A Redware Pot Given for Crocks that Are Exchanged in the 1800s

Have you ever considered the idea of an unsatisfied customer who shopped with the utilitarian potters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? What if a crock was defective? What if it leaked? What if it had an interior fracture which was not obviously seen? I have never personally thought of it until recently - but what if a customer was not happy? How did it get resolved? Could they return the crock they bought for a new one? Could they get their money back? Did the potter guarantee their work? Was this even a consideration or were most pots flawless? Did some potter's have a bad reputation for products that were not well made?

A very unusual miniature pot emerged recently in Lynn, Massachusetts. It was manufactured by Hews Pottery of North Cambridge, Massachusetts in the latter years of the nineteenth century. North Cambridge borders Boston. It's about fifteen miles south of Lynn. It appears the pot did not travel far over its more than a hundred and forty year lifespan.

 Miniature Gift Box with Redware Present Inside

Made at Hews Pottery - North Cambridge, Ma

Made After 1870

Box Probably Not Made at Hews Pottery
Probably Made Somewhere Local

Hews Pottery in North Cambridge was a company that had adapted to the Industrial Revolution. Its workforce was large. The company had originally begun in Weston, Massachusetts as a small farming-type business producing typical utilitarian earthenware. However, the industry's demands forced Hews Pottery to alter its business model into a company that adapted with the Industrial Revolution. The business moved to Cambridge and began mass producing earthenware. The wares made in Weston are considered the most rare today. Cambridge forms are still considered rare, but not as much as those manufactured in Weston. The forms in Cambridge showed a major emphasis towards molded wares - while in Weston, all earthenware was hand turned. Hews Pottery is most-known for its line of floral wares, but redware jugs, milk pans, crocks and related forms were also made. The floral line really expanded in North Cambridge. The wares in Weston were more traditional earthenware forms of the period.

 Molded Hanging Flower Pot

Hews Pottery - North Cambridge, Ma

Made After 1870

 Original Chain Used to Hang the Flower Pot

 Shallow Green and Black Flower Pot

Probably Molded

Made in North Cambridge,Ma

Produced After 1870

 Flower Pot was Painted on Top of Red Clay

Rare HEWS Pottery Stamp

The jar found in Lynn gave a very unusual message. From the moment I saw it - I wondered what the purpose of the painted words were intended for. Was it the obvious?

Take a look.

 "Many Happy Returns of This Day"
Saying Painted Across the Rim of Jar

 Floral Scene with a Painted Horse Shoe

 Diminutive Handle with a Painted Floral Scene

Very Nice Form

It reads across the rim, "Many Happy Returns of this Day." I have never previously thought about it, but I wonder when the idea of returned merchandise began. I really don't have an exact answer, but it likely grew with the Industrial Revolution. The idea of mass production may have expanded unsatisfied customers. The only reason I can come up with for this jar - is it was a means to increase customer satisfaction when a product was returned. They were given this small token as a way to keep positive relations with customers. Its really a side of the potters industry that I have never previously considered. It's more than only the potter's industry, too. All industries grew with the Industrial Revolution. Industries really grew from handmade products made in lesser amounts to industry settings inside factory-type buildings. 

Customer satisfaction probably became a concern as companies tried to compete. This small little jar may represent a product line created to keep customer satisfaction after an unpleasant buying experience. 

But I must ask - why is it in the form of a chamber pot? 

Or is it a stylized bean pot? The rim makes it appear as a chamber pot. Either way - the painted floral decoration is original, simple- but very-well done. I have never previously seen anything like this before I found it. I have never seen anything like it since. It's very interesting to see. It really does show the transformation the potter's business took from a small shop setup into a factory atmosphere. A small potter's business most likely could not have afforded to make gift-type products to hand out to customers, but a large enterprise employing more than a hundred workers could. I wonder if there was a bin full of these boxes with little toy miniature figures laying around for customers who returned products. Its fascinating to understand how the atmosphere may have appeared that required the use of such a product.

My interpretation is the jar was given to customers who returned a product; however, there may be other interpretations, too. At the least, its an interesting thought - don't you think? A small redware product given for a much larger one that was returned - I would never have considered that. Very interesting.

Much More to Come...