THE ROYAL CHINA COMPANY

The Royal China Company, for over 50 years, provided stylish, elegant and affordable dinner ware to America. Unfortunately, like many companies and industries in the 1980’s, it succumbed to foreign competition. I worked at the Royal China on and off for about 8 years during the summers and holidays while in high school and college. It helped me to develop a solid work ethic and provided me with money for school. This is a brief history of the special place that provided good jobs and employment to the community of Sebring, OH.

The Royal China started in 1934 in Sebring, OH  and operated until 1986 when it closed its doors. The original owners were Beatrice L. Miller, William Habenstreit, and John Briggs. It occupied the space of the old E. H. Sebring China Co. which was the successor to the Oliver China Co. According to the Sebring Historical Society (www.sebringhistoricalsociety.org/RoyalChina.html) the company was started with just $500, six months free rent, and employees working without pay. If you recall this was the heart of the depression and not the most opportune time to start a business. They offered work to anyone who was willing to work without pay until the pottery got off its feet. After 6 months, they employed 125 people and had produced 7,800,000 pieces of pottery.

During the early years, the Royal China produced mainly inexpensive dishes that were sold in Dime Stores and given away as premiums and souvenirs in grocery stores and gas stations. The colorful patterns and styles caught on quickly and soon they were up and running. Their most popular pattern during this time was “Blue Willow”, a pattern they made throughout their existence. Even though it was depression, the early success allowed them to replace all the old kilns with modern ones within four years. No small accomplishment.

In 1943, the plant was converted to produce china and porcelain. They mad over glazed decal ware. In 1948, Kenneth Doyle a former printer, invented the under glaze stamping machine which revolutionized the industry. This enabled the application of under glaze colors in very intricate patterns and designs directly on to the unglazed ware rather then onto paper transfers. They started using the process on the “Blue Willow” pattern which resulted in the Royal China becoming the largest producer of Willow Ware in the industry.

In 1949 or 1950, The Royal introduced a new line called “Currier & Ives” (C&I). It was to prove to be their most popular pattern. These patterns of Americana were an instant success. The pattern was sold in department stores and given away as premiums at the A & P, The patter was discontinued in 1986 with the closing of the Royal. The pieces featured a scroll work border designed by Gordon Parker who was the Royals Art Director. (http://weeklyview.net/2013/11/21/currier-and-ives-china-americana-for-your-table)

Also around this time the Royal introduced additional patterns that were to prove to be very popular through the years. These patterns included “The Old Curiosity Shop”, “Memory Lane” and Colonial Homestead”. These patterns were also made in various colors including pink, brown and green, as well as blue. The Royal produced over 1000 various patterns through the years managing to stay abreast of the trends and styles of the country at large. But these referenced patterns were clearly the most popular and enduring of all the patterns.

In 1955, the Royal bought the W.S George Pottery in East Palestine, OH. It had gone bankrupt and the Royal purchased it and operated it as The Royal China Incorporated, East Palestine Division. In 1960, the Royal liquidated the holdings and closed the door on the old W.S. George Pottery. They had produced hotel ware, toilet ware, and several patterns of dinnerware.

In 1964 the Royal purchased the French Saxon China Co. which was located adjacent to the Royal in Sebring, OH. It was operated as a stand alone subsidiary operation until 1970 at which time it became the center of operations for the Royal. The French China Co., started in 1898 later becoming the French Saxon.

In 1969, B.L. Miller retired. She had owned the Royal for all those years and was now stepping down. The Royal was sold to Jeanette Glass in Jeanette, PA who bought not only the Royal, but also Harker’s China. This was the beginning of numerous changes in ownership through the remaining years.

The most traumatic event in the history of the Royal was the February 1970 fire which destroyed the entire plant. The cause of the fire was undetermined and litigation between the Royal and their insurer Travelers dragged on for many years. I remember the fire like it was yesterday. Many of the records were destroyed. I remember removing boxes of records from the office during the file but what was saved clearly were few considering the vast amounts of records generated through the decades. There were no computers and everything was stored in the original hard copy form. At the time of the fire, the Royal employed 700 people and had the most modern equipment in the industry. This was its high point. It was after the fire the center of operation was moved to the French Saxon which then became the Royal China Co. At this time they were the third largest  dinnerware manufacturer in the United States.

