Who was WS George Shaw?

Answer 1

The (William SHAW) George's family were pottery makers. He started as a pottery salesman and then went into production buying the East Palestine Pottery Company (EPPC--sometimes EPP Co) a bit after the turn of the century. The EPPC operated making what was called "utilityware" from about 1850. (Utilityware china and pottery includes wash pitchers and bowls for bedrooms and restaurant and hotel dishes. The company expanded in a big way and were operating several plants (in two states) before they went under. Dinnerware became their big sales item.

The W.S. George Company was one of the largest pottery manufacturers in the U.S.--at one point, the largest. Due to labor problems, cheap china import from the Far East, and a shift to plastic dinnerware, the WS George Pottery company went bankrupt in the early 1960s. The name was purchased by a nearby pottery company and the group attempted to reorganize to stay in operation. Many pottery and china companies went bankrupt during this period, and many went under during the decade before. It was a bad time for pottery in the U.S.

Check out Pamela Gray's Ohio Valley Pottery Towns (Arcadia Publications) for more details about this company and images from the early sales catalogs.

Hope this helps!

Cheesy way to sell ads. Why don't you pay authors, like everyone else? I thought this was a homework question.