Changes in the Pottery Industry 20th Century
On Federation in 1910 the population of Stoke-on-Trent was 240,000. In 1995 it was just below 250,000.
Factory organisation
- Modern factories are larger.
- Modern factories are grouped. Take-overs have resulted in the creation of groups of factories rather than the complete shutdown of bought-out companies. This is thanks to the fact that resultant economies of scale have been achieved in marketing and financial areas, not in production.
- Pottery factories are reliant on specialist support companies.
- The pottery industry has not grown as fast as other industries.
- In 1938 half the workforce of Stoke-on-Trent worked in pottery factories; in 1969 a third worked in the industry.
- The main fuel for firing has changed from coal to gas or electric for firing.
- The industry is no longer the major source of pollution.
- In 1938 there were 2,000 bottle ovens in the city. By1958, 438 remained in use, while there were 654 tunnel and other gas/electric kilns. By 1965 no bottle ovens remained in use.
- In 1958, there were 298 pottery factories. By 1991 there were 285.
- In 1958 the industry was highly concentrated in North Staffordshire . Of pottery workers in the UK, 94% of general earthenware workers worked in North Staffordshire. By 1969 this figure was around 90% of china workers, 77% of tile workers and 46% of sanitaryware workers.
- The industry has gone from being a craft to a technological industry
- There has been significant mechanisation.
- There are large groups or corporations instead of family firms.
Changes for the workers
- Official end of deductions from workers pay for tools in1946.
- Official end of paying assistants from potter's wages in1946.
- Hours of work shorter, less physically hard work.
- The pottery industry is traditionally very low pay area, but the contrast is not so great now.
- In 1947 potters' wages depended on ware being "good from hand" instead of "good from oven". The official end of good from oven came in 1964.
- In 1948 the industry employed 79,000. In 1958 this figure was 70,184; in 1968, 62,000; and in 1991, 22,497.
- The introduction of shift working.
Changes in manufacturing pottery
Clay Preparation
- Clay bodies are nowadays supplied by outside suppliers to standard specifications and regular particle size. In the past they were mixed to the factory's own recipe.
Making
- Jiggers and jolleys have become increasingly automated. In the past, clay was put on to a spreader and then onto the jigger. Nowadays machines cut a lump of clay, form the shape and put it into drier.
Kilns
- Bottle ovens are no longer used. They have been replaced generally by tunnel kilns where pottery is put on trucks that travel through a tunnel. The temperature is increased towards centre, kept at maximum temperature for a few hours, and finally cooled down. This process is very expensive, and must be in use 24 hours a day over a period of years in order to prove cost-effective. A more recent move towards intermittent kilns is proving more flexible. In modern 'top hat' kilns, the kiln itself is placed over the truck.
Glazing
- The process of glazing has changed from hand-dipping to mechanised spraying in most factories. The introduction of standard glazes results in less crazing, and firing times are shortened from 48 to 20 hours.
Decoration
- Printing has taken over from decoration by hand in many cases. Hand-painted items nowadays command a premium. Transfers are usually bought from outside suppliers, rather than printed in the factory, and there are automatic machines to stamp decoration onto ware as well as banding machines.
Packing
- The traditional method is to pack ware into crates (like hampers) or barrels in straw or wood shavings. Some companies still do this today; however, most tend to use board products which are lighter, more compact and can be made into attractive, branded selling aids.
Changes in ownership/organisation
- Tunnel ovens need space, are very expensive, and are beyond the capital resources of small companies. Mergers triggered more mergers, and directors felt that their companies had to be big to survive. Increases in the cost of wages, fuel and materials required an investment in mechanisation. Small family companies often took their money out to invest more profitably.
- The craft tradition of family firms meant that they did not employ technically-trained managers, and therefore could not manage the necessary changes.
- Increased output meant that more ware needed to be sold, and family firms could not afford salesmen, showroom and promotions.
- Hundreds of pottery factories were making very similar products. so competition drove out inefficient high-cost companies out of business. When competition means that the price of pottery is low, only the prestige names can set their own price.
- Foreign companies also provided competition, and with new materials such as plastic, toughened glass, and waxed paper.
- In the past the typical company was a family firm; a craft business with cheap and plentiful labour. Production depended on the skill of the craftsmen who paid their assistants from their own wages.
- Today, bigger factories exist where managers provide standard materials in controlled conditions and are less reliant on the skill and judgement of their workers. There has been de-skilling of labour with increased technical knowledge and skill by managers. The changes do not necessarily favour the biggest companies; in fact the scale of technology is often best for middle-sized factories. However, it is still very easy to start up a pottery in Stoke-on-Trent if a niche market is found.
Why is the pottery industry still in Stoke-on-Trent?
- It is difficult to recruit labour away from Stoke-on-Trent.
- The service industries are here.
- The suppliers are here.
- The British Ceramic Research Association is here.
- The city is home to the headquarters of employers' associations and trade associations.
- However, in the global economy, entrepreneurs can choose other more profitable manufacturing locations, away from Stoke-on-Trent.