In 1976, The coca Cola Bottling Company of New York purchased Jeanette Glass and therefore, also the Royal. They in turn sold the Royal to a group of Boston investors called the J Corporation in 1981 who in turn sold it to Nordic Capital of New York in 1984. In 1986, the company ceased operation and all their equipment and assets sold. (www.kandmantiques.com/article/RoyalChinaCompany.html)

The Royal was a union shop and part of the AFL-CIO. The individual union affiliation changed through the years from the International Brotherhood of Operative Potters to the International Brotherhood of Potters and Allied Workers. There were two locals at the Royal Local 44 was comprised of the clay shop where they mixed the clay, manufactured and poured the molds; and Local 59 which represented the rest of the operation. My father was the President of Local 59 for many years through the 60’s and 70’s. The history of these Locals would make some interesting reading in and of itself. I still have all my father’s old papers and this may be a future project.

The pieces produced by the Royal are now collector’s items and becoming harder to find. I have a set of Currier & Ives which I treasure. There are also clubs dedicated to the Royal and its various patterns such as Old Homestead and C & I. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. For me, it was a trip down memory lane and I appreciate you allowing me to do this.   

Technology

We have certainly come a long way since the days of smoke signals and carrier pigeons. In spite of that, I'm not sure about the reliability of our technology. Maybe it's just me that lacks reliability. When growing up, everyone had rotary land phones. There was no such thing as cell phones. In fact, the invention of the princess phone was a big deal even though it was rotary initially also. The one thing I do remember is that we never dropped any calls, the sound quality was always good and consistent, and it was easy to avoid calls by just taking the phone off the hook.

Phones now are smart. But, sound quality is not always good. You can't always connect. And calls are still dropped at an alarming rate. But this is progress. My cell phone is a lot like me actually, it's dumb. Sure it can text and take pictures, I just haven't figured out how to do it. And you know what, I'm no poorer off for it. My phone is more of an electronic leash than a communications device. Only a handful of people have the number and other than my wife, no one calls it. They know that I may not hear it if it is on, or more likely it will be off. Who really needs it. So much for phones.

Let's go to television, music, stereos, etc. I used to love the old days with LP's and stereos. First, vinyl LP's when they are first played sound so rich and full, Unlike CD's. I acknowledge that after about 10 plays, the vinyl LP's don't sound as good as they originally did. The CD's always sound the same. No deterioration. Unfortunately LP's are obsolete now. (I know they are making a small come back and there are audiophiles who will always treasure them.) How ironic that the CD, which replaced them, is also becoming extinct. Giving was to streaming music and downloaded music. Not sure what streaming music is. Anyways, it seems like a lost for our culture.

Stereos used to be the thing. A good stereo with a pair of three way or four way speakers, the bigger the better, was what it meant to be cool. They were easy to set up. Only two speakers to connect, a turntable, the receiver, maybe a preamp, and you were good to go. I just bought a 5.1 receiver for our living room. Our living room is kind of funky shaped and for true surround sound, I would need to run yards of speaker wire around the room. We have a 20 foot cathedral ceiling and an open floor plan so essentially I have only two walls and an island where the fireplace is and the television mounted above it.  I have some speakers from an old pioneer home entertainment system from years ago. I thought it was hip but no HDMI, HD or any other such thing. I bought the receiver with plans to use the speakers from the old system. Unfortunately, the sub woofer is not powered and so won't work with this receiver. While the speakers might work, they are to big for the space and not capable of being mounted. Hence, I guess I need to buy a new set of speakers.

Now let me talk about Blu-ray players. Great picture with my LG LED TV. Unfortunately, it is always freezing up. My friend said I lacked sufficient bandwith to run the streaming of Netflix, etc., and that is why it's freezing up. OK, I can buy that but it also freezes when were playing Blu-rays or DVDs. So much for that theory. Do you know how annoying it is to have to unplug the player, wait for a minute, plug it back in and hope it works? Sometimes, you have to repeat the process several times. (Reminds me of shampoo instructions in the old days. Wash, rinse and repeat.) VHS players had problems too such as when the machine would eat the tape. For some reason, that didn't seem quite as bad. DVDs and Blu-rays are going obsolete too as streaming movies and shows is the way to go now. That is fine as long as the equipment performs as advertised, which is not always a sure bet.

Anyway, enough of my gripes for now. Some how writing about it eases my frustration. Thanks for reading this and if you have any horror technology stories, I would love to hear them.