Feats of Clay

Credit: Christopher Hirsheimer

This is the kind of story we love: An Illinois potter named Beryl Griffith discovers the material for his craft in the appropriately named town of Clay City, Indiana. He finds land for sale, moves his family there, and in 1885 starts clay city pottery. Four generations of the family grow the business, and the company is now run by the fifth and sixth generations. More than a century later, Clay City still turns out the same classic, affordable, American kitchen and cookware: pots, bowls, pie plates, and crocks of venerable design and superb craftsmanship. End of story.