The Official Web Site of the

Dedicated to the Service of McCoy Pottery Collectors Everywhere!!

Return to Home Page

Articles About McCoy Pottery Article Archives

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS RARE PRODUCTION PIECE OF McCOY?
By Craig Nissen

It may be simple in design, but this Flower Holder Planter is not short on desirability for any McCoy Pottery collector that likes the early 1940’s era of McCoy Pottery collecting! This is the only example I have personally seen of this production piece. However, that may be simply because it is not well known, and because it is not marked McCoy for easy identification. This just may mean there are some examples out there, waiting to be discovered!

The Planter, which I think looks more like a “Canoe” in shape, is described as a No.K-25, Flower Holder, on the catalog page. The “Canoe” Planter is just over 7-inches long, and 2-inches wide. The tip of the highest point on one end is about 2 1/8-inches tall. The second photo of the Flower Holder is included with the well-known Heart Vase from the same era to help provide a good perspective of size.

Pictured in the third photo is the bottom of the piece showing the “USA” marking. If you look at the following catalog page, you can see the Flower Holder “Canoe” Planter included on this page from a 1941 catalog. What adds additional interest is that a November 1941 issue of the 1941 pricing pages, does not include this “K-25” Flower Holder Planter. This would seem to add additional support to the puzzle of why this seems to be such a scarce, production piece. A likely scenario is that it was released in 1941, but did not sell well. As a result, it was dropped from the line later in the year as supported by the lack of its inclusion in the November 1941 pricing.

This particular example of the K-25 Flower Holder Planter, has the production, gloss aqua glaze coloring. It is likely the Planter was also made in the variety of other glaze colors as were the other three Flower Holders pictured next to it on the catalog page. None of them are easy finds either, but I think this “Canoe” Flower Holder is by far the scarcest of the Group!

I hope this information was a bit fun as well as helpful for you, and that just maybe, you might find one yourself in your hunting for McCoy!! Good Luck!

PLANTING DISHES

CANDLEHOLDERS AND ORNAMENTAL LAMPS
By Ima Potts

During the early 1970’s, when the Nelson McCoy Pottery (NMP) was a subsidiary of the Mount Clemens Pottery (MCP), the pottery introduced an array of new type articles. One of these new items was candleholders. Although from time to time over the years Nelson McCoy had issued some candleholders, but there were not very many. The MCP however, issued many styles at one time. For example, in 1971 there were 15 different styles, in three or four different colors.

In the mid-1970’s, after the Lancaster Colony Corporation (LCC) had purchased the Nelson McCoy Pottery, the LCC continued the practice and produced a wide assortment of them, but now they were called “Ornamental Lamps”. Most of the ornamental lamps the LCC produced featured glass globes, as shown on the Journal front and rear covers.

The LCC featured ornamental lamps for a year or two, but a large-scale production of them did not last. Following the purchase of the pottery by Designer Accents in 1985, ornamental lamp production was resumed. Although many of the lamps Nelson McCoy Ceramics (NMC), the pottery name assigned by the new owner, produced used previously existing molds, different decals were applied, and different colors were used. A selection of NMC lamps is given below and on the following page.

Due to the relatively small number produced, none of the candleholders or lamps shown here are easy to find. However, they would all make a fine specialty collection, don’t you think?

HOW I CAME TO LOVE MCCOY POTTERY
By Ruthann Chapin

I’m a little intimidated in writing my story, as there are so many of you that are so much more knowledgeable than I could ever hope to be. However, here is my story.

My love of McCoy, and other pottery, was by accident. It is something that crept up on me like a thief in the night. Before I knew it I was, as my dear husband says, obsessed.

My husband and I love gardening and we spend many a spring and summer afternoon planting, weeding, mowing, and general yard work. Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, etc. is where I used to purchase all my planters. Then I discovered eBay, but best of all I discovered "pottery", what I call the good stuff! No more imported junk for me.

Unexpectedly one day my beloved Mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. It soon became impossible to leave her alone. During this period, I had to make decisions that affected us financially. Refusing to put mother in a nursing home, I became her full-time caregiver. In an attempt to bring in a few dollars here and there, I began selling on eBay, which led me to visit garage sales, estate sales, and a few auctions. My activities yielded a little additional money, and planters galore of all colors, sizes, and makes. I soon had a vase here, a planter there, and both everywhere. In turn, this led me to wonder, "What do these letters, numbers, and other marks mean on the underside of them".

