Weekend / Stuff
Robert Maxwell, David Stewart and some Scandi-smalls.
La Gardo Tackett for Architectural Pottery
Alexander Girard fabric
Pottery Shack yard stick.
Pottery Shack was located on Coast Highway in South Laguna. It was established in 1936 with a truckload of Bauer factory seconds. In addition to production California dinnerware like Metlox, Vernon, Red Wing and Harker; they held pottery and glass blowing demonstrations. The work from the demonstrations was then sold in the shop.
If you've done much ceramic shopping in California, you have no doubt turned a few pots over to find "Pottery Shack" and a last name inscribed into the bottom. Some of them are decent and some not so much. Singleton is a name often seen, who turns out to be Rita. Lyman is another, but Taylor is the only one I could find a little information on.
Here's Jack Taylor at his Pottery Shack wheel in 1963. He moved to Laguna Beach in 1945. Trained as a painter, he had never thrown a pot before moving to Laguna. He went on to form the Laguna Beach Crafts Guild in the 1970s.
Eiler Larsen, "The Greeter" was also a fixture at the Pottery Shack. The "Danish Vagabond" was posted up out on the street and welcomed visitors as they drove by. In addition to receiving free rent from generous residents of Laguna, he also did some gardening for Pottery Shack.
In 1972 Pier 1 Imports purchased the operating assets of Pottery Shack from the Childs family, who founded the company. Pier 1 used the Pottery Shack model and created Pottery Plus, which had 5 stores in Texas and Oklahoma. The model failed and they gave up on it in 1980. During that time Pottery Shack was still running independently. Pier 1 sold the business in 2004. In 2006, after two years of caring renovation, It was then redeveloped into multiple shops and renamed to The Old Pottery Place.
A statue of Eiler that Pottery Shack commissioned in the 1950's is still there. Although at some point in the 2000's they altered his face to make it less scary to children. Read more about him here.