  |
|
|
The history of pottery production in Red Wing, Minnesota actually began over 20,000 years ago! The last of the great glaciers on the North American continent, the Wisconsin, stretched south into present-day Wisconsin and Minnesota. As it grew south, it moved large amounts of soil and rock with it and as it melted, around 10,000 years ago, it deposited these loads all in new locations. In what is now Goodhhue County, near what will soon be the upper Mississippi River Valley, the Wisconsin glacier deposited a huge field of very fine, good quality clay which then only needed to be discovered.
The first to discovere the clay deposits were the Mdewakanton Sioux who made clay pots for cooking and carrying water, grain and other foods. When white settlers came to the region, they noticed the quality of the Mdewakanton pottery and located the great clay deposits.
Pottery production began in the newly born city of Red Wing in the mid-nineteenth century[1]. A brickworks and a terra cotta works were founded and individual potters, notably Paul, Philleo and Hallum, started producing small amounts of wares for local consumption.
Because of the quality of the wares that were produced, demand on a larger scale was anticipated and so the pottery industry in Red Wing was created in 1877 with the founding of the Red Wing Stoneware Company in 1877.[1,2,3,4]
This venture was a huge success and so a second stoneware company, the Minnesota Stoneware Company was founded in 1883.[1,2,3,5]
Both companies operated well in competition with each other, even with both in the same town, and business was good. So good, in fact, that a third stoneware company, the North Star Stoneware Company was started in the same town in 1892[1,2,3,4] and then all three factories were operating all in the same town.
The nearby clay deposits satisfied all of the material needs for all three stoneware companies, the deposits were so vast.
So vast, in fact, that in addition to these three stoneware companies, sewer pipe factories were founded in Red Wing to use the lower grades of available clay. Two sewer pipe companies, the J.H. Rich Sewer Pipe Company and the Red Wing Sewer Pipe Company were founded and also were in operation in the town of Red Wing during this same period.
By the mid-1890's, a slowdown in the economy was catching up with the pottery manufacturers and so they formed business arrangements in order to eliminate competition between the companies. The Union Sewerpipe Company was founded in 1896[2] which was a merger between the two existing sewerpipe companies and the three stoneware companies together founded the Union Stoneware Company in 1894[1,2,3,4].
The Union Stoneware Company was wholly a business arrangement between the three existing stoneware companies, the North Star, Red Wing and Minnesota. Through this business arrangement, the Union would accept all of the orders and then dole them out to the three companies for production. This seemed like a good business arrangement, but for North Star stoneware, it was not. According to the Union charter, orders would be assigned to each stoneware company in the same ratio as the percentage of the market that they had before the Union. For Red Wing Stoneware and Minnesota Stoneware, this was a good deal since they had many years of production experience, many customers, and produced large amounts of stoneware. However for North Star who had very little production before the union, this deal was definitely not ideal. Because of the charter, The Union handed very few production orders to North Star and the North Star company was forced to close in 1896[1,2,3,4] after only four years of business. It is for this reason that North Star Stoneware products are so rare today.
For awhile, again, business was good. The Union Sewerpipe Company reorganized and renamed themselves, again, to the Red Wing Sewer Pipe Company in 1901[2]. Meanwhile, on the stoneware side of the industry, the two remaining companies, the Red Wing Stoneware Company and the Minnesota Stoneware Company, each after having consumed the assets of the North Star Stoneware Company, decided to formally merge together and formed the Red Wing Union Stoneware Company in 1906[1,2,3,4].
So, stoneware production in Red Wing continued and many wares were produced, but now the businesses were seeing a new type of problem. As time went on, glass products started competing with stoneware to a growing degree. Eventually plastics also introduced new levels of competition that simply didn't exist before. To make business even more difficult, the great expanse of foreign imports into the United States began eating away at the business in ways not seen before. To make matters even worse, the great clay deposits, upon which the stoneware companies relied, were running out, no longer able to support stoneware production, and Red Wing Union Stoneware Company had to start purchasing raw clay for production, greatly increasing expenses.
To compete, the Red Wing Union Stoneware Company started producing fewer stoneware products and breaking into new areas of production. It is this time in which we see the Union start producing more art pottery and, eventually, dinnerware items. In 1936[1,2,3,4], so much of their production was now in these new areas, that the company decided to reorganize and rename themselves as the Red Wing Potteries. After renaming the business, the transition from stoneware to art pottery and dinnerware continued until the stoneware side of the business was completely abandoned by 1947[1,3,4].
For awhile, again, business was good. Through their lifespan, Red Wing Potteries produced over 100 different dinnerware patterns and hundreds of unique art pottery designs. However, the relentless onslaught of foreign imports did not abate, and Red Wing Potteries continued to have difficulties in making profits and inroads to new lines of production. Saddled with factories that were, by this period, very out of date and inefficient, and with growing discontent amongst the employee population, Red Wing Potteries finally went out of business in 1967[1,2,3,4] when an employee strike drew the inevitable decision to conclusion.
Thus ended the pottery industry of Red Wing, or so many had thought. The Red Wing Sewerpipe Company managed to continue on until the mid 1970's[2]. In later years, mimicking the early years of the Red Wing pottery industry, the modern phase, including the contemporary Red Wing Stoneware Company and Red Wing Pottery exhibits small potteries that have opened in Red Wing to again support mostly local markets.
The Red Wing Collectors Society was founded in 1977 and continues today to celebrate and document the Red Wing pottery industry.
The Red Wing Pottery industry has changed much through the course of over 130 years. What will the future hold? We don't know but we're excited to watch it!
For more information on the history of Red Wing, Minnesota, please see the above references or any of the following web pages:
 |
|