Metlox "Ivy"
World War II curtailed the production of dinnerware, and the company made aircraft parts, shell casings and nuts and bolts. After the war, Prouty tried making toys but had to sell the company to Evan K. Shaw in 1946, whose American Pottery factory had burned down.
Shaw had the insurance money and a contract with Disney to produce Disney-related figures. He was also interested in reinstating the making of dinnerware on a grand scale. To facilitate the production of the dinnerware, Shaw hired the design team of Bob Allen and Mel Shaw, who had been film animators and had designed the Howdy Doody puppet.
The first line was "California Ivy," and it was introduced in 1946. This new line was marketed under the old "Poppytrail" line name, and it was followed by such patterns as "California Apple" and "California Peach Blossom." "California Ivy" was a big success, and in the company's brochure, comedian Gracie Allen is shown at home with her "California Ivy" dinnerware.
Mr. Allen was born May 14, 1909, in Chicago. He grew up in Kansas City, Mo., where his talent as a cartoonist eclipsed the more academic elements of school. That's the polite explanation Mr. Allen's other daughter, Karen Parry, gave for why it took her father five years to complete high school. At the end of high school, Mr. Allen was given an ultimatum by his father: Get a job or go to art school. He chose art, and it painted the path for the rest of his life. Mr. Allen studied at the Kansas City Art Institute, which counts Walt Disney among its former students. Soon after graduating, Mr. Allen headed West and joined the design team of Harman-Ising Productions, an animation company in Hollywood. In 1937, he was one of six artists and technicians hired by MGM to form a new cartoon division. Parry said that over the next five years, her father had a hand in the creation of many of MGM's now-famous cartoons, including “Tom and Jerry,” “Captain and the Kids” shorts and “The Milky Way,” which won the Academy Award in 1941 for best short-subject cartoon. During World War II, Mr. Allen produced animated training films for the military. After the war, he began his partnership with Shaw. In 1946 they became art directors at Metlox Pottery, where it was Mr. Allen's hand that created the California Ivy Pattern, a design that remains popular with antique collectors. Mr. Allen also is credited with creating the whimsical Zoo-It-Yourself Animals for Tupperware in the 1960s.
Born in Brooklyn, New York on December 19, 1914, Melvin Schwartzman (later changed to Mel Shaw) discovered his artistic bent at age 10, when he was selected as one of only 30 children from the state of New York to participate in the Student Art League Society. Two years later, his soap sculpture of a Latino with a pack mule won second prize in a Procter & Gamble soap carving contest, earning the young artist national attention.
In 1928, his family moved to Los Angeles, where Shaw attended high school and entered a scholarship class at Otis Art Institute. But, the restless teen had an itch to become a cowboy and ran away from home to work on a Utah ranch. After four months of back-breaking work, Shaw returned home and took a job creating title cards for silent movies at Pacific Titles, owned by cartoon producer Leon Schlesinger. With help from Schlesinger, two former Disney animators - Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising - made a deal with Warner Bros., and Shaw joined Harman-Ising Studios as animator, character designer, storyman, and director. While there, he worked with Orson Welles storyboarding a proposed live-action/animated version of "The Little Prince."
In 1937, Shaw arrived at The Walt Disney Studios, where he contributed to such Disney classics as "Fantasia," "Bambi," and "The Wind in the Willows" (part of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad"). Shaw´s Disney career was interrupted by World War II, when he served the U.S. Army Signal Corp. as a filmmaker under Lord Louis Montbatten, helping produce films including a live-action/animated documentary about the Burma Campaign. He also served as art director and cartoonist for the Stars & Stripes newspaper in Shanghai.
After the war, he ventured into business with Bob Allen, a former MGM Studios animator. As Allen-Shaw productions, Shaw helped design and create the original Howdy Doody marionette puppet for NBC, as well as children´s toys, dishes and figurines for Metlox, architecture, and even master plans for cities including Century City, California. (several Disney figurines, his Metlox dishes have also become collector's items)
World War II curtailed the production of dinnerware, and the company made aircraft parts, shell casings and nuts and bolts. After the war, Prouty tried making toys but had to sell the company to Evan K. Shaw in 1946, whose American Pottery factory had burned down.
