大象传媒

Wedgwood was not, however, entirely dependent on its own resources in its struggle for survival. It was greatly assisted by several features of the war effort. It was greatly assisted by several features of the war effort. In the first instance, demands for its products was changed but not abolished altogether. Its output was now concentrated on two, quite different markets. At home, no decorated ware could be sold, which made the loss of so many of the women less serious than it might have been. In 1942, the void left by the withdrawal of patterned ware from this market began to be filled by the manufacture of undecorated white 鈥楿tility Ware.鈥� This was specially designed by Victor Skellern to be as flexible as possible. The lid of the vegetable dish could be reversed to become a bowl, the egg cup could double up as an individual butter dish, the sugar bowl and slop basin as handle less cups, and the tea-pot lid would also fit the beakers and jugs in the range. With the rest of the lines suspended, the London Showroom, which had been the major showcase for Wedgwood production since the eighteenth century, was closed, the first time the firm had been forced to do this since the Napoleonic Wars. It鈥檚 manager, Felton Wreford, returned to Barlaston, where he became captain of the factory鈥檚 Home Guard. In addition to the utility ware, the firm also supplied large Government contracts for block handled teacups and mugs, and cheap, plain, roll edge plates, mostly destined for army, navy, air force and ordnance factory canteens. Some of this ware was manufactured for use by prisoners of war. The workers, who had been trained to better things, found the change difficult to scope with at first. 鈥榃e鈥檇 been used to handling nice thin war,鈥� recalls the throwers assistant Sarah Roberts, 鈥榓nd you came to handle this and you thought 鈥渙h dear, what a contrast!鈥濃�� But it was no worse than the Bournvita order of an earlier crisis, and this time was making a direct contribution to the war effort.
Spare capacity at Barlaston was also taken up by war work of a quite different sort. The china enamelling shop was converted to the manufacture of pop rivets for Spitfires and Lancaster Bombers. Some of the lathe turners from Etruria were able to adapt the precision of their skills to this work, and to munitions work elsewhere, for others it meant learning entirely new techniques. But flexibility was the order of the day, and it provided the firm with a guaranteed source of income amidst all the uncertainties. Indeed, as it was unable to complete its programme of investing in new machinery at this time, it began to build up good cash reserves.
The second major market for Wedgwood ware was North America, particularly after the United States entered the war in 1941. The company was able to exploit the absence of competition from ints European rivals, especially Germany, and the presence of a flourishing branch in New York, which had been established back on 1906 by Kennard Wedgwood. With opportunities restricted at home, Wedgwood made every effort to keep open its export trade, which was now the only market for its expensive decorated ware. Kennard Wedgwood placed the following statement in the Pottery and Glass Trades Review in October 1940:
There will always be an England
Let it be understood then, in all parts of the world where pottery and glass are in demand, that Britain is continuing to manufacture for export without curtailment; that the goods produced embrace some of the best wares it is possible to manufacture; and that the goods, when they are through to completion at the factories, can be shipped with but a limited risk of mishap, and a fractional percentage loss.
Surprisingly, Kennard鈥檚 optimism about the possibility of sustaining the flow of the such fragile exports across the U-boat infested waters of the North Atlantic, turned out to be perfectly justified. The Germans were much more concerned to prevent food and other vital supplies coming into Britain than China and other luxuries leaving it and Josiah claimed after the was that the firm lost only a single tea cup out of all the orders it despatched.
The efforts made at this time by Josiah Wedgwood Inc. of New York on behalf of the parent company culminated in the production of a set of twelve plates, each one depicting a view of old London. The plates were issued with an explanatory leaflet setting out the aims of the production, which were:
To permit the expression, in a definite and substantial manner, of aid to the British people and to provide the owner of this series with a lasting memento of their contribution to the British cause. Josiah Wedgwood and sons Inc. of America are acting as promoters in this undertaking, while from the parent company in the heart of beleaguered England comes the assurance that in spite of alarms, in spite of all the hazards of total war, production of this series has already started and will continue until completed.
A third of the profits raised by sales of the plates was donated to the British War relief Society.
Wedgwood鈥檚 determination to combine its export with a patriotic commitment to the alliance between Britain and America was also displayed in the work of the talented young designer Arnold Machin. As a conscientious objector, Machin spent the war years at Barlaston, creating figures which recalled the simple, humorous style of the eighteenth century Staffordshire flatback ornament. He also produced terracotta busts of members of the Wedgwood family and of allegorical figures, but it was a modeller of bas-relief portraits that he made his mark. Among his debut pieces were representations of Churchill and Roosevelt. In 1942, these were incorporated into designs for two mugs in white on lavenderembossed queen鈥檚 ware. Churchill鈥檚 cameo was accompanied by the words, 鈥楪ive us the tools and we will finish the job,鈥� while Roosevelt鈥檚 appeared with the statement, 鈥業t can be done, it must be done, it shall be done.鈥� The exercise revived the long tradition of using ceramic art to promote praiseworthy causes, such as the anti-slavery medallions of 1787 and the French revolutionary medallions of 1789.

To read the rest of this story go to 'The Factory in a Garden' parts 3 & 4.

This story was submitted to the People's War website by a volunteer of the CSV Action Desk on behalf on Sharon Gater, David Vincent and Keele University and was added with their permission. The authors fully understand the site's terms and conditions.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.