FEATURED ARTICLE:
American Potteries by Karen Bradsell
American Potteries
Abingdon Pottery began making art pottery in 1934. Raymond E. Bidwell established it in
Abingdon, Illinois in 1908. It was originally called the Abingdon Sanitary Manufacturing
Company. The factory closed its doors in 1950. Some of the cookie jars made by this
pottery are:
Brown Eyed Susan
Choo-Choo
Humpty Dumpty, Sitting on a Wall
Money Bag, 1947
George Brush established his first pottery in 1907, but unfortunately the pottery was
destroyed by fire less than a year after it was started. He then went to work for J.W.
McCoy in 1909 and assumed many positions during his tenure at that firm. Brush-McCoy
Pottery Co. was started in1911. By 1925, the company changed names only to become The Brush
Pottery. Cookie jar collectors are very fond of the figural jars made by this company.
A. E. Hull Pottery started in Crooksville~Zanesville, Ohio in 1905. The most famous cookie
jar~ Little Red Riding Hood was patented by this company in 1943. Because of the continued
success of this line of items they added figural kitchenware and novelty items. This
pottery closed its doors in 1986.
Nelson McCoy was a third generation potter to work in the Ohio River valley. In 1940, his
firm began to make the pottery lines that are so desirable and collectible today. The
cookie jars of which 200 hundred different ones were made are highly collectible and command
top dollar for the most popular jars.
Regal China was the actual factory that painted The Little Red Riding Hood line. Hull
shipped the whiteware to their factory and they shipped the decorated pieces back to Hull
for distribution.
Redwing Pottery started production in1878 in Red Wing, Minnesota. They also produced cookie
jars. Some of the jars that command high prices are Carousel, Jack Frost, and King of
Tarts; of which there are three variations. They closed their doors in 1967.
The Shawnee Pottery Co., another great American pottery firm, operated out of the
Zanesville, Ohio region. They manufactured a very successful line of whimsical cookie jars
along with salt and pepper shakers, creamers and other dinnerware lines. Louise Bauer of
Little Red Riding Hood fame designed a line of dinnerware called Valencia.
About the Author
This is my third article on Cookie jars. This article focuses on American Potteries, makers of the best cookie jars in the world.