[Trade Journal]
Publication: Journal of the American Ceramic Society
Columbus, OH, United States
vol. 6, no. 1, p. 308-311, col. 1
TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE WHITEWARE INDUSTRIES
BY F. K. PENCR
Itis impossible to present within the scope of a brief report a history of the several crafts or even the technical development of the industries concerned with the manufacture of the semi-vitreous and vitreous products. To attempt this would require laborious research and would result in a voluminous report.
Historically considered the manufacture of semi-vitreous tableware was produced at East Liverpool by William Bloor in 1860. This was a true porcelain hand decorated and may be taken as a starting point of the white-ware industries in its evolution from the yellowware. This porcelain was made on a commercial basis as the ware was taken down the river on trading boats and sold in southern markets. Through a loss of men on account of the Civil War and through financial difficulties the factory was closed in 1863, but from this beginning there were developed later the various types of vitreous products for tableware, electrical porcelain, sanitary porcelain and tiling.
The beginnings of the various phases of the potting industry in Ohio have been listed in the following manner by Wilbur Stout of the Ohio State Geological Survey:
Earthenware pottery, William McFarland, Cincinnati, Oct. 17, 1799
Stoneware, Samuel Sullivan, Zanesville, 1808
Yellowware, James Bennett, East Liverpool, 1840
Whiteware, William Bloor, East Liverpool, 1860
Whiteware, Tempest Brockman & Co., Cincinnati, 1867
Earthen cooking and serving ware, G. H. Bodine & Co., Zanesville, 1878
Sanitary ware, J. H. Baum, Wellsville, 1888
Chemical porcelain, Guernsey Earthenware Co., Cambridge, 1916
Chemical porcelain Ohio Pottery Co., Zanesville, 1916
Door knobs, John Goodwin, East Liverpool, 1845
Electrical porcelain, R. Thomas & Co., East Liverpool, 1884
Beginning with the semi-vitreous products known as general ware for table use we find its development centered chiefly about Cincinnati, East Liverpool and Trenton districts.
Having its origin in England the industry followed the practices of the Staffordshire pottery centers with remarkable fidelity and for many years no fundamental changes in its processes were made. In this respect the peculiar relations between the master potter and the organized operative potters must be considered which have always made innovations difficult to accomplish. Of recent years through the advent of improved drying systems and the tunnel kiln the need of more radical changes is being clearly recognized. The manufacturers themselves have taken active steps to bring about cooperative research and the study of factory problems and have inaugurated a system of cooperation with the Bureau of Standards and other agencies which might well serve as an example of industrial progress. A number of the larger plants have established control and research departments. The question of having one or more laboratories to serve groups of the smaller plants is now under consideration. There can be no doubt but that the general ware industry is entering upon a period of industrial development of no mean magnitude.
The ambition to produce vitreous tableware was in the minds of many early manufacturers and records show that Homer Laughlin in East Liverpool had prcduced porcelain covered both with high fire and softer glazes and also that the Knowles, Taylor and Knowles Co. produced a bone china of high quality. But it remained for others to create a typical industry, which followed neither the bone china of England nor the soft bisque-hard glaze porcelain of Continental Europe. They developed a typical, non-absorbent body of a stony rather than glassy texture, possessing extraordinary toughness, and a borosilicate glaze for it. In this they followed the practice of the earlier ware industry in using a higher bisque than glost fire.
In the development of this industry the names of James Pass and Ernest Mayer stand out prominently, both charter members of this SOCIETY.
Of these, that of Ernest Mayer is especially noteworthy as he was both a potter and a scientific investigator, possessed of deep knowledge and a broad sympathy, which will ever be remembered by his contempories. Mayer did much to promote the vitreous tableware industry and we may say, therefore, that it truly was nourished in its infancy by technical thought. Having more complicated problems than the earthenware industry, more attention had to be given to technical details and we find as a consequence that its leaders were closely affiliated with the work of the SOCIETY. At the present time technical departments are in operation in several plants, and cooperative research work is being done with the Bureau of Standards.
From the standpoint of artistic excellence the exquisite vitreous porcelain made by Lenox Inc., of Trenton, represents the highest development and justly ranks with the most famous ceramic art products of the world.
The production of high fire porcelain was not entirely unrepresented during the years of early development inasmuch as the old Union Porcelain Works of Brooklyn has been in existence for a long period. A strong impetus to this particular development, however, was not imparted to it until the outbreak of the European war when the need for chemical porcelain stimulated its manufacture. In this development the figure of John Herold is probably the most outstanding. It was he who began the making of hard fire chemical porcelain both at Golden, Colorado, and at Zanesville, Ohio, now represented by the Coors Porcelain Co., and The Ohio Pottery Co., respectively. From the technical standpoint the work of the Bureau of Standards in this direction, especially that by F. H. Riddle, deserves mention. The present status of the chemical porcelain industry is such that its continued existence and growth are assured.
With the development of the electrical industries of the country the manufacture of insulating porcelain became a prime necessity and developed into an industry of considerable magnitude. Starting with the making of dry pressed porcelain for low voltages there is now being produced a non-absorbent porcelain of high quality. Among the pioneers in this field there may be mentioned the R. Thomas Co., of East Liverpool, Ohio, and the Locke Insulator Co., Victor, N. Y. The subject of insulator porcelain was first studied from the technical standpoint by A. S. Watts, whose many contributions in this field are well known. The technical activities pertaining to this branch of industry, both from the electrical and ceramic standpoints are very marked and will tend to be more so in the future as very high tension currents become necessary for the distribution of power over large areas.
The extensive growth of the sanitary porcelain industry parallels the development of modern and typically American requirements. Its home is Trenton from whence it has spread to many other states. Considered from the technical standpoint it has been in the quiescent state for a long time, without the introduction of new manufacturing features. But the pioneering work of C. J. Kirk in the application of the casting process and the tunnel kiln is bearing fruit and more rapid advance is taking place at the present time.
In the field of floor and wall tile we have both vitreous and partially vitrified ware. The principal seat of this industry where its first development took place and the first technical work was done by Langen beck and Stanbery is Zanesville, Ohio. Ever since Langenbeck's time the technical development has kept pace with the exacting requirements inherent in this product. This industry has furnished the SOCIETY with another of the early presidents, F. W. Walker, whose contributions have been not only along technical lines but also with the organization of an industry for cooperative effort from the economic standpoint.
There might be noted also the development of special porcelains, such as the Marquardt body, used in the making of pyrometer tubes, which was introduced in this country by the Bureau of Standards. The first work on this subject was done by G. H. Brown. The same Bureau has con-tributed also an investigation dealing with the synthesis of mechanically strong porcelains which possess high electric resistance at elevated temperatures of which the authors are A. V., Bleininger and F. H. Riddle. It is possible that the principles brought out in this work may have a bearing on the development of insulators for currents of extremely high voltages.
The keynote of the modern point of view in industrial relations is cooperative effort on the part of the manufacturers belonging to a given branch of industry. Such cooperation is to be both economic and technical. One of the prime needs of this group effort must deal with the perfection of the product in order that it may be possible to combat competitive materials. This must be the fundamental motive underlying cooperative effort and in the striving toward a more and more perfect product, the application of scientific principles to the manufacture of the white clay products will become a matter of necessity. If this general principle is realized we shall be able to maintain the rate of development in a manner worthy of the developments of the past.
THE KNOWLES. TAYLOR AND KNOWLES CO. EAST LIVORPOOL, OHIO
