A Recently Discovered Trade Card from the Goodwin Brothers Pottery in Elmwood, West Hartford, Connecticut

This is a late nineteenth century trade card that was recently discovered in a large ephemera dealer's inventory in Dover, Delaware, circa 1870s-1890s. The trade card is from the Goodwin Brothers Pottery in the Elmwood section of West Hartford, Connecticut. 

Furthermore, decorative artware is not something that the Goodwin family is widely known for today, although it was a major aspect of this company's production during the 1870s-1890s. In fact, both the West Hartford Historical Society and the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford own some of this type of production in their collections, whereas this was just in many ways a continuation of a business that was originally established by Seth Goodwin (1772-1828) in the 1790s.

According to the West Hartford Historical Society, ""Early on, grist saw, and carding mills along with blacksmith shops, tanneries and general stores emerged around the (West Hartford) community to support and help drive agriculture. One of the first major industries to arise centered on the pottery and brick works. Extending from Hartford to Berlin is a sizable deposit of fine clay. In 1770, Ebenezer Faxon came from Massachusetts and settled in what would become the Elmwood section of West Hartford. There he established a pottery on South Road (what is today New Britain Avenue) which took advantage of the local geographical landscape. It was Seth Goodwin, however, who helped to establish a pottery dynasty. Goodwin started his pottery works around 1798. For over a hundred years, the Goodwin name would be associated with West Hartford Pottery. Producing utilitarian items such as jugs for the gin manufactured in local distilleries, to terra cotta designs and fine china, the Goodwin Company employed up to 75 people in its heyday. The Goodwin Brothers Pottery Company (as it came to be known) burned for the third time in 1908 and never recovered."

For more information - see the sixth installment in my pottery book series published by Historic Beverly in Massachusetts, titled, A City on the River: The Early Red Earthenware of the Hartford, Connecticut Area: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-city-on-the-river-the-early-red-earthenware-of-the-hartford-connecticut-area/.

Recently Discovered Trade Card from the Goodwin Brothers Pottery

Trade Card from the Goodwin Brothers Pottery in Elmwood, West Hartford, Connecticut

Circa 1870s-1890s

Recently Found in Dover, Delaware

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A View of the Back of the Card

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