Stangl Pottery Mold Rescue – 1997
By Diana E. Bullock-Runge
In October, 1997, Rob was given the unique opportunity as a Stangl Pottery historian and preservationist to remove the original Stangl molds which had been stored in a turn-of-the-century warehouse in Millville, NJ since the cease of Stangl production in l978. This building was slated for demolition and for the sake of preserving them; Rob embarked on a Stangl mold rescue. Many of these were distributed to the Trenton City Museum and the State Museum of New Jersey for their historic displays.
Rob,
with the help of his 77-year-old grandmother and myself made several trips
throughout October and November of that year to Millville in an attempt to
rescue as many historically important molds as possible. It was filthy
backbreaking work but one of the most worthwhile projects I have ever been
involved in doing. Sadly, the effects of years of neglect and a leaking roof and
improper packing nearly twenty years before had left many of the molds in
disastrous ruin. In spite of this, there were still thousands of molds worth
preserving.
In addition to the Stangl molds, saggars, and ware-boards stored in this
building, Frank Wheaton jammed it full of fantastic architectural relics, bits
and pieces of Americana gleaned from local historic dwellings, post offices,
commercial buildings an
d
railroad stations. Realizing the full value of the contents of this building,
which also included several mountainous piles of Wheaton bottles, I contacted
Mr. Wheaton and proposed a liquidation of these goods under my company’s
direction. He quickly agreed and these relics were transported off-site and
auctioned off. Despite torrential rainfall that day, we attracted hungry bidders
from seven states. Once again, history was preserved as these wonderful things
found new homes and did not suffer the wrecking ball.
Besides the molds distributed to the two Trenton museums, several hundred were donated to the Stangl/Fulper Collectors Club for their use, but they face an uncertain future as continuing funds for their storage may no longer be allocated. Still, hundreds more have been safely stored on family property for Rob’s ongoing research for his various historically important educational projects and future books.
Recently,
we received word from the new owners of Wheaton Industries that the building
still stood. Although greatly deteriorated and in threat of collapse, we were
allowed just one more trip inside. With hardhats and steel tipped shoes we
ventured into the cavernous building but were ever mindful of just how dangerous
our surroundings were. A few bumps and skinned shins later we emerged with
enough molds, saggars and other tools of the pottery trade to create our planned
"living" museum display. More details of that trip can be found in the
November Newsletter of the Stangl Bird Collectors Club at www.stanglbird.com.
Seen
in the accompanying photos are views of the exterior of the building as well as
the interior with its stacks and stacks of molds, saggars and ware-boards. We
were able to save many of the things you see here but too, too many will face
the wrecking ball. Stangl History lives there!!
