
1
1
3
11
66
ca. 1910
1
ca. 1911
1
1903-ca. 1918
16
1878
1894-1901
1901-1907[1933]
undetermined
1
8
N/A
N/A
Lack of credible dates
No dates available
1913-undetermined
N/A
No dates available
1903
ca. 1850
1896-undetermined
undetermined
ca. 1900
1877-1884
1882-1886
1874-1877
ca. 1856-1859
ca. 1866-1868
1860-ca. 1866
1871-1872
1
1
N/A
N/A
1
8
5
4
4
3
7
2
3 Comments
Destroyed by flood in
1852
See Note
Lack of credible dates
No dates available
Table 1
Company
E. Fox and Co.
Frederick, Shenkle, Allen and Co.
French China Co.
French - Saxon China Co.
Fritz, McClure and Co.
Gamble and Surles
General Porcelain Co.
George Garner
Ephraim Gaston
Globe Pottery Co. Episode 1
Glober Pottery Co. Episode 2
Godwin and Flentke
John Goodwin Episode 1
John Goodwin Episode 2
Goodwin Pottery Co.
Goodwin Pottery Co.
Gotham and Locke and Co.
Thomas Haden
Hayden and Lycett
Hall China Co.
Benjamin Harker
Harker Pottery Co.
Harker and Smith
Benjamin Harker and Sons
Richard Harrison and Co.
Harvey, Green and Co.
Henderson Pottery
William Higginson
Hill, Brunt and Co.
Hilton China Co.
Horton Specialty Co.
Hoyt China Co.
Hoyt Brothers China Co.
George F. Humrickhouse
Humrickhouse and Gallagher
Jackson Bros.
Johnson China Co.
Jones Pottery
Years Lifespan
1880
1
1881-1888
8
1898-1929
32
1935-1964
30
1869
1
ca. 1878
1
ca. 1912-ca. 1916
5
ca. 1846
1
1881
1
1888-1901
14
1907-1912
6
1878-1882
5
1843-1853
11
1863-1865
3
1872-1913
42
1936-1940
1903
1874-1888
1879
1903-present
1840-1846
1846-1972
1853-1855
1877-1881
ca. 1853
1851-1853
ca. 1849-ca. 1854
ca. 1897
1867-ca. 1869
ca. 1915
ca. 1932-1938
1919-undetermined
1919
1877-ca. 1883
1881
1868-1870
1931-1937
1867-1880
4 5
5
15
1
110
7
127
3
5
1
3
6
1
3
1
7
N/A
1
7
1
3
7
14
Comments
See Note
Different from other
Goodwin Pottery Co.
See Note
Lack of credible dates
Table 1
Company
Kass China Co.
Kenilworth Tile Co.
Keramos Pottery Co.
Keystone China Co.
Edwin M. Knowles China Co.
Knowles, Taylor and Knowles
Lamond and Jones
Larkin Bros.
Larkins, Newell and Co.
Homer Laughlin China Co.
Less Work Manufacturing Co.
The Limoges China Co.
The American Limoges China Co.
Louthan Manufacturing Co.
Manley and Cartwright
Manley, Surles and Gamble
Manton and Albright
A. J. Marks and Co.
Mayer and Geon
Mayer, Ross and McDevitt
William McCullough
McDevitt, Cochran and Co.
McDevitt, Moore and Curby
McDevitt and Moore
McDonald Decorating Shop
McGillvray and Moore
McGillvray and Orr
D. E. McNicol Pottery Co.
T. A. McNicol Pottery Co.
McQuillkan and Curry Porcelain
Co.
Meric Art Studios
Metsch Refractories Co.
Miles and McClain
Miles Porcelain Co.
T. V. Milligan Porcelain Co.
Monarch Dinnerware Co.
George Monroe and Co.
Morley and Company
Years Lifespan
ca. 1935-1972
38
1921
1
ca. 1921
1
ca. 1946-1954
9
1900-1963
64
1854-1929
76
1870
1
ca. 1848-1861
14
1853
1
1873-present
140
1914
1
1900-1949
50
1949-1955
7
1901-present
112
1864-1880
17
1881
1
ca. 1892
1
1866-1871
6
1865
1
1864
1
undetermined
N/A
1868-1870
3
1872-1874
3
1874-ca. 1900
27
ca. 1945
1
1855-1857
3
1855
1
1869-1954
86
ca. 1913-1929
17
ca. 1905
1
ca. 1931-1939
1919-present
1888
1923
1915-1929
1937-1972
1880
1878-1884
9
94
1
1
15
36
1
7
5 Comments
See Note
No dates available
See Note
See Note
Table 1
Company
George Morley and Son
Morley, Godwin and Co.
Morley, Godwin and Flentke
Mountford and Co.
George C. Murphy Pottery Co.
Episode 1
George C. Murphy Pottery Co.
Episode 2
National China Co.
Nentwick and Larkin
Newell, Larkins and Co.
Novelty Clay Forming Co.
Oakwood China Co.
Oakwood Pottery Co.
Edward O'Connor
Ohio Brass Co.
Ohio Porcelain Co.