Shaw had the insurance money and a contract with Disney to produce Disney-related figures. He was also interested in reinstating the making of dinnerware on a grand scale. To facilitate the production of the dinnerware, Shaw hired the design team of Bob Allen and Mel Shaw, who had been film animators and had designed the Howdy Doody puppet.
The first line was "California Ivy," and it was introduced in 1946. This new line was marketed under the old "Poppytrail" line name, and it was followed by such patterns as "California Apple" and "California Peach Blossom." "California Ivy" was a big success, and in the company's brochure, comedian Gracie Allen is shown at home with her "California Ivy" dinnerware.
Mr. Allen was born May 14, 1909, in Chicago. He grew up in Kansas City, Mo., where his talent as a cartoonist eclipsed the more academic elements of school. That's the polite explanation Mr. Allen's other daughter, Karen Parry, gave for why it took her father five years to complete high school. At the end of high school, Mr. Allen was given an ultimatum by his father: Get a job or go to art school. He chose art, and it painted the path for the rest of his life. Mr. Allen studied at the Kansas City Art Institute, which counts Walt Disney among its former students. Soon after graduating, Mr. Allen headed West and joined the design team of Harman-Ising Productions, an animation company in Hollywood. In 1937, he was one of six artists and technicians hired by MGM to form a new cartoon division. Parry said that over the next five years, her father had a hand in the creation of many of MGM's now-famous cartoons, including “Tom and Jerry,” “Captain and the Kids” shorts and “The Milky Way,” which won the Academy Award in 1941 for best short-subject cartoon. During World War II, Mr. Allen produced animated training films for the military. After the war, he began his partnership with Shaw. In 1946 they became art directors at Metlox Pottery, where it was Mr. Allen's hand that created the California Ivy Pattern, a design that remains popular with antique collectors. Mr. Allen also is credited with creating the whimsical Zoo-It-Yourself Animals for Tupperware in the 1960s.
Born in Brooklyn, New York on December 19, 1914, Melvin Schwartzman (later changed to Mel Shaw) discovered his artistic bent at age 10, when he was selected as one of only 30 children from the state of New York to participate in the Student Art League Society. Two years later, his soap sculpture of a Latino with a pack mule won second prize in a Procter & Gamble soap carving contest, earning the young artist national attention.
In 1928, his family moved to Los Angeles, where Shaw attended high school and entered a scholarship class at Otis Art Institute. But, the restless teen had an itch to become a cowboy and ran away from home to work on a Utah ranch. After four months of back-breaking work, Shaw returned home and took a job creating title cards for silent movies at Pacific Titles, owned by cartoon producer Leon Schlesinger. With help from Schlesinger, two former Disney animators - Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising - made a deal with Warner Bros., and Shaw joined Harman-Ising Studios as animator, character designer, storyman, and director. While there, he worked with Orson Welles storyboarding a proposed live-action/animated version of "The Little Prince."
In 1937, Shaw arrived at The Walt Disney Studios, where he contributed to such Disney classics as "Fantasia," "Bambi," and "The Wind in the Willows" (part of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad"). Shaw´s Disney career was interrupted by World War II, when he served the U.S. Army Signal Corp. as a filmmaker under Lord Louis Montbatten, helping produce films including a live-action/animated documentary about the Burma Campaign. He also served as art director and cartoonist for the Stars & Stripes newspaper in Shanghai.
After the war, he ventured into business with Bob Allen, a former MGM Studios animator. As Allen-Shaw productions, Shaw helped design and create the original Howdy Doody marionette puppet for NBC, as well as children´s toys, dishes and figurines for Metlox, architecture, and even master plans for cities including Century City, California. (several Disney figurines, his Metlox dishes have also become collector's items)
