FROM THE DESK OF OUR EDITOR
As
always, we hope we’ve included something to spark every collector’s interest.
There’s a 110th birthday tribute to Betty Harrington, “in
her own words”. . .memories of Betty’s final creation, M’amselle,
by our own “Mistress of M’amselles” Lisa
Louis. . . recollections of the first WPA Show, and a beautiful selection of
posters created for the event by CAS Collector Barbara Reed. . .a “Q & A”
all about those forlorn CAS Christmas figurines, Santa and
his Evergreen. . .a “Curious Collector” feature on “Christmas
Servers,” sure to help brighten your holiday decorating scheme. . .“As Betty
Intended,” with Betty’s own selection of Studio favorites you might want to
keep in mind when doing your holiday shopping. . .and, of course, the latest
doings of our irrepressible club mascot, Mr. Mouse! So ho-ho-ho – off we go!
AND THE
WINNER WAS. . .
Last
issue’s “CAS Trivia Contest” were “thoroughly modern.” Here
were the clues:
“We’re
tall and top-heavy, but even our long gowns don’t get in the way when we take
the stage, ready to dance the night away. Who are we?”
The
answer? That limber duo, the Dance Moderne Man & Woman. Our
first correct answer came from Sheri Knepel, who wrote: “I have never yet seen
these in person, but they look amazing in photos!” For her prize-winning
efforts, Sheri selected our 2010 Commemorative, the CAS Piggy Bank.
Congrats, Sheri!
AND THE
NEXT CONTEST IS. . .
This
time around, our “CAS Trivia Contest” takes on a seasonal
flair. Here are the clues:
“I’m
definitely small enough to fit down your chimney, so I’ll be visiting your
house on Christmas Eve, Don’t know if my
tree will fit, though!”
Think
you know the answer? Well, of course you do! As always, you’ll find the
solution included somewhere within the articles of
this issue. Once you’ve located it, rush your response to Editor Don
Johnson (donaldbrian@msn.com). The lucky winner will receive a Convention
Commemorative of his or her choice. (Check the Classified listings, to see
what’s available. Sorry, we’re now out of Piggy Banks!) Who will it
be? Maybe you!
A SELFIE
WITH YOUR “FAV”: ANITA AND “LITTLE BOY BLUE”
In our
Spring issue, we asked members to send in selfies, showing you
with your absolute favorite CAS figurine. President Hank got things
going, proudly displaying his entire CAS collection: the Mouse &
Cheese. Bunny Lenburg was our Summer participant, posing with the CAS Bride.
Now it’s Anita Guzik-Miller’s turn. You’ll see her on the cover of this issue
with her favorite from the CAS lineup, Little Boy Blue. Here’s why
Anita is so taken with him:
“I like
‘Little Boy Blue’ because even though he’s a common CAS piece, there are are various versions available. Some have striped
socks, some have checked, striped or solid blue shirts. Plus, he fits the
narrowest shelf, and matches well in any outdoor CAS scenario. And, well. . .I
just like him!”
And we
like him, too! Thanks, Anita! Now it’s up to the rest of you to send those
selfies our way. Just email them to
Editor Don (donaldbrian@msn.com), with
a brief description. We’ll be looking forward to your pix!
A
WONDERFUL TIME WITH THE WPA
Although
no CAS Collectors Convention was held this, year our club was well-represented
at the Wisconsin Pottery Association Show & Sale on August 26th in Madison.
From our table in the Alliant Energy Center, your Editor and
President Hank greeted the many show-goers interested in learning more about
our group and its activities. Plus, as always, there were plenty of wonderful
items to be admired (and purchased) from dealers at the show! Thanks to the WPA
for sponsoring this terrific event since 1996, and for the ongoing opportunity
to be a part of it!
WANTED:
YOUR NEWSLETTER INPUT! YOUR ANTIQUE MALL FAVORITES!
Would
you like to be featured in an upcoming CAS Collectors Quarterly “Chat
Room?” Hopefully, the answer is “yes,” because your fellow club members want to
hear from you! An easy-as-can-be interview form is included with this
newsletter (and can also be found on our website, www.cascollectors.com) Just fill it
out when convenient, and return it to Editor Don Johnson at the address (email
or regular mail) given on the form.
And, if
you have a favorite antique shop or mall, send us their info. We’d love to
feature them in an upcoming issue!
LETTERS,
WE GET LETTERS
It’s
always great to hear from fellow CAS Collectors, with comments on
our club. Jane Wilkinson Stevens recently wrote:
“I hope this
finds you well and living your best life! My sisters and I have had so much fun
at past Conventions. We appreciate all the work you put into this event!”
Thanks,
Jane! We also received these kind words from longtime Ceramic Arts Studio
champion, and Betty Harrington’s good friend, B A
Wellman:
“I know
I’ve said this before, but your newsletter is top notch! Every time I read (or
re-read), I’m so impressed with the job you all do. It’s a comfort to me to
know that Betty’s talents and flawless personality will continue to be
legendary!”
