| Industry | Kitchenware |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | The Pfaltzgraff Co. |
| Founded | 1811 in York County, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Founder | Johann George Pfaltzgraff |
| Parent | Lifetime Brands |
| Website | www |
Pfaltzgraff is an American kitchenware brand of dinnerware, serveware, drinkware and flatware.
It is commonly reported that the Pfaltzgraff company was founded in 1811 in York County, Pennsylvania, [1] by several members of the Pfaltzgraff family who were potters. The most notable member was Johann George Pfaltzgraff, who arrived in York County from Germany in 1833. Johann knew the trade well and passed his skills on to his seven sons. After Johann died in 1873, the family business was carried on by three of his children: John, George, and Henry. The business became official in 1889 when George and Henry started a partnership that would become The Pfaltzgraff Co. The first factory was built in 1895.
The business continued to grow, and in 1960, Pfaltzgraff opened their first retail store under the name Pottery Hill. During the 1950s and 1960s, the products were mostly sold in specialty stores, but in the 1970s, the business made a strategic decision to sell in higher-end department stores, such as G. Fox & Co. and Macy's.
The Pfaltzgraff Co. was sold to Lifetime Brands, Inc. in 2005. [2] At its height, the company owned and operated 67 stores throughout the U.S., as well as an online presence at www.pfaltzgraff.com. In 2009, Lifetime Brands opted to close all 67 stores and maintain sales only through their Internet presence.
The company continues to produce a product line currently consisting of dinnerware, glassware, flatware, and other kitchen preparatory and cooking tools.
Several lines of Pfaltzgraff glazed earthenwares have featured among the 100 most popular ceramic designs. [3]
A large mural depicting Pfaltzgraff's history was painted in York, Pennsylvania in 1998.
Lenox Corporation is an American manufacturing company that sells tableware, giftware, and collectible products under the Lenox, Dansk, Reed & Barton, Gorham, and Oneida brands. For most of the 20th century, it was the most prestigious American maker of tableware, as well as making decorative pieces. Several china services were commissioned for the White House. By 2020, it was the last significant manufacturer of bone china in the United States, until the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of the company's only remaining American factory.
Oneida Limited is an American manufacturer and seller of tableware and cutlery. Oneida is one of the world's largest designers and sellers of stainless steel and silverplated cutlery and tableware for the consumer and foodservice industries. It is also the largest supplier of dinnerware to the foodservice industry in North America. The company operates in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, marketing and distributing tabletop products, which include flatware, dinnerware, crystal stemware, glassware and kitchen tools and gadgets. The factory in upstate NY was sold to Liberty Tabletop, who is the sole manufacturer of US made flatware. The company originated in the late-nineteenth century in the Oneida Community in Oneida, New York.
Russel Wright was an American industrial designer. His best-selling ceramic dinnerware was credited with encouraging the general public to enjoy creative modern design at table with his many other ranges of furniture, accessories, and textiles. The Russel and Mary Wright Design Gallery at Manitoga in upstate New York records how the "Wrights shaped modern American lifestyle".
Johnson Brothers was a British tableware manufacturer and exporter that was noted for its early introduction of "semi-porcelain" tableware. It was among the most successful Staffordshire potteries which produced tableware, much of it exported to the United States, from the 1890s through to the 1960s. They were also important manufacturers of large bathroom ceramics. Some of its designs, such as "Eternal Beau", "Dawn", "Old Britain Castles" and "Historic America", achieved widespread popularity and are still collected today. The company's success was due in part to its ability to identify and follow trends that appealed to its customers in the United States, and in part to the high quality of its designs, produced by skilled artists.
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The Hall China Company was an American ceramics manufacturer located in East Liverpool, Ohio, United States. At the time of its closure, Hall China was one of two potteries under the HLC Inc. brand, the other being Homer Laughlin China. In 2020, it was announced that the Hall China facility would be closed by February 2021 to reduce overhead in the now Fiesta Tableware Company, as the Hall China brand itself had been sold to Steelite International earlier in the year. Hall China is still produced as a food service brand by Steelite, but no longer operates as an independent brand in retail.
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Johann George Pfaltzgraff or Pfaltzgraf was a German-American potter and businessman. He is recognized as the first potter in the Pfaltzgraff family of potters in the United States. Pfaltzgraff Pottery Co. is known as the oldest pottery company in the USA. Lifetime Brands purchased the business in 2005.
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Franciscan Ceramics are ceramic tableware and tile products produced by Gladding, McBean & Co. in Los Angeles, California, US from 1934 to 1962, International Pipe and Ceramics (Interpace) from 1962 to 1979, and Wedgwood from 1979 to 1983. Wedgwood closed the Los Angeles plant, and moved the production of dinnerware to England in 1983. Waterford Glass Group plc purchased Wedgwood in 1986, becoming Waterford Wedgwood. KPS Capital Partners acquired all of the holdings of Waterford Wedgwood in 2009. The Franciscan brand became part of a group of companies known as WWRD, an acronym for "Wedgwood Waterford Royal Doulton." WWRD continues to produce the Franciscan patterns Desert Rose and Apple.
Catalina Pottery is the commonly used name for Catalina Clay Products, a division of the Santa Catalina Island Company, which produced brick, tile, tableware and decorative pottery on Santa Catalina Island, California. Catalina Clay Products was founded in 1927. Gladding, McBean & Co. acquired all of the assets of the company in 1937 and moved all production to its Franciscan dinnerware division in Los Angeles.
Kate Spade New York is an American luxury fashion house founded in January 1993 by Kate and Andy Spade. In 2017, the company was purchased by Tapestry, Inc., formerly known as Coach, Inc.
The Shawnee Pottery Company was a manufacturing company best known for producing Corn King pottery and the Pennsylvania Dutch lines of pottery. Both of these lines are considered highly collectible.
Sherrill Manufacturing, Inc. (SMI), which operates under the brand name Liberty Tabletop, is a manufacturer of flatware located in Sherrill, New York. The company was founded in 2005 when Matt Roberts and Greg Owens bought the factory and equipment from their former employer, Oneida Limited, once they had ceased manufacturing in the facility. It sells its flatware and other home goods to consumers under the brand Liberty Tabletop.
R. Wallace & Sons was formed in Wallingford, Connecticut, and incorporated in 1879. As of 1893, this company manufactured silver and plated ware and cutlery and had about 600 employees.
Stangl Pottery was a company in Flemington, New Jersey, that manufactured a line of dinnerware and other items. The company was originally founded as Samuel Hill Pottery in 1814, until 1860 when it became Fulper Pottery. The name changed to Stangl Pottery in 1955. The company ceased production and closed in 1978, but the dinnerware is still prized by collectors. Pieces can be identified by the Stangl name on the bottom. The original Flemington, New Jersey, location and showroom was bought in May 2011 to make space for a restaurant, a studio, and an art gallery.
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