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Florence Ceramics are collected for their inherent charm and sense of movement. You can tell a mermaid created by Florence Ceramics in an instant - their eyes were very unique with
just one lash going out to the side. Very sleek in design! Florence Ward started producing ceramics in her home's garage in Pasadena when her husband, Clifford, enlisted in the
USMC and went off to war.... in 1942 the Florence Ceramics Company was born. After the end of World War II, her husband and son joined the company. By 1946, the distribution of
Florence Ceramics figurines had expanded not only to major cities in the United States including Chicago, Dallas, and New York, Florence figurines were being sold in South
American and Europe. The end of World War II marked the beginning of the end for Florence Ceramics as it had with so many
other domestic pottery and ceramics producers. The United States government encouraged the growth industries in Japan and
there were no tariffs imposed to protect domestic industries. Japanese factories started copying Florence mermaids.
Florence Ward was one of the few small pottery companies that actually brought suit against the Japanese company that was
making reproductions of her items. The reproduction mermaids have the same shape but in most cases their eyes are done
differently, they are smaller, the indents in their outfit not as pronounced, and they are smaller than the original. There were even
reproductions of the shell dish, but again it's easy to tell the repro as it is not as finely done as the Florence shell, has a dark
edging on the top of the shell, and isn't as large as the original. Unfortunately Florence ran out of money and had to let the suit
drop. No doubt there may be US reproductions floating around too. But you have to give it to Florence for trying to sue Japan!
In 1964, Clifford Ward Sr. died. Florence Ward and her son Clifford Jr. sold Florence Ceramics to Scripto.
You also will occasionally see Florence Ceramic "duds." These are pieces that did not meet the quality standards. Some were
in clay and not painted so the employees got to take them home and paint them. Some were painted but didn't meet the standards for some reason.
Florence Ceramics mermaids are just gorgeous and SO feminine. They are called the Merrymaids - Jane, Betty, Rosie and Lill.
Jane, Betty and Rosie are the most commonly seen but I was lucky to purchase Lill who lays flat and has "Lill" embossed in the
clay on the back of her hair. Lill is very rare to find. Jane, Betty and Rosie are typically seen as the set of 3 with their big shell
dish. They came as blondes and brunettes. In the first picture, Jane is the one with the gloves that sits on perch of the shell.
Betty is the one in the middle. I have Lill shown by herself in the middle picture. They always had the Florence Ceramics
Copyright on the bottom and each one had the same type eyes and lips. These are just gorgeous and can be quite expensive.
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