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HLCCA Conference 2005
Turn Up The Lights
by Saarin Schwartz & Kathy Holley
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The atmosphere was positively electric when over 100 radiant collectors convened at the Pittsburgh Hilton from July 14-17, 2005, for the 7th annual HLCCA Conference. Thunder and lightning storms lit up the sky while beaming smiles lit up the faces of conference attendees as they arrived from all across the country to greet old friends, meet new ones, and have a thousand-watt weekend. Into these few super-charged days were packed a blinding array of seminars, tours, exhibits, auctions, shopping excursions, and dress-up parties that illuminated the full spectrum of Homer Laughlin fun.
Conference 2005’s theme of “Welcome Back to Pittsburgh” underscored the bi-annual tradition of bringing the conference back to its roots—the Ohio Valley and the home territory of the Homer Laughlin China Company. Even in these challenging economic times, HLC continues to produce immensely popular dishes and provide jobs for hundreds of American workers. The HLC team was spotlighted at this year’s conference, which included factory tours led by company luminaries, seminars presented by leaders of the art and marketing departments, and a contest, show and auction of Fiesta-inspired artwork by students of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, sponsored by the Homer Laughlin China Company. The many graphic references to the 100th anniversary of the Newell Bridge also highlighted the role HLC has played in the cultural and economic history of the area. Director of Sales and Marketing Dave Conley and his wife, Sue, attended many conference events, as did Art Director Judi Noble, Director of Marketing Kimberly Faloon, and other members of the HLC staff.
Conference activities kicked off on Thursday morning, when some members took advantage of an optional shopping trip to East Liverpool, OH, with shuttle bus transportation provided. The scenic hour-long drive through rolling farmland allowed these eager dishers—many of them first-time visitors to East Liverpool— to begin getting to know their fellow Fiesta fans, sharing pictures and stories along the way. In East Liverpool, they shopped ‘til they dropped at the famed Pottery City Antique Mall and other local merchants, and visited the Museum of Ceramics, with its excellent collection of Ohio Valley pottery wares. Of particular interest were the museum’s informative slide show, and its impressive exhibit of lifesize tableaux depicting scenes from the early years of the pottery industry in the town once known as “Crockery City.”
Thursday Evening Mixer
The first official event of Conference 2005 was a mixer on Thursday night with the theme “Get Lit in Pitt.” Arriving guests were greeted by life-size cardboard cutouts of some of Pittsburgh’s barons of industry, including Andrew Carnegie (displaying a Fiesta saucer in one version, and sporting a Carmen Miranda headdress in another), Henry Clay Frick, Henry Heinz, and electrical appliance pioneer George Westinghouse. Photo portraits with the “flat cats” of Pittsburgh were available, and several get-acquainted games got the weekend’s ongoing current of door prizes flowing. Several attendees sported vintage attire as well as other creative interpretations of the “Get Lit” theme. Another weekend-long theme was revealed with the splashy debut of the newest Fiesta color— peacock— shown to great advantage on a beplumed pizza tray. The evening’s entertainment also included two showings of Amy Levine’s award-winning video, “Dishes: a Documentary about Collecting Fiesta,” much of which was taped at Conference 2003 and features many HLCCA members. Levine was on hand to introduce the video and answer questions afterward. She mentioned that her local PBS television station in Michigan is considering airing it during their pledge drive, and is talking with HLC about a special mug that would be offered to supporters as a fund-raising premium.
HLC Factory Tour
Bright and early on Friday morning, busses departed from the hotel for Newell, WV, where guided tours of the Homer Laughlin factory and shopping at the factory outlet were the order of the day. This year, transportation to HLC was provided by the HLCCA, one of the innovations contributed by this year’s Conference Chair Steve Beals. This convenience was very much appreciated by travellers without cars as well as the directionally-challenged. Watching Fiestaware being worked on at every step of the process— from formation to finishing, waxing, glazing, firing, packing and shipping— offered a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes. From the graceful arc of plates travelling on their overhead journey from one station to another to the giant vats of glaze and the never-dormant circular kiln, this was an experience not to be missed by vintage and post-86 collectors alike. The mammoth effort that goes into producing 60,000 dozen pieces of pottery per week was clearly evident.
