Be warned. Collecting McCoy pottery is addicting. With hundreds of designs in a plethora of
colors to choose from, you may find yourself adding shelf space to display your
finds. McCoy is fun, affordable, and fairly
easy to find as you get started.
McCoy began in America’s heartland—Muskingum
County, Ohio. Ohio is also home to
Shawnee, Hull, Weller, and Roseville, all popular with collectors, but McCoy
became the country’s largest pottery manufacturer, making more product than all
the other companies combined.
Today, you
can find the pottery at a variety of places from yard sales to antique stores,
many for less than $10. The McCoy family
began producing their pottery in the late 19th century and continued
for four generations. Their first pieces
were functional—crocks and cookware for everyday use. In the 1930s and 40s, McCoy introduced vases,
cachepots, and novelty shapes like animals and fish for flowers and
plants.
After WWII ended, McCoy’s
popularity soared, and the company developed hundreds of new styles to meet
public demand. At that time, the pottery
was sold in five-and-dime stores. The
massive volume of production then is why pieces are still readily available today.
Each design and line had names such
as Blossom Time and Hobnail. Collectors
could mix and match patterns in different styles—such as a pitcher that matched
a flowerpot. The colors used were in
line with midcentury tastes: glazed turquoise,
pink, yellow, and green.
Today,
collectors have the choice of specializing in certain colors, styles, or
decades. “Lunch hour” pieces are
intriguing to most collectors; they were painted by McCoy employees on their
lunch hours in colors that didn’t match the rest of the collections the company
put out, so one may find unexpected designs in one-of-a-kind colors.
Be sure to look for the McCoy mark
on the bottom of pieces. There are
copycat pottery company products that may fool you, but as your collection
grows, your eye will become trained to recognize the distinctive glaze and
color of McCoy.
Dedicated collectors
have formed the McCoy Pottery Collectors’ Society that puts out a quarterly journal
for members. Every July a week long
Pottery Lovers Reunion is held in Zanesville, Ohio where people come to buy,
sell, look, learn, and trade stories.
Some collectors have amassed hundreds and even thousands of pieces.
This spring, a great piece to start
your McCoy collection with is the simple flowerpot. Imagine some violets in a bright colored pot
on your windowsill, and the hunt will begin!
Source: “McCoy Pottery,” Country Gardens, Early Spring 2014, pp. 68-73.
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