Why Collect L.F.

Why Collect Love Field Pottery?

There are many reasons people collect and their reasons for collecting are as diverse as the items themselves. The question I will attempt to answer is why someone would or should want to collect examples of Love Field Potteries. For those of you who do not like a good story I have included a cleft notes version at the bottom of the page.

My own collecting of Love Field developed out of frustration. While probably not the best reason for starting a collection it was a large influence in my decision to collect Love Field. A frustration born out of too many rainy days one might say. I had decided I was going to collect Texas pottery. I had it pictured in my mind; a marvelous collection of 19th century Texas manufactured salt, ash, and alkaline glazed crock, churns and jugs filling every nock and cranny of my "Office Library." What a wonderful image. Visions of Hunts, Leopards and Denton Counties crocks danced through my head. I knew what I wanted. Now go and acquire it.

This is where the trouble began. Finding these wonderful pieces is no easy feat. I was sure to find these wonderful pieces in every antique store I graced the door of. As the days turned to weeks and the weeks to months not a single Texas piece had made its way to the pristinely dusted and polished shelves of my new office. What I did find along the way was a lot of "brown jugs”, no name East Coast crocks and several costly lessons. I would call Glenn Hendrix up (a friend of mine, he might not like to admit to this, but its true) who has a fantastic collection of early Texas pottery and tell him about a wonderful find. I would then email him some pictures and when he would come by all I heard was".... this is why it isn't a Texas piece." After one such episode, like this while reflecting over a cold Diet Coke, I realized I had not brought a single piece of Texas pottery home. Upon further reflection I realized I had seen lots, by pottery collectors standards, of by God Texas pieces during my searches. They might not be salt, ash or even alkaline glazed but I could tell they were from Texas and no one could tell me they were not. Dallas Texas was stamped on them in large cobalt blue letters. Of course I am referring to all the Love Field pieces I had seen.

Here was the answer to my prayers. An item that was easy to identify, could be found with out a private appointment, and did not cost the same as the last down payment I made when purchasing my truck. So I decided while I was studying the finer aspects of early Texas pottery I would start picking up a few pieces of Love Field. And as they say "one thing lead to another" and here we are.

Now is opportune time to begin a Love Field Potteries collection because it is still available and relatively inexpensive. Furthermore, Love Field Potteries has many attributes that are sure to make it a true collectors piece. Mainly that it is utilitarian pottery and that it was manufactured in Dallas Texas. Utilitarian pottery is collectible by nature. Unlike many collectibles that have no functional use today utilitarian pottery is just that utilitarian and can be used as well as appreciated for its ascetic value. A crock or storage jar is no less useful today than it was 50 to 75 years ago. The items stored in these stoneware pieces might have changed but the need for storage items has not. Virtually every kitchen in the word has some type of canister set that the homeowner stores coffee, tea, sugar, and flour in. Why not has a canister set made of your straight wall crock collection? It does the same job and I bet your neighbors wont have the same set gracing their cabinets. Larger crocks can be used as trashcans, the base of a glass top table, receptacles for artificial flower arrangement and the list goes on and on. I have told many friends; I would rather buy an antique and use it for 20 years and, have it hold its value or appreciate and, then sell it; rather than, buy a modern item use it for 20 years and then throw it away or maybe sell it in a garage sale for twenty five cent.

Love Field Potteries is also collectible because it was made in Dallas, Texas. Items manufactured in Dallas and Texas have a huge local, regional and national following among collectors. The company stamp is also appealing due to its tie-in or cross over value with airplane collectors. Finally I believe it is a challenging area to collect that has a huge unknown factor associated with it. By this I mean. Due to the lack of knowledge of the potteries and their products one never knows what he or she might add to their collection after a day or weak end of hunting. The thrill of saying, "Look what I've found," with the knowledge or expectation that this piece might be a one of a kind or in the very least an extremely rare one, is exhilarating and motivating. Additionally, the wide variety of markings and stampings makes it possible to acquire unique items and build your collection over many years.

As older, and as the more "established" and traditional antiques become harder to find and more expensive, the masses begin to look at unusual, less collected, affordable items to collect. I feel Love Field Potteries could be that next big collectible. The time to build your collection is before the prices rise and the products themselves disappear from the open market.

Photo Courtesy Brian Garner & Michelle Gray

Why a website?

This may sound like a good line from a guy who wants to sell a lot of pottery but it is not. I have never sold a single piece I have bought so far. I might eventually sell a few duplicate pieces on ebay but that is solely due to space limitations. I truly enjoy collecting and exploring Love Field Potteries. As my collection grew it began to take on a life of its own and as did my interest in finding out more information about the pottery itself. The fact that I have a degree in History might also have had a hand in my desire to create this type of web site. Secondly, the more people I asked about Love Field Potteries the more I found out how little they knew about it or its products. I soon found that there was very little information available on Love Field Potteries and the little that was available was widely scattered. Thus I decided to put together this site. Hopefully this will enable others who collect or are interesting in collecting to exchange or gain information relevant to Love Field. Another reason for this site is the fact that I am a frustrated historian who found history a better avocation than a vocation, but I digress.

Cleft Note Version

Why Collect Love Field?

1) Easy to Identify.

2) Reasonably priced.

3) Can actually find enough to have a representative collection in several years.

4) Provides positive re-enforcement at the end of most antique hunting trips.

5) No special contacts needed.

6) "They aint makin' anymore of it."

7) It was made in Texas.

8) It is usable as well as "pretty to look at."

For those interested in submitting pictures or information to be included on this web site please email them to: Lovefieldpottery@aol.com

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