Hobbies And Interests
Starting With Soap
The story of buffalo pottery began in the 1870s when John Durrant Larkin and his brother-in-law, Elbert Hubbard, began working together at a Chicago soap factory. Larkin soon developed his own soap recipe, and Larkin's Creme Oatmeal Soap was born. In 1875, Larkin began manufacturing his soap. Hubbard signed on as a partner in 1878, and the Larkin Soap Company was born. Larkin focused on making soap; Hubbard took the reins of the company's marketing department. In 1885, the company began selling soap directly to its customers, offering premium items with purchase. The first item offered was a set of six silver teaspoons. Kerosene lamps with silk shades followed. In 1890, Hubbard came up with the idea to sell the soaps to women's groups. Soon after, the Larkin Soap Company opened a pottery division and began offering a coupon for a soap dish with the purchase of Larkin soap. The soap dish was so popular that Larkin decided to expand its line of pottery.
Rapid Expansion
In 1901, the Larkin Soap Company decided to expand its buffalo pottery division into a company of its own as demand for the pottery continued its meteoric rise. In the beginning, the buffalo pottery plant operated just nine kilns. The company expanded its pottery line to include other types of dishware. In 1909, the Buffalo China Company had 19 different types of pitchers. By 1911, the pottery company employed 250 people. By 1911, buffalo pottery was being exported to 27 countries and during the 1914 to 1918 war, the company turned to the manufacture of hotel china. The initial popularity of Larkin's soap dishes led to increased soap sales that allowed the Larkin Company to expand quickly. In 1904, Larkin decided to open a new office building and hired famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design the structure. The building was completed in 1907. By 1914, the Larkin Soap Company employed 2,500 people.
A Change of Pace
Though it got its start in the kitchens of homemakers, the Buffalo China Company soon began marketing its product for commercial use. In 1914, the company started a line of dinnerware specifically for restaurants, hotels and railroad dining cars. The company stopped producing dinnerware for residential customers in the late 1920s and sold its product exclusively to commercial buyers. Today, collectors seeking their own piece of buffalo pottery look for the trademark buffalo image on the bottom of the dinnerware.
Buffalo Pottery Today
The Buffalo China Company, today known as Buffalo China, Inc., eventually became one of the largest dinnerware suppliers for the restaurant industry. In the 1980s, the company was purchased by the Oneida, a manufacturer of stainless steel flatware. Today, dinnerware manufacturers are still capitalizing on the Buffalo China name. William-Sonoma currently has a line of dinnerware modeled after one of the Buffalo China Company's designs from the 1940s. Collectors of buffalo pottery can expect to pay up to $1,000 for a single piece of the company's original china.