Gladding, McBean
Encyclopedia
Gladding, McBean, LLC is a ceramics company located in Lincoln, California
. It is one of the oldest companies in California, a pioneer in ceramics technology, and a company which has "contributed immeasurably" to the state's industrialization. During the heyday of architectural terra cotta, the company "dominated the industry in California and the Far West."
, served as a first lieutenant
in the Union Army
during the Civil War, and later moved to Chicago
, where he engaged in the clay sewer
pipe business. He came to California in 1874 looking for new business opportunities. While in California, he read an article in a San Francisco newspaper about a large clay deposit near the town of Lincoln, California
. Investigating, Gladding verified that it was an "unusually fine deposit of white kaolin clay" located close to a railroad line., and selected the spot as the site for a new business. Gladding, along with Peter McGill McBean and George Chambers, established Gladding-McBean in 1875. Its original product was clay sewer pipe. By 1883, the company had grown to 75 employees, and it then evolved into a major manufacturer of architectural terra-cotta. Peter McBean became president of the company after Charles Gladding's death in 1894, and his son Athol McBean later served as chairman of the board.
, Santa Monica
, Point Richmond, and Alberhill, California. The former Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company's plant at 922 Date Street became Gladding, McBean's Los Angeles plant.
In 1927, the company acquired the holdings of the Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Company which included the terra cotta plant in Renton, Washington, the plant and mines in Taylor and Mica, Washington. The company closed their plant in Van Aselt, Washington in 1927. Tropico Potteries, Inc. filed for dissolution of the corporation in 1928 merging with Gladding, McBean. The former Tropico Potteries's plant at 2901 Los Feliz Boulevard became the company's Glendale plant.
Due to the Great Depression
, the Auburn plant closed in 1932. All operations were consolidated with the Renton plant. The Taylor coal and clay mines and the town were condemned by the Seattle Water Department in order to include the area inside an expanded watershed. In 1933, the company bought the "entire holdings on the Pacific Coast of the American Encaustic Tiling Company, Ltd., of New York".
Since the demand for building materials dwindled, the company began to look for new products. The company expanded into tableware
. In 1932, experimental work in Dinnerware began at the Glendale plant. In 1934, Gladding, McBean introduced the Franciscan Pottery
line of dinnerware and art ware, named after the Franciscan friars
who established missions throughout California in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The lines were very successful. In 1937, Gladding, McBean and Co. purchased the Catalina Clay Products Division of
Santa Catalina Island Co.. The company closed the pottery moving all molds and equipment to the Glendale plant in Los Angeles. The company continued to use the tradename of Catalina Pottery on select dinnerware and art ware lines produced in the Glendale plant until 1942. In 1940, the company introduced the hand-painted embossed pattern Franciscan Apple, and in 1941 Desert Rose. Both patterns became the company's most popular patterns. The company introduced fine china dinnerware in 1942 and due to World War II
, discontinued all art ware lines.
By 1950, it was considered one of the "world's largest ceramics manufacturers". In 1957, they purchased Washington Brick and Lime and its factories located in Dishman, Washington
and Clayton, Washington
. The company was described at that time as "the West's largest ceramics firm" with seven plants in California and two in Washington, in addition to those acquired in that purchase.
Because of "the importation of inexpensive Japanese ceramics", Gladding McBean's tableware sales declined in the post World War II period. This was a factor in Gladding-McBean's decision to seek a merger. In 1962, the company merged with the Lock Joint Pipe Company, which resulted in the creation of the International Pipe and Ceramics Corporation, shortened to Interpace Corp. in 1968.
in 1979. In 1984 production was moved to Wedgwood's Stoke-on-Trent
facility in England.
The company now operates as a division of Pacific Coast Building Products Inc under the name Gladding, McBean, LLC. Hard hit by the recession, the company had 110 employees in 2010, "down from an average of 240 workers between 2001 and 2007". The company sponsors an annual "Feats of Clay" ceramic arts festival in Lincoln.
In 1959, the company was awarded a "subcontract in excess of $500,000 for the production of ceramic radome
s." That year, a spokesman for the company "cited research in oxides and other rare earths as providing a solution to the high heat, speed and radiation problems of the space age," and identified the company's best selling products at that time as "dinnerware, tile, refractories, facebrick, clay pipe and conduit, and technical ceramics." The company now identifies it main products as clay roof tile, piazza floor tile, chimney tops and caps, terra cotta, garden pottery and clay sewer pipe.
The California State Archives now holds the company's job files from 1888 to 1966, documenting the use of its products to decorate thousands of buildings, including most major structures on the campus of Stanford University
.
Lincoln, California
Lincoln is a city in Placer County, California, United States located in the metropolitan area of Sacramento. The population was 42,819 at the 2010 census, with a growth rate of 282.1 percent since 2000 , making it the fastest growing city in the U.S...
. It is one of the oldest companies in California, a pioneer in ceramics technology, and a company which has "contributed immeasurably" to the state's industrialization. During the heyday of architectural terra cotta, the company "dominated the industry in California and the Far West."
Founding
Charles Gladding (1828–1894) was born in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, served as a first lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the Civil War, and later moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he engaged in the clay sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
pipe business. He came to California in 1874 looking for new business opportunities. While in California, he read an article in a San Francisco newspaper about a large clay deposit near the town of Lincoln, California
Lincoln, California
Lincoln is a city in Placer County, California, United States located in the metropolitan area of Sacramento. The population was 42,819 at the 2010 census, with a growth rate of 282.1 percent since 2000 , making it the fastest growing city in the U.S...
