The Home Of The Fiesta Lady: Fiesta, And Homer Laughlin

This is the story as published by Bob and Sharon Huxford, Authors of The Collectors Encyclopedia Of Fiesta. Who are regarded as the most knowledgeable authors of Fiesta writings , other than the Homer Laughlin China Co.

Homer, and Shakespeare Laughlin first founded the pottery and built it in 1871, on the river road that ran along the Ohio River, in Liverpool, Ohio. Before long they had 60 employee's, and a factory equipped with two large kilns, producing over 500 doze pieces of quality white wares per day. In 1879 Shakespeare left the pottery, and for the next 10 years Homer operated the business alone.

In 1889 William Edwin Wells joined Homer. At the end of 1896 the firm incorporated. Not long after that Homer sold his interest in the business to Wells and a Pittsburgh group headed by Marcus Aaron.

Under New Management Mr Aaron became President , and Mr. Wells became the Secretary-Treasure, and General Manager.

As their business grew and sales increased, the small River Road plant was abandoned, and the company moved its location to Laughlin Station, three miles east of East Liverpool. Two large new plants were constructed and a third purchased from another company. By 1903 all were ready for production. A fourth plant was built in 1906 at the Newell, West Virginia, site and began operations in 1907. In 1913 with business still increasing, Plant 5 was added.

The first revolutionary innovation in the pottery industry was the continuous tunnel kiln. In contrast to the old batch-type kilns which were inefficient from a standpoint of both fuel and time, the continuous tunnel kiln provided a giant step toward modern-day mass production. Plant 6, built in 1923, was equipped with this new type kiln and proved so successful that two more such plants were added — Plant 7 in 1927 and Plant 8 in 1929. The old kilns in Plants 4 and 5 were replaced in 1926 and 1934, respectively.

In 1929 the old East Liverpool factories were closed, leaving the entire operation at the Newell, West Virginia, site.

At the height of production, the company grew to a giant concern which employed 2,500 people, produced 30,000 dozen pieces of dinnerware per day, and utilized 1,500,000 square feet of production area. In contrast to the early wares painstakingly hand fashioned in the traditional methods, the style of ware reflected the improved mass-production techniques which had of necessity been utilized in later years. The old-fashioned dipping tubs gave way to the use of high-speed conveyor belts and spray glazing, and mechanical jiggering machines replaced for the most part the older methods of man-powered molding machines.

In 1930 W.E. Wells retired from the business after more than forty years of brilliant leadership, having guided the development and expansion of the company from its humble beginning on the Ohio River to a position of unquestioned leadership in its field. He was succeeded by his son, Joseph Mahan Wells. Mr. Aaron became chairman of the board; his son, M.L. Aaron, succeeded him as president. Under their leadership, in addition to the successful wares already in production, many new developments made possible the production of a wide variety of utilitarian wares including the oven-to-table ware, Oven Serve and Kitchen Kraft. Later, the creation of the beautiful glazes that have become almost synonymous with Homer Laughlin resulted in the production of the colored dinnerware lines which have captured the attention of many collectors today — Fiesta, Harlequin, and Riviera.

On January 1, 1960, Joseph M. Wells became chairman of the board, and his son, Joseph M. Wells, Jr., followed him in the capacity of executive vice president.

Homer Laughlin continues today to be one of the principal dinnerware producers in the world.

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I will be posting more about Fiesta in the near future, so be sure to book mark and come back often.

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The Fiesta Lady