A visit to HLC would not be complete without a trip to the factory outlet and its storied seconds room. With “official socks” at the ready (for dusting the bargain-priced ware), collectors descended on the well-stocked shelves and bins like kids in a candy shop. A special treat was admission to the museum room at the outlet, where examples of the finest of HLC’s wares from its earliest years to the present day are exhibited. Each visitor also received a souviner plate. Outlet manager Pat Shreve graciously unlocked a case to allow visitors to photograph the museum’s collection of rare Fiesta pieces, which includes a lidless medium green carafe, confirming in the process a rumor that the broken pieces of the carafe’s lid were still inside it.
Seminars
Back at the hotel in Pitts-burgh, the weekend’s educational seminars got underway Friday afternoon with a presentation by members of the HLC Art Department. Art Director Judi Noble gave a slide presentation that introduced the staff and illuminated the process by which dinnerware designs are conceived and executed. Characterizing the Art Department as “the bridge between sales and production,” Noble described the custom design work that is a large part of their job. She revealed that the department produces as many as 1,500 custom samples per year for restaurants and hotels, many of these designs now offered via computer graphic displays. No longer are fired samples required—for instance, it took 51 e-mails to reach a new custom design for the Biltmore Hotel, and then it went straight to production. Examples of computer presentations for several food service clients showed the myriad choices that can be offered to potential customers and the creative ways these can be presented. Gordon Kiger spoke about the many awards the Art Department has received from the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators for the excellence of its designs; and Director of Design Ed Wonder spoke eloquently on the topic of dinnerware design, emphasizing the importance of combining function and beauty in our daily lives. Describing it as “art that we can all use” he characterized the department’s work as creating “fine art that is also highly functional design” with the goal of “making the world just a little more beautiful in the process.”
Still getting “lit in Pitt,” the next optional event—the Friday night riverboat dinner cruise—was preceded by yet another electrical storm. This did not deter the parade of conferees, umbrellas in hand, from their leisurely stroll to the dock for a delightful evening on Pittsburgh’s three rivers. The captain’s narration of passing sights and a buffet dinner were followed by clearing skies, and much of the evening was spent out on the riverboat’s decks, admiring the stunning views.
Show and Sale
Lines were already forming early on Saturday morning as collectors abuzz with anticipation awaited the opening of the Show & Sale room. When the doors opened at 9:00 AM, the array of Fiesta and other HLC ware on vendors’ tables revealed itself like a proud peacock displaying his colors. Many fine examples of vintage and post-86 Fiesta were available for purchase, as well as items from the Harlequin, Riviera and Kitchen Kraft lines. A parade of relish trays could be seen marching down one vendor’s table, a regiment of syrups at another. Few people are accustomed to seeing so much vintage Fiesta in one room. There were also pieces from other HLC lines, such as Kenilworth, and even a set of Jade with the hard-to-find “Spanish Wall” decoration. One vendor had both a turquoise covered onion soup bowl and the very rare Fiesta individual teapot. At the Betty Crocker table, examples of the new “Ladybug” pattern were on display, along with flowerpots and some sample peacock pieces. At the HLCCA table, members had an opportunity to consign their extra pieces and craftwork. Some of the club’s exclusive pottery items were also available for sale, along with note cards, calendars, and books.
