URL Krueger on thu 18 aug 05
When I was a young kid in the 50's my parents, like most of
the WWII generation, had the newest they could afford: the
chrome and vinyl dining set, the blonde bedroom furniture,
a new car. During that period of my pre-teens I loved to
go visit my great aunt Elma and uncle Roy as they were just
the opposite.
Uncle Roy was born on the farm, and I mean born _on_ the
farm, a couple of decades after the Civil War. Although he
had bought a used gasoline tractor he still hitched up his
horses for many farm tasks until they died of old age.
Most of their furniture was old dark wood and their car was
a pre-war Hudson. But most of all I liked it when Auntie
served dinner; at noon, exactly, except on Sundays when it
was at 1:00 pm. (Supper was the evening meal. Lunch was
something Auntie brought out to you in the field in the
middle of the afternoon.) And all was prepared on the wood
fired cook stove in the kitchen. (Those of you complaining
of this summer's heat think about 60 yr old Auntie cooking
roast beef, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, several
vegetables, homemade bread and pies on that stove in 90
degree heat and 90% humidity for a haying crew of a half
dozen hungry men.)
What I thought was really cool were their everyday dishes;
not a one of them matched. They were thick, heavy, plain,
scratched and had chipped edges that were worn smooth. But
what I liked most was that they were covered with a dark
spider web design from the food stained cracked glaze.
Only many years later did I realize that this was
considered a fault. Despite their eating three meals a day
off of these dishes with the only diswasher being Auntie
standing at the sink with hands in water boiled on the cook
stove, both Auntie and Uncle Roy lived to their mid-90's.
Oh, how I wish someone would have saved me a few of those
dishes. But they were all considered worthless by my
parent's generation and went to the dump.
I don't get upset about crazing on pottery. In fact, I
think many times it adds a charm that you don't get with
factory made ceramics. It is part of the appeal of
handmade pottery; a little less than perfect, but a little
more than what perfect would be.
So, let your pots ping to perfection.
What I do get indignant about are people posing as experts
when they don't know their ... well you know the rest. One
of the surest ways of gaining my respect is if in response
to a question about what you are supposed to be an
authority on you have the self confidence to say "I don't
know the answer to that".
Earl K...
Bothell WA, USA
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