Someone scanned a catalog from 1948: http://www.laurelhollowpark.net/orp/hal ... a1948.html
This doesn't even include their more wild stuff, like the Donut and Football shaped teapots, although it does include The Cube.
I also like that it includes the sizes -- there is a stereotype that Americans have always liked super-sized everything, but that is not really so. There are quite a few 7 ounce and 8 ounce teapots offered. Also the side-handled "Manhattan" teapot, calling back to the former popularity of Japanese teas in the United States.
The Hall China Company and classic American teapot designs
As for what happened to Hall China, you could get many of these models (and sizes) of teapot up until this year; their local Ohio competitor Homer Laughlin bought them out in 2010. However, in 2020 they sold off the bulk of the brand to Steelite, who I imagine will turn it into a zombie. What's left of the Homer Laughlin factory now focuses on selling Fiestaware exclusively, including one 44 ounce teapot: https://fiestafactorydirect.com/pages/our-history
If they kept control of the designs, maybe they will show up again one day, though. (It looks like a few online suppliers still have leftover 10 oz. white Buffet pots, if anyone is curious.)
If they kept control of the designs, maybe they will show up again one day, though. (It looks like a few online suppliers still have leftover 10 oz. white Buffet pots, if anyone is curious.)
The 1938 patent for the Airflow teapot, one of their classic designs. According to his obituary, Leonard Brindley was born in Stoke-on-Trent in England and moved to East Liverpool, Ohio in America in 1914.
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Upton Tea is working with Hall China and Homer Laughlin to produce their teapots. When they first announced the collaboration they did a really interesting historical write up of these companies until the present.
mbanu, I have been enjoying reading your research and discoveries that you have been posting. Thanks.
mbanu, I have been enjoying reading your research and discoveries that you have been posting. Thanks.
Another interesting quirk -- they offered a metal spout tip option not as repair for damage, but on brand new pots that were expected to chip, such as those used in restaurants.
*Edit: Also interesting that the teapot on the right, which was a "Chicago Pot" in 1948, was being sold as a coffee or chocolate pot by the time of this advertisement. The Chicago pot is an interesting one because it is shaped like an Oktoberfest beer stein with a spout; I wonder what the history of that design is?
*Edit: Also interesting that the teapot on the right, which was a "Chicago Pot" in 1948, was being sold as a coffee or chocolate pot by the time of this advertisement. The Chicago pot is an interesting one because it is shaped like an Oktoberfest beer stein with a spout; I wonder what the history of that design is?
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Hall China also did patterned teapots, but most of them were various types of floral pattern. This one is a non-floral, nicknamed "Silhouette". Sadly, I don't know much about the symbolism behind the image. Apparently this was a popular pattern for "store premium" campaigns. This was a practice where a business would offer some item as a reward for buying a certain amount of their main product, usually something that was not available for purchase separately.
Given the Colonial design, maybe it is related to a historically significant meeting-place such as The Green Dragon Tavern in Boston where the Boston Tea Party was planned?
Given the Colonial design, maybe it is related to a historically significant meeting-place such as The Green Dragon Tavern in Boston where the Boston Tea Party was planned?
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Apparently this pattern has another name, "Taverne". It looks like this name may have been invented by Harvey Duke, a Hall China collector who wanted a way to distinguish this pattern from another pattern named Silhouette produced by the Crooksville China Company that had a similar look. Was one a copy of the other, maybe? This is a Crooksville China Silhouette:
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My mother-in-law had a large collection of original Fiestaware. When she went into a nursing home and we cleared out her home, we kept some of the pieces, including a teapot. Because some of the pieces contain radioactive pigments, we keep the remaining pieces on top of our kitchen cabinets to be admired, but not used. We take them down once a year to wash off the dust.
The modern replicas of the original pieces no longer contain radioactive pigments.
The modern replicas of the original pieces no longer contain radioactive pigments.