Exhibits
Across the hall, exhibits were mounted by several members, spotlighting their particular collecting interests. Beautifully displayed pieces, as well as carefully researched accompanying texts, provided an educational and aesthetic tour de force. Joy Wray’s “Homer Says” exhibit showed her collection of HLC plates and other pieces that commemorated special events, or bore other descriptive text on the ware. Joan Stock’s exhibit, “In Praise of Pumpkin,” presented an autumnal table laden with pumpkin-colored OvenServe pieces, and included information about life in 1933, the year of its introduction. “The Many Shapes of Clematis” was Jerry Lefever’s exhibit this year, and gave viewers a rare opportunity to see a collection in the primary-hued “Clematis” floral pattern—both on its own and paired with solid-colored HLC dishes. Dennis Erlston’s exhibit, “A Kid’s Meal,” was a lighthearted look at breakfast, with vintage cereal boxes and advertisements, as well as table settings consisting of new and old pottery. This display looked good enough to eat, and parts of it were! The realism, right down to a tumbler of “spilled milk”, was uncanny.
Also on display were the exhibit awards and some sample and trial pieces (all donated by HLC) that would be auctioned after dinner later that night, a collage of photos of previous conferences, and the historic checkerboard, that was used—with Fiesta saucers as checkers—at Conference 2001’s Fiesta Circus, courtesy of Steve Douglas and Terry Brennan. Judging of the exhibits and voting for the “People’s Choice” Award were conducted on Saturday.
Seminars Continue
Saturday morning, Pittsburgh photographer Ric Evans, his assistant/wife Faye and photo stylist Karen Burns presented “Photographing Dishes: Professional Advice for the Amateur.” Evans has been creating the photographs for HLC’s marketing materials for the past five years.
While Evans shoots using high-end digital cameras and lighting equipment, he had suggestions for those of us who just want to take beautiful pictures of our dishes. “Lighting is everything,” Evans told the seminar participants. He suggests shooting outside on a cloudy day to get true colors with minimal glare and reflection. And he added that you’ll get the truest color representation when shooting colorware against a white or black background.
Evans confirmed what most of us know—it’s more challenging to shoot dark-colored dishes. Once, when shooting a line of Fiesta shakers with one in each color, he had to use four times as much light on the portion of the photograph with the plum, black, cobalt and cinnabar shakers.
Burns spoke about how she works to combine textiles, food and accessories to accentuate the dinnerware. The true glamour shots also utilize delectable-looking food. While it all looks good enough to eat, the food is often treated with glycerine and shellac, making it inedible.
The room was decorated with many super-sized images showing HLC’s various dishware lines. Each one was a work of art, with attention to every single detail. “My job as a photographer is to sell the product,” said Evans. “I want the viewer to enjoy the visual treat of a photograph.”
The first seminar of the afternoon, entitled “Come On Over To My Place: Collectors’ Show and Tell,” featured slide presentations by five HLCCA members, including organizer Daphne Durham, Saarin Schwartz, Kathy Holley, Jeff Stout, and Michael Bailey. Conceived as the first in a series of virtual tours of members’ homes, each presenter offered a unique view of his or her collection in its natural habitat, giving viewers a snapshot of the creative displays, table settings, and arrangements that make each collection unique. Stout’s slide show also included the big-screen premiere of his impressive archival project. In his words, “...one thing led to another, from lilac to vintage grey, to Harlequin.... to the Dishography.” Durham hopes to continue the tradition next year with slide shows by another group of collectors.
One of the brightest lights of every HLCCA Conference is the annual “Conversation with HLC” session presented by Dave Conley, HLC’s Director of Marketing and Sales. Conley patiently answers questions from attendees, with topics ranging from dish history and color choices to the impact of global competition and free trade. He warned the group this year that “...not all questions have answers!”
Everyone is always eager to hear about new colors and products. This year, that means the color peacock and the new bakeware line. Conley said that items in peacock are in production now and will begin shipping soon. He expects the peacock roll-out to be comparable to other recent new color offerings, such as tangerine and plum. HLC will be adding two new bakeware items sometime early in 2006: a 9” x 9” baker and a 9” x 13” baker. “We’re very optimistic that it’s going to be a very successful line,” he said.
Saturday Banquet
A peacock theme was already emerging at the pre-banquet cocktail party on Saturday evening, where ladies wore peacock feathers in their vintage hats and gentlemen sported the iridescent plumage in their lapels and buttonholes. The array of colorful costumes sparked another round of photo opportunities, and it appeared that many a vintage ensemble was accessorized by the very latest in digital cameras.