I started out knowing absolutely nothing about pottery, but thank goodness for the Internet. I soon began to identify a few of them, but I am still in the learning process, and, I guess, I will be for a very long time. As my knowledge grew I auctioned more and more on eBay, and I did okay, but my heart was not in auctioning. I knew I had discovered my niche’, although now I had a dilemma.

What in the world was I going to do with all of the vases, planters, and whatever that I was accumulating? We had moved into an old house, and had been slowly making progress with renovations and updating. I had decided to keep the cornices (window treatments), and it dawned upon me that this would be a perfect setting for my cherished planters - so viola, that problem was solved for what now just seems like a minute. To make a long story short I have planters and vases everywhere. They line my steps going upstairs; they are in and on cabinets, shelves, and anywhere else that I can fit them. However, as I have said, I do not have a handle on the identity of all of them yet. I know who made some of them, but there are others that I do not have a clue. Nevertheless, it does not matter - I love them all.

With most of the space in my house taken, I developed a new policy. From time to time, especially during the summer months, I decide what I want to keep and what to auction. I procrastinate with these decisions, and each piece I give up makes me a little sad, but I have to let go.

This is not the only thing that makes me sad. With my three cats, and my little Beagle girl, accidents happen. I truly hate having a piece of history destroyed by their antics, but it does happen. I keep the shards and I am designing a mosaic tabletop that I hope to get started on this spring. Once these accidents started taking place was when I realized it was time to downsize.

As a seller on eBay, I believe it is important to correctly identify the items you are selling. Even with my limited knowledge, I see seller’s list items as being made by McCoy that even I knew were improperly identified. I have even emailed a few sellers to let them know their item was not made by McCoy, and have been both ignored, and thanked for taking the time to contact them. It seems everyone wants their pottery to be made by McCoy, Haeger, Roseville, or other noted pottery manufacturer.

One little example I can give is about my infamous Chick-A-Dee pitcher. I had it for a while, trying to identify its origin. On and off, I checked the eBay listings, and other online sites. Finally, I found one listed on eBay, and it was identified as being a McCoy. I contacted the seller to see if they would share with me how they made this determination, but they never responded to me. A little later I decided that I was going to sell it. I was getting ready to list this little pitcher, when I received my first McCoy Journal. My little Chick-A-Dee pitcher was right there, listed in the "fakes" section. I was so appreciative that I had not listed this little creamer as a McCoy. I decided that I’d keep the little Chick-A-Dee, as I think it is sort of nice to own a known McCoy fake or misidentified McCoy.

My favorite McCoy piece is the brown with gold trimmed squirrel planter. Mr. Squirrel has a job. He sits and watches over my indoor plants and greenery, and I will probably keep him forever. Another favorite is my blue Harmony vase. I also have a little yellow, basket-weave planter that was my first McCoy piece. This one will always be with me too. I look around and know that even though I have pottery from lots of manufacturers, my McCoy will always hold a special place in my heart.

MY PINK POPPY STORY
By Lynn Broussard

I just wanted to share a very nice story with the Society. I live in Louisiana, and my sisters and I are avid McCoy collectors. A few weeks ago, we went to one of our regular antique spots here in New Orleans, and to our surprise, the shop had a McCoy Poppy.

The most shocking part about this was the selling price. The poppy is in mint condition; all the colors are bright and vibrant. The sale price was $50.00! So, with out thinking any more about it, my sister snapped it up. When she got to the counter, as all serious collectors do, she asked if $50.00 was the rock bottom price! The sales person thought for a minute, and then she said she would take $10.00 off! Long story short, my sister got a mint, Pink Poppy planter for $43.00 including tax! My other sister and I are so jealous, but we both had to admit, what a find!

UNCOMMON NELSON McCOY PIECES

The Cereal Bowl shown here is ivory, with brown flecks, and has a pattern of swirls around the lip that is in alternating colors of turquoise and brown. The bowl has diameter of 5½-inches and is two inches tall. It is marked “McCoy U.S.A.” This flecked bowl was first produced without decorations in 1958.

To the left is a round planter with a 7-inch diameter. It is 5-inches tall. The name of the decal pattern is Red Antique Rose. The planter is marked with a “McCoy U.S.A.”

