Plastic and all the other miracle compounds hadn't quite entered the American market right after WWII. My father and his brother, both experienced potters from Olde England, decided to go into the manufacture of doll furniture. My uncle Bill was a master mold maker and he crafted a little set of living room furniture consisting of a sofa, two chairs and other long forgotten accessories. After the plaster was mixed and poured into molds, the finished product had to be trimmed around the mold marks, and then taken into a room where an air compressor sprayed a velvety "flock" on each piece. For a while back there, it looked like the little enterprise was going to take off. However, times they were a-changing, and with the advent of plastic which was much lighter and easier to manufacture, the venture fell flat.
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
1946: THE HARTLEY TOY MFG. CO.
Plastic and all the other miracle compounds hadn't quite entered the American market right after WWII. My father and his brother, both experienced potters from Olde England, decided to go into the manufacture of doll furniture. My uncle Bill was a master mold maker and he crafted a little set of living room furniture consisting of a sofa, two chairs and other long forgotten accessories. After the plaster was mixed and poured into molds, the finished product had to be trimmed around the mold marks, and then taken into a room where an air compressor sprayed a velvety "flock" on each piece. For a while back there, it looked like the little enterprise was going to take off. However, times they were a-changing, and with the advent of plastic which was much lighter and easier to manufacture, the venture fell flat.
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This was a bloody time in the history of the city and led to the change from Police Director to Chief. The Chief was a sworn officer. There was friction between the mechanization of the plants and unskilled labor that used Poles and Italians in the pottery. Folks like your dad were said to be highly skilled and were the guild members who were being displaced by the new workers, hence the bloodshed. Strikes by the Poles and Italians were met by force at the direction of the Mayor and Police Director. Sad, seeing this change back to "Directors" and the corruption that seems to come with it.
Ed Millerick
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