In the banquet room, table decorations featured cobalt monarch vases filled with towering sprays of peacock feathers. Donated graciously by Mr. Joe Wells III and the Homer Laughlin China Company, the vases were decorated with a gold metallic decal commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Newell Bridge. These centerpiece vases (which seemed to beg the question, “Why did the peacock cross the bridge?”) were given away as prizes to one lucky person at each table. Every guest found at his or her place a cobalt chop plate with the Newell Bridge decal, also donated by HLC, as well as many other goodies. Carrying on a tradition begun at the baseball-themed Conference 2003, a new set of four collector cards was produced by graphic designer and Dish editor David Schaefer, featuring the peacock pizza tray, the Conference exclusive cobalt chop plate and vase, the auction exclusive monarch vases (samples produced in tangerine and scarlet, also bearing the Newell Bridge decal), and Schaefer’s luminous Conference 2005 “Welcome Back to Pittsburgh” poster. As in years past, each guest was given four of the same card, which were then briskly traded to achieve a complete set of four different cards. Still more table favors included keyrings, note cards, paint sets, and crayons labeled with Fiesta colors. The gift-laden tables barely left room for plates filled with delicacies from the eclectic dinner buffet.
Saturday evening’s keynote speaker was familiar to many who’ve attended previous HLCCA conferences. Renee Stark is the Merchandising Manager of Direct Marking for General Mills. She oversees merchandising for the Betty Crocker catalogs and is the buyer for tabletop, including Fiesta. And for the past several years, Stark has been attending and enjoying the HLCCA conferences, talking to collectors and displaying many of the new Fiesta items exclusive to the Betty Crocker catalog.
Stark traced the history of the relationship between HLC and General Mills. Back in 1931, in the midst of the Depression, General Mills began giving away Oneida teaspoons in packages of cereal and Bisquick, in hopes of increasing sales. In 1937, the first Betty Crocker coupons were designed and added to General Mills’ packaging, enabling housewives to obtain additional pieces for their silver settings.
The partnership with HLC goes back to 1941, when a colorful open-faced casserole in a metal holder was made available for 50 cents and one boxtop. That casserole has since been revived as the ‘Betty Bowl.’ Reintroduced in 2002, it is one of their best-selling items—over 21,000 have been sold.
While the silverware promotion was suspended from 1942-46 because metal was needed for the war effort, in the post-war era, Betty Crocker began to expand its offerings even further, adding cookbooks and more housewares products. In 1962, the first Betty Crocker catalog was published, with 16 pages of things every successful homemaker needed.
In 1991, the business relationship between General Mills and HLC was renewed. Fiesta was added to the Betty Crocker catalog: six items in five colors. Their customers responded favorably and clamored for more. By ‘92 the assortment they offered filled a full page in the catalog and included seven colors. In ‘98, there were 37 items, nine colors and two full pages. Now, it’s six pages, 1,000 items and over 200 exclusives.
“Fiesta has had more catalog cover placements than any other product line we offer,” said Stark. And it shows in the numbers: more than 192,000 customers have purchased Fiesta from the Betty Crocker catalog since 1990, buying more than 1.4 million pieces.
“This represents a unique partnership and relationship between two companies, two American icons,” Stark said. She told the group that representatives from HLC and Betty Crocker meet at least six to eight times a year, at shows and the factory. They discuss market trends, home influences, what the competition is doing, and what the customers are buying. And then they brainstorm ideas that eventually become products.
What kinds of things does Stark look for when considering items to add to Betty Crocker’s offerings? “We’re looking for things that can be multi-functional,” she said. “And we’re looking for simple decals that don’t replicate anything else in the marketplace.” She joked that they have a development list that never ends!
Stark said she often finds inspiration at the HLCCA conferences. Last year’s conference in Phoenix led to the Fiestacana decal, and the HLCCA commemorative pitchers prompted Betty Crocker’s own line of mini pitchers in the various Fiesta colors.
