McCoy (pottery)

Nelson McCoy Pottery Co.

Type	Private company
Founded	Roseville, Ohio (April 1910)
Headquarters	Zanesville, Ohio, United States
Number of employees	unknown
Website	www.mccoypottery.com

McCoy is a brand of pottery that was produced in the United States in the early 20th century. It is probably the most collected pottery in the nation. Starting in 1848 by J.W.McCoy Stoneware company, they established the Nelson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Company in 1910. They continued on almost into 1991, but had to close down due to declining profits.

In April 1910, Nelson McCoy (Senior), with help from his father (J.W. McCoy) and along with five , established the Nelson McCoy Sanitary and Stoneware Company in Roseville, Ohio. The pottery produced utilitarian stoneware and operated successfully until about 1918. They also bought, sold, and mined clay. At that time the pottery joined with eleven other stoneware potteries and formed the American Clay Products Company (ACPC), which was located in Zanesville, Ohio. All of the member potteries produced stoneware to be marketed by the new company. The ACPC produced sales catalogs of the wares that were produced, which purposely had no trademark, and had salesmen to advertise and take orders. The pottery orders received by the company were shared among the different potteries based on production capability, and the revenue received was proportionally distributed.

The ACPC thrived until January 1926, at which time the company was liquidated. The demise of the company released the former member potteries to once again become independent and they went into direct competition with one another. Also around this time, the demand for utilitarian stoneware was beginning to decrease.

In order to re-establish its own identity, and also to reflect the changing times, the Nelson McCoy Sanitary and Stoneware Co. by 1929 had changed its name to the Nelson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Co. Additionally, it was around this time that the company began the practice of marking its wares. No evidence has been found that the company had ever marked any of its wares prior to this time. In 1933, in response to a further decreased demand for food and sanitary wares, and an increased demand for decorative pieces, the name of the company was changed again to Nelson McCoy Pottery Co.