Oliver China Co.
Olnhausen China Co.
Owen-Wilson Porcelain Co.
Pan-American Electric Porcelain
Co.
Patterson Bros. Co.
Patterson Refractories Co.
Patterson, Russell and Co.
Peach Porcelain Co.
The Pearl China and Pottery Co.
J. R. Phillip
R. G. Phillips
Pines Pottery Co.
Pioneer Pottery Co.
Pioneer Pottery Co.
Pittsburgh Tile Manufacturing Co.
Porcelain Manufacturing Co.
Potter's Co-operative Co.
Purinton Pottery Co.
Reston Art Ware Co.
T. Rigby and Co.
0. Ritter
Years Lifespan
1884-1891
8
1874-1878
5
1855-1874
20
1891-1897
7
1897-1901
5
1904-1904
2
1899-1911
ca. 1886
1848-ca.1852
ca. 1907-ca. 1918
1912-ca. 1921
1900
ca. 1885-ca. 1894
ca. 1966-present
ca. 1908
1899-ca. 1908
1902
1927
13
1
5
12
10
1
10
47
1
10
1
1
1901
1
1882-1907
ca. 1930-1934
1882
1931
1931-2009
1853
1852
ca. 1939-1953
1896-ca. 1900
1935-present
1912-ca. 1922
1928
1882-1925
1937-1942
1928-ca. 1933
1868-1872
1853
26
5
1
1
79
1
1
15
5
78
11
1
44
6
6
4
1
6 Comments
See Note
Table 1
Company
Royal China Co.
Salt and Mear Episode 1
Salt and Mear Episode 2
Sants and Barlow
Saxon China Co.
Henry Schmidt
Ralph Scragg
Scores China Co.
Years Lifespan
1933-1986
54
1842-ca. 1852
11
1856-1860
5
1878
1
1911-1929
19
1901
1
ca. 1879-ca. 1887
9
ca. 1907
1
Sebring Pottery Co.
1887-ca. 1940
54
E. H. Sebring China Co.
Sevres China Co.
Shields and Wilson
Simms and Ferguson
Simms and Starkey
N. M. Simms and Co.
Sinclair Art Pottery
Smith, Foster and Co.
Smith-Phillips China Co.
Smith, Plunkett and McClure
Specialty Porcelain Co.
Sprucevale Pottery
Standard Porcelain Co.
The Standard Pottery Co.
Starkey and Ourby
John F. Steele
Sterling China Co.
Sterling China Co.
Taylor, Lee and Smith
Taylor, Smith and Taylor
R. Thomas and Sons
Thomas China Co.
C. C. Thompson Pottery Co.
Trenle Blake China Co.
Trenle Porcelain Co.
Trentvale Pottery
1908-1929
1900-1908
1882
1872
1866-1868
1868-1874
1903-ca. 1905
1857
1901-1929
1881
ca. 1910-1949
ca. 1852-1859
1923
1886-1927
ca. 1870-1872
1878-1891
1900-ca. 1902
1917- 2004
1899-1901
1901-1972
1873-1957
1900-1905
1868-1938
1894 - 1966
1923
ca. 1901
22
9
1
1
3
7
3
1
29
1
40
8
1
42
3
14
3
88
3
72
85
6
71
73
1
1
7 Comments
In 1940 Sebring Pottery
Co. was absorbed by the
Limoges China Co.
Limoges used the Sebring
line until 1948.
See Note
See Note
Table 1
Company
Union Potteries Co.
United China Co.
United States Decorating Co.
United States Pottery Co.
Usona Art Pottery
A. Viney and Co.
Viney, Thompson and Co.
Viney, Webster and Co.
Vitreous Novelty Works
Vodrey Brothers
Vodrey and Brother Pottery Co.
Vodrey Pottery Co.
Wallace Brothers
Wallace and Chetwynd
Wally Brothers [and Co.]
Warner-Keffer China Co.
A. Webster and Co.
Elijah Webster
Webster, Campbell and Co.
Webster and Phillips
Joseph Wells
Wellsville China Co.
Wellsville Novelty Pottery Co.
West End Pottery Co.
West, Hardwick and Co.
White Brothers China
Henry Willot and Co.
Woodward and Vodrey
Woodward, Vodrey and Booth
Woodward, Blakely and Co.
Worchester, Bulger and Son
Worcester and Co.
World Pottery and China Co.
John Wyllie and Son
Years Lifespan
1894-1905
12
ca. 1921
1
1922
1
1898-1901 [1932]
N/A
ca. 1932-ca.1952
21
1870
1
ca. 1868-1869
2
1869-1872
4
1901
1
1857-ca. 1864
8
ca. 1864-1896
33
1896-1928
33
1856-ca. 1861
6
1882-1901
20
1853
1
1908-1912
5
1857-ca. 1864
8
1858-ca. 1861
4
1881-1888
8
ca. 1848-1850
3
ca. 1826-ca.1856
31
1902-1959
58
undetermined
N/A
1893-1938
46
1867-1883
17
20th Century
N/A
1870-1872
3
1847-1848
2
1848
1
1848-1857
10
1872-1884
13
1880-1882
3
ca. 1921-ca. 1934
14
1874-1893
20
8 Comments
See Note
Lack of credible dates
No dates available
No dates available
Notes on Condensed Firms
Bennett Brothers (1839 – 1844) James Bennett began his business in 1839. His brothers
Edwin, Daniel, and William came to East Liverpool in 1841 and the company name changed to
reflect the addition of the brothers. Bennett Brothers stayed in East Liverpool through 1844
when the company decided to move to Pittsburgh (Gates & Ormerod, 15).