She also gave a sneak preview of what’s on the drawing board. The audience responded with varying volumes of “oohs” and “ahhs” serving as an impromptu— although not impartial—focus group. New designs she showed include ladybugs on scarlet, a peppermint candy pattern, the holiday snowflake pattern on scarlet, multi-colored polka dots, and playing cards. The crowd’s favorite was bright bunches of cherries on black, but you’ll have to wait ‘til January for that one. New shapes soon to come include a smaller pizza tray (12”, sized for most frozen pizzas) and a larger bread tray.
In closing, Stark attributed the successful partnership between HLC and Betty Crocker to a huge group effort and a lot of passion. “It takes passion to have a product line with such versatility and endless possibilities... and also the passion of the team behind the product.”
Then it was time to celebrate the achievements of those within the HLCCA. Honors were presented for the exhibits at this year’s conference, the year’s best Dish article, and for those who have contributed in many different ways to the organization. Those wearing special costumes for the evening’s banquet paraded before the crowd, with applause determining this year’s winner.
Finally, the HLCCA unveiled the next in its series of commemorative pitchers decorated with icons representing each year in the 1930s. The 1937 pitcher will be shamrock and feature a colorful metallic decal of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
Following the awards presentation, the annual auction featured a variety of special items from the HLCCA, HLC and Betty Crocker. The special limited edition pottery pieces produced for previous Conferences were very popular, as were the Monarch vases made for this year’s event. Two Fiesta egg plates with experimental glazes brought big bids, as did a shamrock test plate which had samples of the decal colors to be used on the new HLCCA commemorative pitcher. Posters and the life-size cutouts of the Pittsburgh industrialists made special souvenirs from this year’s party. In sharp contrast to the otherwise incandescent evening, an unexpected extinguishing of lights left the room in total darkness for a few moments, but auctioneer Gary Burg kept the proceedings moving with his usual good humor.
HLCCA Breakfast Meeting
By Sunday morning, the energy level of many was flagging a bit, but hot coffee and brunch perked everyone up again. HLCCA President Kit Fox presided over the organization’s annual business meeting, introducing newly-elected board members Chuck Denlinger, Richard Mayberry, and Dennis Stasiak, and announcing the current slate of officers chosen by the Board: President—Kit Fox; Vice President—Steve Douglas; Secretary—Sandra Bond; Treasurer—Merrill Miller; Editor—David Schaefer. It was also announced that Jerry Lefever would be replacing Dave Barker, who is unable to complete his term on the Board of Directors. Next year’s conference location and dates were announced (St. Louis, MO, July 13-16, 2006.) The organization is reported to be in good financial shape with membership totalling close to 1000. Proceeds from the Saturday night auction netted about $7,500. Fox reported that the Association will once again be able to make its annual contribution to the Dollars for Scholars Scholarship Fund at the increased level of $1,500. There were brief discussions of the conference location selection process and the next series of HLCCA exclusive juice pitchers. Ideas for a theme for the 1940s series were solicited. Members were advised that the zone representatives are changing; please be sure to check so you know who your representative is.
HLC Fiesta Art on Art
Sunday afternoon saw the culmination of the “HLC Fiesta Art on Art” event. Over 40 entries were submitted, with HLC awarding monetary prizes to three top winners. Entries for the contest were on view throughout the conference in the seminar room, and attendees also voted for their favorite artwork, which received a “People’s Choice” award. Co-sponsored by the HLCCA and HLC, this event challenged students at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh to create an artwork that integrated at least one image, shape, or likeness of an item of Fiesta into their work. After the awards presentation, an auction of the works was held, with proceeds benefitting students of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and the Dollars for Scholars Scholarship Program.
With feathers only slightly drooping and no less brilliant, the tired but happy peacocks and peahens of Conference 2005 packed up their treasures and went their separate ways. The weekend had been an inspiring and fun experience for all, and many vowed to stay in touch and “Meet You in St. Louie!” next summer for Conference 2006.
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