The mixing bowl shown here has a golden brown glaze with a lighter, golden colored foamy band around the lip. The bowl has an 8-inch diameter and is 4½ - inches tall. The bottom is marked “McCoy U.S.A. Oven Proof”. This bowl was first issued in different colors in 1957, and it has been re-issued many times in different colors since then.

The 22 ounce pitcher shown to the left is style number 150. It was produced for a number of years, but it was first issued in 1955. It came in three sizes, 22 oz, 48 oz, and 64 oz. The colors were red, green, or brown, all with a frosty white over-drip. The pitcher has an embossed “McCoy USA” mark.

Here is a common Nelson McCoy mug with an unusual decoration. This shape mug was first issued in 1977 in the Canyon Line of kitchenware. Obviously the mug to the right was made under contract, possibly to the name on the decal. The decal reads, “UKRAINE Crafts The Pier St. Petersburg, FLA.”

A NON-PRODUCTION QUADRUPLE BULB BOWL
Reported by B. J. Steins

Collectors of Nelson McCoy pottery are familiar with a piece called the Triple Bulb Bowl. Well, recently surfaced is this non-production, Quadruple Bulb Bowl.

The quadruple bowl is 11-inches long, nine inches wide, and five inches tall. It found in a farmhouse in Alamance County, North Carolina .

The four-colored bowl begins with dark green near the base, merging to a pale green, then to a creamy white, and finally to a pale pink at the top.

The bowl has four feet, and on bottom of three of them, there are worker notations scratched into the bisque. On one foot there is “111U”, another has “640 pink”, and on the third foot there is “tpot green”. In the center of the bowl bottom is an embossed McCoy, with a perpendicular USA.

For some reason a decision was made not to produce the quadruple bulb bowl, but produce a triangular version instead. Apparently, the quad bowl was a forerunner to the 1950’s Triple Bulb Bowl.

So, from the way things look, we all need to remain on our toes while shopping, because it is clear that everything that the McCoy pottery made has not been found yet.

ONE DAY AT THE ALEXANDER HOUSE
By Ed Alexander

Recently, I was just having a “nothing special day”, when suddenly, my phone rings. I answered it saying “Hello”, and here is what came next.

“Hello Ed?”

“Yes.”

“This is Nelson McCoy - I’m from Ohio and used to own the…”

“For goodness sake Nelson, I know exactly who you are - I’m just trying to catch my breath and formulate some words to speak to you.”

I was shocked. The “Man”, Nelson McCoy, was actually calling me! It was lunchtime and the restaurant was a bit noisy, and not recognizing the area code, I went outside to take the call. One can only imagine. I have only been collecting McCoy pottery for about 10 years, and at the beginning, I thought the one book that I had found in a bookstore was all that there was. Well, that was wrong.

If you collect McCoy pottery I swear I believe it multiplies inside the covers of the collector books. I see something different every time I peruse the pages, or get one of our collector periodicals. It is amazing. In addition, I am way out of space (sound familiar?).

However, I digress.

Nelson told me that he and Billie were in Wilmington visiting their daughter, and he had received my phone number from the collector of all collectors, Chiquita Prestwood, a name that I had seen in books so many times in my first efforts to find McCoy.

We talked for a little bit, and then I found out that Nelson and Billie actually wanted to come by and visit with Tony and me at our home. I was totally beside myself. It was as if a rock star was coming by. I guessed that my collection must have reached their ears. Why, after seeing all the McCoy ever made, would they really want to see my stuff while they were on vacation of all things?

Anyway, they came by and the two hours of looking and visiting went by so quickly, actually too quickly for me. After they left, and after I had reflected on all the conversation, and after it seemed that they looked at my entire collection piece by piece, I realized that Nelson and Billie do so much for all of us. They are genuinely interested in what we do as collectors. They promote what we do by calling on collectors. They are real people, warm and friendly.

As they were leaving, Nelson said, “Billie and I hope you and Tony will call on us the next time you are in Ohio.”

“Nelson and Billie, you can count on it”

“Thanks for dropping by.”

In telling you the story of what happened one day at my house, I wanted to include a few snapshots that were taken during the visit of the Daddy and Momma of the pottery I love to collect.

The following snapshots have become an important part of my McCoy collection, and they are a special memento of a special visit by two special people.