Syracuse China, located in

Lyncourt, New York Lyncourt is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 4,250 at the 2010 census. Lyncourt is in the town of Salina. Geography Lyncourt is located at (43.080266, -76.122450). Accordi ...

(a suburb of Syracuse), was a manufacturer of fine china. Founded in 1871 as Onondaga Pottery Company (O.P. Co.) in the town of Geddes, the company initially produced

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...

; in the late 19th century, O.P.Co., began producing fine china, for which it found a strong market particularly in hotels, restaurants, and railroad dining cars. Later changing their name to match their product line, the company closed in 2009.

History

In 1841, W. H. Farrar started a small pottery business in the town of

Geddes, New York Geddes is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 17,118 at the 2010 census. The Town of Geddes is west of the neighborhood of Far Westside of Syracuse. The town is a western suburb of Syracuse. History The ...

. Seventeen years later he moved the business to the location of what would become the Onondaga Pottery Company and eventually Syracuse China. Mr. Farrar produced

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jugs, butter crocks, and mixing bowls in

stoneware Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refracto ...

. A few years later the Empire Pottery company was organized to take over the Farrar Pottery. A line of "whiteware" for table use was added. Like most pottery of the time, it was susceptible to "

crazing Crazing is the phenomenon that produces a network of fine cracks on the surface of a material, for example in a glaze layer. Crazing frequently precedes fracture in some glassy thermoplastic polymers. As it only takes place under tensile stress, ...

" - small cracks in the glazed surface. The company struggled along until 1871 at which time Onondaga Pottery Company was organized and took over. Popular taste demanded a finer

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

tableware Tableware is any dish or dishware used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. It includes cutlery, List of glassware, glassware, serving dishes, and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variet ...

than the heavy pottery made by these companies. Onondaga Pottery started producing a heavy earthenware called "Ironstone" but struggle to succeed. In 1873, they began manufacturing a "white

graniteware Frederick Gottlieb Niedringhaus (October 21, 1837 – November 25, 1922) was a German-born American businessman and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from Missouri. Early life Frederick Gottlieb Niedringhaus was born on October 21 ...

" and then in 1885 a semi-vitreous ware. A year later they replaced this with high fired china and a guarantee that the glaze would not crackle or craze - the first time American-made tableware carried such a warranty. It was at this point, 45 years after the start of pottery production in Syracuse that the pottery business showed a stable and profitable prospect. Under President James Pass, O.P.Co. developed a new china body and won the medal for translucent china at the

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in Chicago in 1893. Around 1888, Pass developed the a vitreous, translucent, and non-absorbent clay body. It was released to the public after 1890 as ''Imperial Geddo'', and made the company the industry leader. The company also manufactured electrical porcelain circuit breakers and insulators. In 1897 production turned to the vitreous china body. Its first colored china body, "Old Ivory," appeared in 1926. The company thrived with its hotel and railroad sales. The narrow-bodied "Econo-Rim" was tailored for the cramped table space of dining cars. Highly sought after collectible patterns sell regularly on

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and at estate sales. Onondaga officially changed their name to Syracuse China in 1966 after their most popular line of products. The company was renowned for its fine china designs until 1970 when it limited its production to mostly restaurant dinnerware.

Syracuse China of Canada

In 1959 the Syracuse China Corp. acquired a controlling interest in Vandesca Pottery, Ltd. of

Joliette, Quebec Joliette is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of Greate ...

. Their factory, opened in 1947, was Canada's sole manufacturer of vitrified commercial china. After the merger they would be known as Vandesca-Syracuse Ltd. and the size of the factory would be more than doubled with 100 employees by the late 1960s. The plant would close in 1994 and the site has been divided into smaller industrial and commercial tenants.

End of production

On April 9, 2009, after 138 years of production, the Syracuse China factory was shut down by Libbey, Inc. and all production of Syracuse China moved from North America. At that time, the plant had 275 employees. On the last day of production, each employee was given a commemorative plate with a montage of images from throughout the company's history and eight of the company logos used over the course of the company's history. The face of the plate states, "Though the world may change around us, our history remains the same." The back of each plate was stamped "38-A," the last date stamp to appear on a Syracuse China product made in Syracuse. The "38" is code for the year it was made (1971, the company's centennial year, plus 38 years). The "A" stands for the first quarter of the year. The back of each plate also has text indicating it was one of the last "pieces to be made in Syracuse, N.Y." The archives and china collections were donated to the Onondaga Historical Association.

The "Turner-Over Club"

Syracuse China sponsored the Turner-Over Club (later the Turn-Over Club) as a promotion for decades. The company gave out membership cards, with the idea that wherever members traveled, they would "turn over" their dinnerware to see if it was Syracuse China; witnesses to this curious behavior would then be treated to the story of the club and thus introduced to the brand name.

References

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External links