We’re
grateful for your praise, B A, and for the ongoing opportunity to honor the
legacy of Betty Harrington and her work. Many thanks! (By the way, check out
the Christmas wreath on our cover, with a small mouse peeping out – maybe Mr.
M.? B A provided the card, noting that he and Betty would send each
other cards featuring mice in the cover art as “sort of a back-and-forth joke.”
This one was just right for our holiday issue!)
FROM A
DECORATOR’S KITCHEN
A
highlight of CAS Collectors Quarterly is always another
mouthwatering recipe from Marlys! Yes, there’s nothing more taste-tempting than
details on preparing a delicious treat, courtesy of one of our favorite CAS
decorators, Marlys Wilkinson!
During
their years at CAS, Marlys and her co-workers exchanged many recipes, which
we’ve included in previous newsletters. After awhile,
those ran out – but Marlys was kind enough to provide us with additional
delicious recipes from her own kitchen, plus tried-and-true recipes from her
favorite cookbooks. Here’s one from Dining With The
Daltons, ideal to put on the menu for holiday entertaining:
ROQUEFORT
CHEESE BALL
1 3-oz.
wedge Roquefort Cheese
1 10-oz
medium Cheddar Cheese, grated
1 12-oz. Cream
Cheese
1 medium onion,
minced
1 tsp Worcestershire
Sauce
1 cup fine
chopped pecans
Grate
cheddar cheese. Let cheese soften at room temperature. Combine cheese, onion,
Worcestershire Sauce, and blend well. Stir or mix in 1/4 cup pecans. Shape into
1 large ball or 2 small balls. Roll cheese balls into pecans and shape. Place on aluminum foil in freezer. Reshape before completely
frozen. (Between servings, reshape and freeze; otherwise the onion and sauce will cause the cheese to
mold.) To freeze, wrap completely in aluminum foil.
Marlys
notes that for Christmas 2008, “Gene made this in the shape of a gift.” We’re
sure it was a gift everyone wanted to share!
By the way, a very “Happy Birthday” to
Marlys, who recently celebrated her 94th! Here’s to many more happy
years ahead, from all your CAS Collectors friends!
--
And now
– time to enjoy what we hope will be one of your favorite Christmas presents –
the Holiday edition of CAS Collectors Quarterly! May the
season be a wonderful one, for you and yours!
Donald-Brian
Johnson
Editor
REMEMBERING REUBEN
By Donald-Brian Johnson
Reuben
Sand, founder of Ceramic Arts Studio, died on October 21, 2005
of double pneumonia. As per his wishes, Mr. Sand’s ashes were distributed in
Half Moon Bay, near his San Mateo, California home. On November 4th,
Reuben Sand would have celebrated his 90th birthday.
The
story of Mr. Sand and the Studio has, over the years, been told so many times
that it has assumed the status of familiar legend. How, in 1940,
Reuben and potter Lawrence Rabbitt teamed up to turn a deserted lean-to on
Madison’s Blount Street into the loftily-named
“Ceramic Arts Studio”. How the Studio’s early hand-thrown pots met with little
success (and how many of them leaked!) How a chance meeting in 1941
with the amazing designer Betty Harrington led Reuben and the Studio in an
entirely new direction—the creation of figural ceramics. And how,
thanks to Betty’s talent for design, and Reuben’s talent for production and
marketing, the little lean-to in Madison soon became the nation’s top supplier
of decorative ceramics.
What’s
often forgotten is just how young Reuben Sand was when he
embarked on his CAS venture—only 25. And, while collectors see the
Studio years—from 1940 until 1955—as an endless source of study and enjoyment,
for Reuben Sand this was just one stop along the way, in a long and successful
life and career.
That may
be why, for many years, Mr. Sand resisted the urge to reminisce about Studio
days—he had, after all, done so much more! Collectors were overjoyed
when, in 1993, Reuben agreed to travel to Madison for the first-ever
comprehensive Ceramic Arts Studio exhibit, sponsored by the Wisconsin Pottery
Association. A touching, final reunion between entrepreneur Reuben and designer
Betty was a highlight of the occasion. Then it was back to
California, and on with life.
When it
came time to begin work on our book Ceramic Arts Studio: The Legacy of
Betty Harrington, my co-authors and I felt it was extremely important
to include current commentary by the man who started it all—Reuben
Sand. We already had, thanks to Betty Harrington’s diligence, and
the generosity of her family, extensive materials documenting her part of the
story. Thanks to CAS researcher Roseann Lindner, we also had detailed
recollections by Lawrence Rabbitt. We’d spoken with many past Studio
workers. What we needed was Reuben.
Every
several weeks, I called and left a message at the contact number I’d been
given. For months there was no response. Then one morning, the phone rang. I
picked it up, and a deep, somewhat gravelly voice said, “This is Reuben Sand.
