Red Clay no Chips

This is my third try at writing about Catalina Island.  Felt my earlier attempts were confusing --  being my favorite place in the world--  there's too much to cover in one post--  So my goal here is to keep it simple---

I've collected the pottery made on Catalina since around 1995--  The operation began in the late twenties--- Island owner William Wrigley was looking for a trade that would employ the islanders--  It was discovered that the native clay on the island could be used for tile and pottery--  He decided to take advantage of that and built a tile factory near Avalon @ Pebbly beach.  The Casino building, built in 1928 used Catalina roof tiles---  shops were set up on the island and 'Alvaro Street' in Los Angeles--  Soon it was discovered that the island clay was unstable--  around 1932--  and was mixed with 'white clay' to add strength---   Tiles, vases, ashtrays, dinnerware, backgammon tables, urns and wall murals were created---  The depression eventually took it's toll on pottery sales and production moved to Glendale in 1937--  Today Catalina is known to be the most sought after of all California pottery of that era..
The first piece I bought was a 'Mandarin yellow' ashtray--  very exciting--  From then on I was completely addicted! This was in the days before ebay--  there were deals everywhere---  also lots of it tended to end up in Pasadena.  My friends, Jim, Gerry and Larry and I would dream of what we might find next--- We scoured antique stores in all parts of Southern California.  I even went diving in the ocean where pottery had been pushed into the sea--  amazingly there were fragments laying on the ocean floor!  Between us we amassed quite a collection--  even befriend the 'inner circle' of the 'Catalina world'. Around the year 2000 prices went crazy and we all stopped buying---  To this day, however I continue to love my pottery---  It reminds me of beautiful Avalon--  Plus it looks fantastic in our new home at 'The Maryland'--