 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
-
Website updates
-
Fairs report
-
Cloud Glass on Ebay
-
Davidson during the Second World War
-
Reports from the Pottery Gazette
Cloud
Glass Website I
have not made any major changes since the beginning of the year when I added
the 1910 page. The introduction to the 1931 to 1945 registered design page has
been changed as I have obtained some new information about designs registered
in Australia. In the near future I will be adding the 1934 Walther Oralit
catalogue to the website and adding some more pages in the Davidson catalogue
section. Antique
Fairs The
only fair we have been to recently was the Art Deco fair at Liverpool Speke
Airport. No Cloud Glass there, but the fair was held in the old 1930s
departure building which has been converted into an Hotel. It is a wonderful
Art Deco building, which still retains some of its original features.
Definitely worth visiting if you have an interest in Art Deco Architecture. Cloud
Glass on Ebay Christmas
saw a slow down in the volume of Cloud Glass sold on Ebay in December. The
table below lists the items that were auctioned on Ebay in December. In
interpreting the table please note the following: I
have only included items which are available to the UK Sale
prices are in pounds sterling. A sale price of zero denotes the item did not
have any bids or failed to reach the reserve price.
Identification
is based on the photographs and descriptions given. I cannot
guarantee my interpretation is 100% accurate.
The
table has been sorted by item type and colour
‘Complete’
applies to Flower sets and trinket sets and denotes whether the set was
complete
No
regard has been made as to condition
Description Colour Complete Sale
Price EbayItemNo End
Date Source
Country Comment 279
- 6" Vase Green No £34.52 1308316606 17/12/2001 NZ 279
- 6" Vase Green No £132.89 1301687199 01/12/2001 UK 279
- 8" Vase Blue No £29.68 1305750396 13/12/2001 UK 279
- 8" Vase Purple/Amethyst No £82.84 1310970973 18/12/2001 UK Pair 279
- 8" Vase Green No £49.50 1310917227 21/12/2001 UK 279
- 10" Vase Amber No £0.00 1305119400 09/12/2001 SA 279
- 10" Vase Amber No £57.99 1301688371 01/12/2001 UK 1910
MD Flower Set Amber No £0.00 1305262410 10/12/2001 UK No
Flower Block 1910
MD Flower Set Amber No £0.00 1309565599 20/12/2001 UK No
Flower Block 1910
MD Flower Set Amber No £25.00 1304818586 08/12/2001 UK No
Flower Block 1910
BD Flower Set Amber Yes £17.25 1310670587 21/12/2001 AUS 1910
BD Flower Set Blue No £34.51 1309573703 20/12/2001 UK No
Plinth 1910
BD Flower Set Blue Yes £0.00 1305372815 10/12/2001 UK 1910
BD Flower Set Green No £0.00 1304209249 07/12/2001 USA No
Flower Block or Plinth 283
- 5" Powder Jar Amber No £0.00 1305392852 10/12/2001 AUS 283
- 5" Powder Jar Amber No £0.00 1313840264 31/12/2001 UK 283
- 5" Powder Jar Blue No £63.30 1306129755 14/12/2001 UK 283
- 5" Powder Jar Purple/Amethyst No £28.99 1313774032 30/12/2001 UK 283
- 7.5" Candlesticks Amber Yes £27.61 1308293156 10/12/2001 UK Pair 283S
- 2.5" Candlesticks Amber No £12.43 1301675303 01/12/2001 UK 283S
- 2.5" Candlesticks Green No £34.48 1314035137 31/12/2001 AUS Possibly
not frosted 283S
- 2.5" Candlesticks Orange No £10.35 1306613881 12/12/2001 AU Single Edith
31432 - 18cm Comport Sepia No £28.99 1301448711 01/12/2001 USA Edith
31432 - 18cm Comport Sepia No £27.61 1492119172 08/12/2001 HOL S/696
D 10" Amber No £27.61 1312460087 25/12/2001 NZ No
Plinth S/696
D 10" Amber No £15.44 1303597545 05/12/2001 AUS No
Flower Block S/696
D 10" Amber No £15.53 1304288026 07/12/2001 AUS No
Flower Block or Plinth 283
- 6" Bowl Purple/Amethyst No £31.78 1495242329 17/12/2001 UK No
Flower Block 1907T Purple/Amethyst No £72.01 1308249225 16/12/2001 UK Ribbon,
no bowl or frog 1907
TD 5" Flower Set Amber No £6.00 1310942853 23/12/2001 UK No