. Investigating, Gladding verified that it was an "unusually fine deposit of white kaolin clay" located close to a railroad line., and selected the spot as the site for a new business. Gladding, along with Peter McGill McBean and George Chambers, established Gladding-McBean in 1875. Its original product was clay sewer pipe. By 1883, the company had grown to 75 employees, and it then evolved into a major manufacturer of architectural terra-cotta. Peter McBean became president of the company after Charles Gladding's death in 1894, and his son Athol McBean later served as chairman of the board.
Growth, acquisitions, and merger
In June 1923, the company acquired the controlling stock of Tropico Potteries, Inc. of Los Angeles. In 1925,the company purchased all the holdings of the Northern Clay Products Company including the Auburn, Washington terra cotta plant. In 1926, the company merged with the Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company. After this merger, the company had plants in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, Point Richmond, and Alberhill, California. The former Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company's plant at 922 Date Street became Gladding, McBean's Los Angeles plant.
In 1927, the company acquired the holdings of the Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Company which included the terra cotta plant in Renton, Washington, the plant and mines in Taylor and Mica, Washington. The company closed their plant in Van Aselt, Washington in 1927. Tropico Potteries, Inc. filed for dissolution of the corporation in 1928 merging with Gladding, McBean. The former Tropico Potteries's plant at 2901 Los Feliz Boulevard became the company's Glendale plant.
Due to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the Auburn plant closed in 1932. All operations were consolidated with the Renton plant. The Taylor coal and clay mines and the town were condemned by the Seattle Water Department in order to include the area inside an expanded watershed. In 1933, the company bought the "entire holdings on the Pacific Coast of the American Encaustic Tiling Company, Ltd., of New York".
Since the demand for building materials dwindled, the company began to look for new products. The company expanded into tableware
Tableware
Tableware is the dishes or dishware , dinnerware , or china used for setting a table, serving food, and for dining. Tableware can be meant to include flatware and glassware...
. In 1932, experimental work in Dinnerware began at the Glendale plant. In 1934, Gladding, McBean introduced the Franciscan Pottery
Franciscan Ceramics
Franciscan Ceramics are ceramic tabletop and tile products produced by Gladding, McBean & Co. in Los Angeles, California from 1934–1962, International Pipe and Ceramics from 1962–1979, and Wedgwood from 1979-1983. Wedgwood closed the Los Angeles plant, and moved the production of dinnerware to...
line of dinnerware and art ware, named after the Franciscan friars
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
who established missions throughout California in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The lines were very successful. In 1937, Gladding, McBean and Co. purchased the Catalina Clay Products Division of
Santa Catalina Island Co.. The company closed the pottery moving all molds and equipment to the Glendale plant in Los Angeles. The company continued to use the tradename of Catalina Pottery on select dinnerware and art ware lines produced in the Glendale plant until 1942. In 1940, the company introduced the hand-painted embossed pattern Franciscan Apple, and in 1941 Desert Rose. Both patterns became the company's most popular patterns. The company introduced fine china dinnerware in 1942 and due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, discontinued all art ware lines.
By 1950, it was considered one of the "world's largest ceramics manufacturers". In 1957, they purchased Washington Brick and Lime and its factories located in Dishman, Washington
Dishman, Washington
Dishman is a former census-designated place in Spokane County, Washington, United States. Founded by A.T. Dishman, who operated a nearby rock quarry, its population was 10,031 at the 2000 census...
and Clayton, Washington
Clayton, Washington
Clayton is an unincorporated community in Stevens County, Washington, United States. Clayton is located along U.S. Route 395 northwest of Deer Park. Clayton has a post office with ZIP code 99110....
. The company was described at that time as "the West's largest ceramics firm" with seven plants in California and two in Washington, in addition to those acquired in that purchase.
Because of "the importation of inexpensive Japanese ceramics", Gladding McBean's tableware sales declined in the post World War II period. This was a factor in Gladding-McBean's decision to seek a merger. In 1962, the company merged with the Lock Joint Pipe Company, which resulted in the creation of the International Pipe and Ceramics Corporation, shortened to Interpace Corp. in 1968.
Decline and revival
In 1976 Interpace Corp. "announced their intention to cease operations at the Lincoln plant" where Gladding, McBean began. Pacific Coast Building Products then purchased the Lincoln factory and restored the historic name of Gladding, McBean, which remains in business today. Interpace Corp. sold its Franciscan Ceramics division to Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd.Wedgwood
Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
in 1979. In 1984 production was moved to Wedgwood's Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
facility in England.
The company now operates as a division of Pacific Coast Building Products Inc under the name Gladding, McBean, LLC. Hard hit by the recession, the company had 110 employees in 2010, "down from an average of 240 workers between 2001 and 2007". The company sponsors an annual "Feats of Clay" ceramic arts festival in Lincoln.
Products and legacy
From its base in clay sewer pipe and terra cotta, the company expanded into brick production and then branched out to dinnerware in the 1930s, with its Franciscan and Catalina lines.In 1959, the company was awarded a "subcontract in excess of $500,000 for the production of ceramic radome
Radome
A radome is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a microwave or radar antenna. The radome is constructed of material that minimally attenuates the electromagnetic signal transmitted or received by the antenna. In other words, the radome is transparent to radar or radio waves...
s." That year, a spokesman for the company "cited research in oxides and other rare earths as providing a solution to the high heat, speed and radiation problems of the space age," and identified the company's best selling products at that time as "dinnerware, tile, refractories, facebrick, clay pipe and conduit, and technical ceramics." The company now identifies it main products as clay roof tile, piazza floor tile, chimney tops and caps, terra cotta, garden pottery and clay sewer pipe.
The California State Archives now holds the company's job files from 1888 to 1966, documenting the use of its products to decorate thousands of buildings, including most major structures on the campus of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.