Willets Manufacturing Company

First Edition

WHAT THE WILLETS DO

ONE OF TRENTON'S OLDEST POTTERIES

The Excelsior Pottery Works, Founded by

William Young, and what they have

Accomplished - Illuminated Decorative

Work and New Decorative Designs

While any review of the industries of this city which failed to recognize the importance of the pottery interests would be incomplete as the play of "Hamlet," with Hamlet omitted, so, too, would a review or record of the pottery interests be decidedly incomplete which failed to give due prominence to the Excelsior Pottery Works, founded by the late William Young, now owned and operated by the Willets Manufacturing Company.

Aside from its prominence as the largest pottery, both as to productive capacity and the number of people employed, in Trenton, and as Trenton is the center of the pottery industry in America, this statement covers the entire country as well, the fact that it is the outgrowth of a pottery that not only dates the foundation of the industry in this country, but was the pioneer establishment to manufacturer white ware, and also the first to demonstrate that white earthenware could be made from American materials entirely, adds a special interest to a description of this well known pottery which cannot fail to make an important chapter in the series of articles now appearing in the columns of The Times reviewing the industries of the city. The Excelsior Pottery Works owes its existence to the late William Young, who, it will not be disputed, did more to develop and advance the pottery industry in this country than any other individual. And, not withstanding there were others engaged in the manufacture of the commonest grades of earthenware in this city and elsewhere previous to 1853, the year that the late William Young and others leased a small pottery built by Charles Hattersly, located on the present site of the City Pottery Company's works; this period practically dated the foundation of the industry in America, and the name of the founder of the Excelsior Pottery Works deserves to be handed down to posterity as the father of the pottery industry in this country.

THE WORKS AND THE WORKERS

An idea of the size of the pottery industry in Trenton at the period referred to may be gathered from the statement that the Hattersly Pottery, built in 1852, was supplied with one small kiln, six feet in diameter, and its rapid growth is readily comprehended when it is known that the number of potteries springing out of this single establishment amounts to twenty-three large and thrifty concerns, with an aggregate of one hundred and ten kilns, which have an annual production of $4,000,000 worth of white and decorated goods. Long before the expiration of the lease of the Hattersly Pottery, which William Young and his partners secured for a term of five years, the venture proved so successful that in order to keep pace with the demands of trade it was necessary from time to time to increase the productive capacity of the works, and after expanding considerable money in their way they concluded it would prove more profitable in the end to spend their money improving their own property, and active steps were taken looking to the erection of a pottery of their own. The site chosen for the new establishment is the one now occupied by the works of the Willets Manufacturing Company, along the north bank of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, a few hundred feet east of Rose street, and the new enterprise, christened the

EXCELSIOR POTTERY WORKS

was put in operation in 1857. The pottery subsequently passed into possession of Wm. Young & Sons, under whose vigorous management the industry was conducted until 1870, at which time the founder of the works withdrew from active business life, and for the nine succeeding years the business was carried on by two of his sons, under the firm name of William Young's Sons, who disposed of the industry to the Willets Manufacturing Co., the present owners, in 1879.

WHAT THEY MAKE

Before attempting a brief description of the Excelsior Pottery Works in its present enlarged shape, and briefly referring to the character in product, it will not be out of place to add in this connection a word considering those who have made this the largest pottery plant in the country. The parties composing the Willets Manufacturing Company, consisting of Joseph Willets, President; Daniel Willets, Secretary, and Edmund R. Willets, Treasurer, need no introduction or recommendation to the trade, for they have been so prominently identified with the crockery interests of this country as extensive importers for years, previous to engaging in the business as producers, that the name and the interest they represent have become synonymous terms in trade circles throughout the United States. Their father, the late Edmund Willets, laid the foundation for an importing trade as early as 1824 and the house established occupied a leading position in this line in New York for more, than half a century, all of which time it was conducted in the name of Willets by the founder and his sons, and was only closed out four years ago by the latter, who decided to quite the importing trade and become manufacturer of American pottery. Howe well they have succeeded in this important undertaking . . . [illegible text] . . . of the largest decorating kilns in Trenton . . . [illegible text] . . . have been made, notably the erection of several large brick building, including a new "slip" house, equipped with the most approved machinery for preparing clays, including four improved presses; in short, it is no exaggeration to say that these works now represent one of the most complete potteries in the country, and is so acknowledged by several English potters, recently in Trenton, who inspected a number of American potteries.

THE GROUND COVERED

The premises owned by the company embrace six acres of land, half of which is covered by a series of brick buildings, some twenty-two in all, ranging from one to four stories in height. The principal buildings comprising the plant are imposing in their dimensions, the more prominent of which consists of a main building, 75x415 in dimensions, two and three stories in height, with four wings, respectively 50x80, 30x80, 20x80, and 30x50 feet in dimensions, also two and three stories in height. To the rear of these stands another structure, 100x150 feet in dimensions, three stories and a basement in height, while near by is a four story building, 50x125 feet in dimensions, and a two-story structure of the same dimensions.

The motive power necessary in an industry of this character is derived from a fifty horse-power engine, fed by three large boilers, which also supply the steam to heat the principal buildings. A large basin, extending for several hundred feet along the eastern end of the premises, affords ample wharfage facilities, a very important feature, by the way, as the supply of clays and fuel are received by way of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. The product of the industry, which amounts to $350,000 annually, comprises a general line of thin opaque porcelain and white granite ware, plain and decorated, including porcelain door furniture and telegraph and telephone insulator supplies. The Willets Manufacturing Company excel in under-glaze printing, and a large portion of the product of their industry consists of a choice line of artistically decorated dinner, tea and toilet ware, a conspicuous feature of which is the under-glaze printing, which is so greatly admired, but somewhat more difficult to produce than the over-glaze decorations, at present the principal process employed in the decoration of pottery in this country.

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