I had my monthly massage yesterday. While I LOVE massages, I don’t like appointments. Ha! But they are a must for me. My shoulders and back muscles will get so tense, which in turn give me terrible headaches. Headaches that are so bad that I have shooting nerve pain into my head. It has actually woken me up in the night and it’s so awful. So I never miss. All that to say, I decided while I was in town yesterday that I needed to go to the thrift stores. I used to stop at the thrift stores every single time I went to town. But, I haven’t been doing that recently because I never find anything anymore. But, something was telling me I needed to go. Here is a small antique haul that I found yesterday.
I was actually recording my entire visit to the thrift store so that I could create some content for social media.
I had absolutely no idea that I would find four pieces to add to my Watt Apple Pottery collection. My collection started YEARS ago when we still lived at our old house in town. A friend text me about a garage sale that was getting ready to close but they had a ton of antique pottery left. So I hopped in the car on a Saturday afternoon to go see what they had. Oh.. My.. Gosh. The person having the garage sale was an auctioneer who had access to lots of things people didn’t want. I came home with a TON of things to add to all of my collections that day. Most of his pieces were marked $5 and under.. including several Watts Apple Pottery pieces. That day was the start of a new collection. Ha!
I love the base color of the creamy gold and the apple design. Watts Pottery made some with a flower pattern, too. Which I have a few pieces of that, as well. I really didn’t know any history of the Watts Apple Pattern and did a quick search to find out some fun facts.
The Watt Pottery started in 1922 in Perry County, Ohio. It was started on the site of an old pottery factory, and remained in business from 1922 to 1965 when the factory was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt.
At the beginning, they manufactured stoneware crocks, butter churns, preserve jars and jugs. These were marked with an eagle or an acorn stamped in blue with the size marked in a circle. The company finally dropped the stoneware line in favor of a more modern oven ware, as the market decreased for the churns and other pottery as it was slowly going out of use. The earliest of these oven wares were not well defined and identified.
In the late forties, the pottery was focused on the kitchen ware glazed in solid colors with patterns called moon and stars, arcs, loops and diamond and grooves. All of these names were given by collectors and not the company.
The items were marked in the forties “MADE IN THE U.S.A.” or “OVEN WARE” or they were marked with the bowl size. Most pieces of Watt ware are well marked. The marks are large, often covering the entire bottom of the piece. They usually consist of one or more concentric rings deeply impressed into the bottom. The words, “Watt” and “Oven Ware U.S.A.” are impressed as well, although some pieces have only one phrase and not both. Classic Patterns often feature a script “Watt” with no circles. Most pieces also have the mold number impressed in the center, making identification easy. The pieces which were not marked are the ice bucket (all patterns), and the Apple dinner plates.
In 1949, the Watt Pottery began hand decorating its wares. The patterns are simple in nature, with as few brush strokes as possible to allow low production costs. Teams of three decorators designed these pieces. The bright colors against the deep cream clay give Watt Pottery its unique country appeal. The first hand decorated patterns are called the Classic Patterns and were produced from 1949 until about 1953.
They are: Rio Rose, Moonflower, Dogwood, White Daisy, and Cross-Hatch.
The hand decorated patterns favored by today’s collectors and their introduction dates are as follows:
Starflower – 1951
Apple – 1952
Cherry – 1952
Silhouette – 1953
Rooster – 1955
Dutch Tulip – 1956
American Red Bud (Tear Drop) – 1957
Morning Glory – 1958
Autumn Foliage – 1959
Double Apple – 1959
Tulip – 1961
The last new pattern was the Kathy Kale Royal Dutch pattern introduced just before the fire in 1965 that destroyed the manufacturing plan. Only a few pieces were manufactured and they were sold through Kroger’s. The pottery had close to a hundred patterns and over four hundred molds during their time of producing pottery.
I bet you will now notice them when you see them as you are out and about. Some day soon, I will share my entire collection with you as I don’t think I ever have.
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There is a similar line in the South called Blue Ridge.
Oh yes, I know exactly what you are talking about! In researching my own pieces, I discovered some of the other options out there, as well.
Love this history! Thanks for sharing.....I will be on the look out now for these!!!
How much did you spend on the pottery. I like to know the deals people get on thrifted items 😁
OMG.. only $8.99 each
I paid $8.99 for each piece.
Thank you Danielle, This was interesting, I love pottery as well although I’ve never heard of Watts. Beautiful pieces! I’m in Northern California and I’ve never seen these but if I ever run into the dinner dishes, I’ll let you know! Thanks for sharing.
Today I slowed down enough to read your blog. Often I have to rush through and speed read. I am trying to slow down. Love the thrift store finds and the the of Watt pottery.
Slowing down and enjoying the moment is a great goal for the new year! It is seriously so hard to do in our fast-paced lives.
Fantastic. When I lived in LA I saw a lot of Franciscan California Pottery. It was a standard way back ...post war. The apple design is very similar to the Watt. So charming. I started to collect Haeger because I inherited a piece from my grandmother. I love the creamy colour and now I have 6 pieces which go well with my English Beswick and California Poppytrail. It makes for a really nice display.
I love that you got your first Haegar piece from your grandmother! That gives that much more meaning to your collection.
I love seeing your thrift store finds. I am always looking for pottery an our local Thrift Stores. Prices have gone up a lot in the last few years. I enjoy watching you and Deb each week. Thank you for sharing.
Yes, I am sometimes shocked at how pricey some things can be at the thrift store. I get taken by surprise on occasion.
Thank you for sharing your awesome finds. I lived in Crooksville , Ohio where Watt Pottery was located. My husband was an electrical contractor and did the electrical work for Watt and most of the other potteries. The annual pottery conventions were wonderful to see all the pottery displays. There is a pottery museum there also worth a visit if you are in the area. I hope you find the matching plates also.
Wow, that is awesome to be a part of that!
I’ve been collecting Watt apple for 40 years. I remember only paying a couple of dollars for each piece. Then Country Living had an article that showed the apple pottery. Prices went waaaay up! Nowadays, you can find deals like you did. My favorite pieces are the mugs.
I collect Watt Apple as well. My granddaughter and I found a small apple pitcher with advertisement at our nearby Webster Flea here in Florida. It was $2! Your find is so great!!
Oh my gosh.. that's an excellent price. I think I have one with an advertisement on it too.