2/14/99

Mt. Pleasant collector unearths handmade stoneware treasures

By Genna McLaughlin

TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Joe Bush spotted this beauty covered in mud at a yard sale.

It was sitting on a shelf in the garage, a piece of refuse dug out of the ground near an old outhouse. It wasn't for sale, the owner said - until Bush offered the right price and walked away with the decades-old clay milk jug.

To him, it's a treasure, like the 35 other pieces of stoneware he keeps in his Mt. Pleasant home.

They are all survivors of the glassware boom of the '30s and '40s, when thousands of handmade stoneware pieces were destroyed to make room for glass replacements.

The dull, earth-toned crocks made all over southwestern Pennsylvania were thrown down outhouse holes, used for target practice or smashed under foot.

Decades later, the pieces that survived - like the one Bush handles gingerly now - are hunted by collectors who will travel far and pay hundreds, sometimes thousands, for the pieces they admire for their beauty, their craftsmanship and, of course, their value.

"For an average run-of-the-mill crock, you'll pay from $100 to $150," said Phil Shaltenbrand, a pottery and stoneware expert from Scenery Hill, Washington County.

Depending on the rarity of the piece or its creator, common houseware goods can sell for as much as $3,000 to $4,000.

Does that sound like too much for a piece of clay that was common in the 19th century and considered crude for most of the 20th?

Not the way Shaltenbrand looks at it.

"It's a good investment," he said. "If you can buy something for $1,000 and sell it for $2,000 in a year, that's a good investment."

One private collector paid $18,000 for an A.V. Boughner stone jar made in Greensboro, Greene County, in the late 19th century, Shaltenbrand said.

Not bad for a crock that probably cost $1 in the 1950s.

"Can you believe at one time there was a concerted effort to destroy these crocks?" Shaltenbrand said.

"I want to cry" just thinking about it, said Bush as he listened to Shaltenbrand re-create the history he has researched and compiled in two books on stoneware. "Old Pots," published in 1978 by Everybodys Press, and "Stoneware of Southwestern Pennsylvania," published by University of Pittsburgh Press in 1996, can be ordered by calling (724) 945-6000. The cost for each is $12.95 and $22.95, respectively.

Bush, director of the truck driving program at Westmoreland County Community College, has been collecting pieces at garage sales, estate sales and antique shops for 10 years. The 50-year-old former truck driver took a liking to the crocks when a neighbor began collecting. Since then, it's turned into a passion that takes him all over searching for pieces that have become harder and harder to find.

"It's a hobby," he said. "Some people like golf."

Many people share the hobby with Bush. He discovered that last year when he and Shaltenbrand planned the first crockery lecture at WCCC. A classroom full of people showed up for what turned out to be four hours of discussion.

At 2 p.m. Saturday, Bush hopes so many people show up for the second crockery lecture at WCCC, they are forced to move from a classroom to the auditorium in Science Hall.

Shaltenbrand will speak and Bush's collection will be on display.

"All types of people collect," said Shaltenbrand, a retired ceramics teacher at California University of Pennsylvania.

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Crock talk

Phil Shaltenbrand, a pottery and stoneware expert from Scenery Hill, Washington County, will speak to the public 2 p.m. Saturday in Science Hall at Westmoreland County Community College. The private crockery collection belonging to Joe Bush of Mt. Pleasant, director of WCCC's truck driving program, will be on display. For more information, contact Bush at (724) 925-4298.