Mary Jane Colter, an architect ahead of her time, not only designed buildings for the Fred Harvey Company–as covered in the previous blogpost–but also many of the interior decorations of her buildings right down to, and including, the tableware. For those of you not familiar with the Fred Harvey Company, they provided hospitality services (hotels & restaurants) and grew up along with the trains as they crossed the American West. La Posada, in Williams AZ, also designed by Mary Jane Colter, was the southern terminus of the rail link that ended on the rim of the Grand Canyon where the El Tovar (designed by Charles Whittlesey) greets the park visitor. Back in the glory days of the NPS, this company did it right, providing accommodation services worthy of five stars. Other parks had similar agreements with other concessionaires: the Curry Company in Yosemite, and the Hamilton Stores in Yellowstone. Often overlooked is Mary Jane Colter (1869-1958). During my recent stay at the El Tovar, I had a wonderful dinner served on this tableware. And they are sold in the gift-store–no rubber tomahawks there! I had to get a set……..
After my return to Tucson, I visited the HF Coors Company which produces this set and many others. What makes this stand apart, besides the exquisite design, is the quality. This tableware is hydraulically pressed into a very dense clay material that is fired in a very slow 24 hour cycle. First, a little history.
Adolf Coors–yes, the beer guy–couldn’t sell beer without glass bottles so he established the Colorado Glass Works in 1887. In 1910 John Herold leased the factory introducing porcelain plates–Herold’s China and Pottery Company. In 1914, Coors acquired this business as well. It was Adolph’s son H. F. Coors, in 1925, that developed the HF Coors brand of restaurant quality high fashion tableware. Coors tableware is 100% American made, producing millions of table items around the nation today. One of these brands is the Fred Harvey pattern “Membreña in the maroon color. I had to have a set for my Adobe winter home–it’s getting tedious eating off paper plates. It’s off to the factory to see how these are made. An hour-and-a-half tour costs $10 and is worth every penny–plus you get 10% off any purchases. Let’s go!
Clay glazes & tints. The various plates are pretty standardized–it’s the patterns that vary. H. F. Coors also produces the New West Rodeo designs but cannot advertise it for sale. However, they do sell seconds and overstocked items for half price! You must visit the store to buy these.
The artist here is Till Gooden. This tableware was featured in the TV series “Yellowstone” and is a similar pattern of the Pipestone* which featured Buckeye Blake’s artwork but that’s another blog. Here’s a sample of Buckeye Blake below. I ran across a bunch of his works here in Tucson and asked the dealer if he BB was still alive thinking he was long gone……nope–in fact he is exactly my age……Humbling…….
*Pipestone now buys blanks from any source including China (the country) but all that is going to change, isn’t it?……
Back to the tour–first the clay is pushed through this huge filter. I once had one of these, but used it for making wine.
After pressing the clay through the huge filters, the refined product is squeezed under hydraulic force like toothpaste. This is what gives it an extra density and durability. Blanks are then cut into appropriate sizes for various products….fascinating, isn’t it.
Bowls. I missed my calling in life. Upper left, a plug of this high-density clay is centered in the bottom of the mold and a round plunger type device mooshes it into the proper thickness. This tooling is quite complicated but works very efficiently……here’s how it is made:
Trim from the edge of a plate. This is recycled back into the press above.
One of the huge hydraulic presses. Folks, you won’t find this tableware at Target or Walmart.
Cup handles–hundreds of them.
Plates.
They produce over a million pieces annually.
The last step, firing. This process takes about 24 hours and the ramping up and cooling down process is the secret for durability–no minor cracks. These pieces are heavier than their off-shore counterparts. I’m glad that Xanterra, who bought out Fred Harvey, has the good sense to go top-flight with this tableware products. Visit El Tovar, or La Posada before you can’t–you won’t be disappointed. Stay tuned. 