Boston Valley & Homer Laughlin China – Two American Ceramic Manufacturers
The Homer Laughlin China Co. was recently featured in NPR’s American Made Series as an excellent example of an American manufacturing company that has been in constant operation since it’s founding in 1873. Many people know of Homer Laughlin’s Fiesta pottery line, fewer are aware of the companies deep history in developing the first major whiteware manufacturing plant in the United States. This whiteware is now a standard of excellence for many hotel and restaurant operations who are the primary consumers of this product.
Boston Valley is proud to have two connects to Homer Laughlin: first our shared history as a long-standing American ceramic manufacturer; and second our use of rejected Homer Laughlin whiteware as a raw material in our clay mixture. Previously fired ceramic material, known as grog, is one component of the terra cotta clay recipe. Boston Valley purchases rejected pieces and scrap from Homer Laughlin, grinds the pieces up, and mixes this with our own recycled material to add to our clay mixtures. This industrial recycling process provides LEED credit opportunities for owners and architects interested in green products!
Plates, cups, bowls and other dinnerware rejected during Homer Laughlin’s QC process are shipped to Boston Valley to be ground up and put into terra cotta clay recipes.