C. C. Thompson Pottery Company (1868 – 1938) The company had its start as Thompson and
Herbert in 1868 when J. T. Herbert and Cassius C. Thompson began producing pottery. The
company changed its name to C. C. Thompson and Company in 1870 when J. T. Herbert sold his
shares in the company to Josiah Thompson and Basil Simms. When Josiah Thompson passed
away in 1889, the company was again renamed when it incorporated as the C. C. Thompson
Pottery Company (Gates & Ormerod, 288)
Corns China Company (1889 – 1932) In 1889 William Smith and D. E. McNicol created
McNicol and Smith. In 1907 Smith left the company and A. W. Corns replaced him. With A.
W. Corns entrance into the company, the company was renamed McNicol-Corns China
Company. When McNicol retired in 1928, Corns continued to operate the firm until a fire
destroyed it in 1932. At this point it had been renamed Corns China Company (Gates &
Ormerod, 196).
Croxall Pottery Company (1856 – 1914) In 1856, Croxall and Cartwright began producing
pottery. The firm was renamed J. W. Croxall and Sons in 1888 when John Croxall bought
Cartwright’s shares in the firm. The company was again renamed in 1898 when the firm was
incorporated as Croxall Pottery Company. The company was purchased in 1914 by the
American Porcelain Company (Gates & Ormerod, 38).
D. E. McNicol Pottery Company (1869 – 1954) In 1869, McNicol, Burton and Company began
producing pottery. The company was incorporated in 1892 and was renamed D. E. McNicol
Pottery Company (Gates & Ormerod, 185).
Goodwin Pottery Company (1872 – 1913) John Goodwin and his sons established John
Goodwin and Sons in 1872. When John Goodwin passed away, his sons reorganized the
company and renamed it Goodwin Brothers Pottery Company. In 1893 the firm was
incorporated and named the Goodwin Pottery Company (Gates & Ormerod, 52).
Harker Pottery Company (1846-1972) In 1846, George S. Harker began Harker, Taylor and
Company with the help of James Taylor. Taylor eventually left the firm in 1851 to pursue other
interests. In 1851 Ezekial Creighton and Mathew Thompson joined George S. Harker and
created the firm Harker and Thompson. When Ezekial died in 1854, the firm stayed under the
control of Thompson and Harker and renamed itself the George S. Harker and Company. The
firm continued to operate under this name until it was incorporated in 1890 as the Harker Pottery
Company (Gates & Ormerod, 79).
Homer Laughlin China Company (1873 - present) In 1873 Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin
began Laughlin Brothers, but when Shakespeare left, Homer continued to operate the firm. In
1877 the company was incorporated as the Homer Laughlin China Company (Gates & Ormerod,
128).
9 Knowles, Taylor and Knowles (1854 – 1929) Isaac Knowles and Isaac Harvey began producing
pottery in 1854 under the firm name Knowles and Harvey. When Harvey left the firm in the
mid-1860s, Knowles continued to operate the pottery under the name Isaac Knowles. In 1870,
Isaac Knowles renamed the firm Knowles, Taylor and Knowles after Isaac Knowles brought
Homer Knowles and Jon Taylor into the firm (Gates & Ormerod, 115).
Metsch Refractories Co. (1919-present) In 1919 the Boch and Metsch Porcelain Company
began producing ceramic pieces for the electrical business. In 1922 the company was renamed
the Metsch Refractories Co. and continues to remain open to this day.
(http://www.eastliverpoolhistoricalsociety.org/calhoun.htm)
Patterson Brothers Company (1882 – 1907) John Patterson and Sons Pottery Company began
producing in 1882. In 1900, the “sons” in John Patterson and Sons took control of the firm and
renamed themselves the Patterson Brothers Company. In 1907 the company was sold to the
Sterling China Company (Gates & Ormerod, 210).
Trenle Blake China Company (1894 – 1966) The East End Pottery Company started in 1894
and its name was changed in 1908 to the East End China Company. The East End China
Company was then renamed in 1909 to the Trenle China Company. In 1937, the company
moved to Ravenswood, West Virginia and the name changed to Trenle-Blake China Company
(Gates & Ormerod, 295).
Union Potteries Company (1894 – 1905) The Union Cooperative Pottery Company began in
1894. The company was placed in receivership in 1900 but continued to operate until 1905 as
the Union Potteries Company (Gates & Ormerod, 297).
Firms with multiple episodes





James H. Baum
Globe Pottery Co.
John Goodwin
George C. Murphy Pottery Company
Salt and Mear
10