Glidden Parker

Glidden Pottery was founded in 1940 by Glidden Parker, a graduate student at the New York State College of Ceramics in Alfred, New York. The pottery is unique stoneware that was made using cutting edge technology at the time: the ream press and slip casts. Parker was both the founder and one of the designers, along with another Alfred Ceramics student, Fong Chow.

Both dinnerware and art ware were produced. Parker marketed the stoneware to middle class Americans. A 16-piece undecorated starter set was sold for a very affordable $14.50. Though production was tremendous with over 6000 pieces manufactured a week, each piece was individually glazed and some were hand-decorated with stunning, simplistic designs.

The venture began in the studio of well-known Alfred ceramics professor Marion Fosdick on North Main Street in Alfred and was later moved into its own building. The stoneware was molded from a mixture of clays from New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, fired at very high temperatures, then glazed and decorated. The Glidden line was sold in fine department stores like Bloomingdale’s, Bergdoff Goodman and Marshall Fields across the U.S. misshapen or nicked pieces, “seconds” were stored in three Alfred-area barns where they remained unseen for years. An interesting side note to the Glidden story is that in 1949, two brothers, Paul and Morris Secon, loaded up the family station with the Glidden seconds that were “in storage,” paying $2500 for 2500 pieces, and began the now famous chain “The Pottery Barn” in Manhattan.

Glidden Parker first focused on designs intended for floral arrangements, moving into serving pieces later. In 1940, only 1-2 craftsmen were employed to make 3000 pieces in Alfred. By 1943, Glidden Pottery was established in the national gift market scene, and had 8-10 employees. By 1944, 150,000 pieces were manufactured annually, which increased to 6000/week by 1946 with 55 employees. While Gliddenware was affordable, it was also considered very chic among household accessories.

Gliddenware was soon an integral part of Americana, with pieces frequently seen on television series like “I Love Lucy and “Perry Mason.” Lucille Ball extinguished her cigarette in a Glidden Pottery shirred egg server in a show in 1951! The pottery was also frequently used by food giants like Campbell Soups and Hormel Chile in popular magazine ads to showcase their food products.

So what happen to make Glidden Parker shut down the Alfred factory in 1958? His statement read that is because of difficult market conditions due to large-scale importations of pottery from Europe, and especially Japan, and in the face of general recession in gift and dinnerware merchandising, and rising taxes and labor costs.” While the factory closed, Glidden Galleries, the retail shop in Alfred, remained open and controlled by Parker until 1970. Under new owners and with a new name, the shop is still there today and carries local potter’s wares. The original factory was demolished to make way for the expansion of Alfred University.

Source: Cynthia, Dutton. “Glidden Parker’s Granddaughter Seeking to Remanufacture Select Pieces of Her Grandfather’s Glidden Pottery,” Patriot and Free Press, July 19-25 2017. (Transcribed by Cheryl Mueller and posted by Allegany Historical Society. Accessed June 29, 2021. https://www.alleganyhistory.org/index.php/places/towns-and-villages/a-e274/alfred271/related-articles66/3577-glidden-parker-s-granddaugher-seeking-to-remanufacture-select-pieces-of-her-grandfather-s-glidden-pottery