Flower Block or stand Zentrum
21799 Drainer Sepia Yes £0.00 1492118822 08/12/2001 HOL 293
Vase Amber No £22.50 1303367947 05/12/2001 AUS Flat
3 footed platter Topaz-Violet No £81.16 1313346459 28/12/2001 CAN Circular
Dish with impressed patter Sepia No £24.16 1499912251 27/12/2001 Can 8283
Trinket Set Amber No £44.87 1301679393 01/12/2001 UK Tray
(p) Large pot small pot + 2 pin dishes 8283
Trinket Set Amber Yes £82.84 1308293152 10/12/2001 UK 29/32
4" Bridge ashtrays Amber Yes £52.46 1303373094 05/12/2001 AUS All
Four 24
Hexagonal Plinth Purple/Amethyst No £24.85 1301681165 01/12/2001 UK 5P
Trinket Tray Amber No £0.00 1305392855 10/12/2001 AUS 5P
Trinket Tray Amber No £0.00 1313841126 31/12/2001 UK Chipped Rheingold
31439 Vase Sepia No £105.96 1492133617 08/12/2001 HOL 48
Ashtray Green No £17.26 1308234429 16/12/2001 UK Sowerby
Ashtray Purple/Amethyst No £6.00 1305983260 11/12/2001 UK 204
D 9" Flower Set Green No £17.00 1308608146 17/12/2001 UK No
Flower Block 1910
MG Flower Set Amber No £0.00 1311448452 25/12/2001 AUS No
Flower Block 34
SD 9.5" Flower Set Amber Yes £24.16 1312179675 27/12/2001 AUS Davidson
during the Second World War The
Second World War caused mixed fortunes for the Davidson Company. Higher costs
and loss of exports hit the company’s finances, but this was offset to some
extent by producing glassware and other products for the war effort. In the
financial year 1939-1940 they made their first loss - £3,258-11-6 after
adjustments. In 1942 an order came into force banning production of domestic
glassware except for tumblers, jugs, cans and cruets. The order also give them
the opportunity to realise some of their existing stock, which helped their
financial position for the following year. Shortage of manpower, higher costs
and lack of raw materials were to hit them, and other glass manufacturers,
throughout the war and for two or three years afterwards. The
impact of the war was felt very early on. In mid 1939, the local Medical
Officer for Gateshead requisitioned the company van. Initially they received
no compensation for it’s loss and were forced to buy a second hand Austin
van at a cost of £25. Eventually they were awarded 8/6p per day for the loss
of the van, which was returned to them early the following year. Costs also
increased early. In November 1939 Davidson purchased War Risk Insurance at £43-18-0
per year. They also spent £400-0-0 on a fire engine and a shed to house it. Air
Raid Precautions
become a new category in their accounts book. By law they had to spend money
on such things as air-raid shelters and blackout precautions. The
war also impacted their agents and commercial travellers. Petrol rationing hit
the commercial travellers very hard. The extra ration granted to them was so
small as to be of no use. On 10th May 1941 enemy bombing destroyed
their London Showroom. Also in 1941 Mr Tinsley, their Far East Representative,
was captured by the Germans. He had been acting for Davidson for only a short
period of time. Relationships
with other glass manufacturers was mixed. For example in November 1940, the
Davidson Company reported that: ‘Repeated
attempts had been made by Jobling to have some of our glassmakers compulsively
transferred to Sunderland to make tumblers for a government order which
Jobling had apparently accepted for quantities in excess of their ability to
produce. Up to the present we had successfully resisted these attempts but
only at a cost of exceptional amount of time and thought’ There
appears to have been a price agreement between the different companies. In
January 1941, Lauderdale of Sowerby informed Davidson that Bagley and Sowerby
had decided to increase the price of tumblers. Davidson followed with their
own price increase. At the same time Davidson and Sowerby were in discussion