Why do you keep calling me?”
I
explained who I was, and the project I was working on. There was a pause, then
Reuben began to express his doubts. He’d “been interviewed before”; they “always got it wrong”; they “never asked
the right questions” and “never let him read it first”.
This
went on for awhile. When there was a lull, I
assured him that we had something different in mind. We planned on using his
comments in the first person, just as he conveyed them, editing only for length
or repetition. He would see the material before it went to print,
and would have the right to correct (or delete) anything inaccurate.
Another
pause. I could tell he was considering the idea. Then he continued: “What if my
comments don’t agree with what other people say?”
“Well,”
I replied, “folks will have the opportunity to read both, and can make up their
own minds.”
Whether
that did the trick (or whether he was just tired of talking to me), Mr. Sand
agreed. I was to send him a list of the questions I would be asking.
He would call me at a set date and time, and answer those (and only those)
questions. “And I want a transcript.”
“No
problem,”, I said, (instantly hoping to avail myself of Roseann Lindner’s
transcription talents).
And so it began. On the set day, at the set time, the
phone rang. I switched on the recorder. “Hello. This is Reuben
Sand. Question number one---Donald-Brian Johnson asks. . . . Question number one---Reuben Sand replies. . . .”
Oh boy,
I thought. Is this going to be tedious. But I’d put
together what I felt were some pretty good questions, and at least we’d have
those first-person responses, even if they were being read from a carefully
prepared script.
I tuned back
in, just as Reuben was intoning a very lengthy explanation of how he met Larry Rabbitt, and determined to start a business. “We found
an empty lean-to at 12 North Blount Street that was 50 feet long by
25 feet wide, and at the time was used for storing rebars. . .”
“What
are rebars?” I interrupted, in spite of myself.
“That’s
not on the question list,” said Reuben, and continued: “Lawrence wanted
the name of the pottery to be called the ‘Ceramic Arts Studio’. . .”
“Why?”
“I
answer that in question number 5.”
“Oh”.
There
was a pause. “But I suppose I might as well talk about it now. Larry had been making a few items such as ashtrays and bowls and
little pots, and fashioned himself to be working in a ‘studio’—had sort of a
nice ring to it—an ‘arts studio’. I simply said, ‘if you think that is a good
name, OK’. Later on, people wondered how this ‘arts
studio’ was kicking out thousands of pieces—there must have been a lot of
artists hard at work!”
He
chuckled, off script, and enjoying the recollection. From that moment on, the
question-and answer list was forgotten, and the
memories poured forth fast and furious.
This was
just the first of many wonderful phone conversations I had with Reuben Sand.
Over the next several years, we’d talk on a regular basis. Sometimes I’d call,
to make sure I was explaining a particular facet of Studio life correctly.
Sometimes he’d call, to clarify or expand on a previous response, or to tell me
to look for “a package on its way” (thanks to Reuben, original Studio catalogs,
copyrights, photos, and the like soon added to our treasure trove of research
material.)
Sometimes,
one or the other of us would call “just to talk”. And, true to my
word, I always kept a transcript.
When our
book was ready for print, I sent Reuben’s sections to him, as promised, for his
approval. He was effusive in his praise, offering few corrections, and asking
only for the elimination of one brief anecdote. (An early CAS worker
had an unhealthy fondness for knives and other sharp objects. Reuben had found
the story amusing when he first told it to me, but now thought it might be best
removed. “Who knows?”, he said, “that girl may still be
around. And she may still have those knives!”)
Basking
in Mr. Sand’s praise, I couldn’t resist adding, “and your words are just as you
said them—I’m sure you checked the transcripts.”
“Oh”,
replied Reuben, “I never read those. I just wanted to see if you would keep
your promise.”
Reuben
Sand was easily one of the most fascinating, entertaining people I’ve met in my
life—and I never even had the opportunity to meet him in
person! Imagine the response he must have evoked in those who knew
him and worked with him first-hand. Over and over in my research for
our book, I would encounter former Studio workers who would describe Reuben as
“the best boss”, and CAS as “the best job ever”. Somebody
was doing something right—and that somebody was Reuben Sand.
I once asked
Reuben if he ever gave much thought to the Studio “legacy”. A moment or two
went by, and then he said, “You know, one of my biggest worries used to be that
two thousand years from now some geologist would be digging, and nothing could
be found but Ceramic Arts Studio figurines. And the pundits of the time would
say, ‘in the years 1940-1960 or so, this was the state of the civilization that
existed.’ A pretty good state though. Better than a lot of things they could be
digging up. You know, I have so many fond memories of Ceramic Arts Studio and
those I worked with. They were all solid, wonderful people. I guess
I am just one of the luckiest guys in the world.”
We were
the lucky ones, Reuben. Our thanks, for a life
well-lived.