about arrangements should either one of their factories be damaged by enemy
action. Fortunately bombing damaged neither, although the roof of the
glassworks was damaged by fire at one point. This was not caused by enemy
action. Toughened
Tumblers were a lifesaver for the Davidson Company during the war years. At
the end of 1939 J.K. Kimwold joined the technical staff at Davidson’s and
his first assignment was top develop production techniques for Toughened
tumblers. The Davidson Company agreed not to market toughened tumblers
themselves providing: Clayton
Meyers did take the full production and by 1942 the total production of
domestic glassware consisted of toughened tumblers and other cheaper lines. By
1943 turnover from Clayton Meyers was £37,000 per year of which £27,000 was
due to the sale of toughened tumblers. This compares with sales of £13,000 to
the Holophane Company who had a long established relationship with
Davidson’s (the first Holophane moulds were made on the 23rd July
1896). Davidson’s
contribution to the war effort included parts for naval gun mounts, bomb
suspension blocks, parts for tanks, brackets for aircraft seats and munitions.
Munitions production was worth £3,000 to the company in 1943. Glassware for
the war effort included runway lights, screens for radar sets lenses and glass
fronts for instruments. The
end of the war saw a slow return to normality. Initially there was a virtually
unlimited demand for glassware once restrictions were lifted. Exports quickly
returned, despite temporary import controls introduced by some countries. In
1946 the company estimated that the value of unexecuted export orders amounted
to £30,000, which was about 4 years work. Production was still initially
limited by a shortage of raw materials and labour. However, things quickly
improved and turnover rose rapidly. In 1947 turnover for the company was £164,000,
a rise of £31,000 over the previous year. The
Davidson Company always regarded themselves as primarily a manufacturer of
domestic glassware, and were concerned that they did not lose this identity.
Sales of their own glassware returned to around 50 to 60% of turnover after
the war. In 1947, the breakdown of their sales was as follows: Clayton
Meyers Toughened tumblers
£23759 Clayton
Meyers – general glassware
£3601 Holophane
£16382 Other
lighting glassware
£21329 Industrial
& non-domestic glassware
£16666 Geo.
Davidson Domestic
£82707 New
markets were found, but still Clayton Meyers and Holophane remained their
largest single customers for a number years,
Reports
from the Pottery Gazette Having
a stand at the British Industries Fair was not inexpensive. The cost to
Davidson’s of attending the fair was between £250 and £500 year. This
compares with Davidson’s advertising budget of between £70 and £100 per
year (1932-1939). It must have therefore been disappointing for Davidson to
only receive a small write-up in the Pottery Gazette. A typical example is for
the year 1929: ‘Geo.
Davidson & Co. Teams Flint Glass Works, Gateshead-on-Tyne, made an
excellent showing of their domestic and fancy pressed glassware and
specialities, including not only the ordinary suites in plain flint glass, but
the very attractively coloured lines in useful and ornamental wares which have
latterly become such a feature of the firm’s productions. It was a display
that was thoroughly deserving of the interest which it obviously excited, and
one hopes that the final results in the shape of orders were all that have
been desired.’ For
most of the 1920s, Davidson did not get a mention in the BIF report in the
Gazette. And
Finally That’s
all for this newsletter. If you have anything to include in the next letter,
then please email info@cloudglass.com. Val
& Chris
|
|
|
|