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| Early Hagen-Renaker foal, designed by Helen Perrin. This unfinished example was fished out of a dumpster at one of the Hagen-Renaker facilities in Monrovia by a local girl on her way home from school. |
This post is one in a series intended to give more context for collectors about the production of Hagen-Renaker horse and other animal figurines.
This time, we look at the Monrovia Daily News-Post from October 16, 1951. The newspaper reported on the incredible number of figurines the company was producing in its early years.
Two and a half million pieces produced in 1951, with increased production planned!
Arcadia Ceramics and Walker-Renaker were associated companies. 50,000 "Holy Cow" figurines went to market in 1951.
Below, we see that Walker Potteries was considered the "parent" company of Hagen-Renaker.
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| Sometimes newspapers make mistakes. :) "Mrs. Perring" is designer Helen Perrin. |
The extended family of businesses and company employees were increasing Monrovia's industrial might in the post-World War II era.
And they were sourcing some of the clay used for the figurines from other areas including Tennessee, so that the "endless stream of tiny figures" could go out "over the world to cheer children and grownups here and everywhere."
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Author Nancy Kelly's volumes on Hagen-Renaker from Schiffer Books are great resources. You can find them on Amazon, AbeBooks, eBay and other sources.
Hagen-Renaker Pottery (1999)
More Hagen-Renaker Pottery (2000)
Hagen-Renaker Through the Years (2001)
To connect with other people who are passionate about Hagen-Renaker, here's a link to the Hagen-Renaker Collectors Club website:
http://www.hagen-renakercollectorsclub.com/
For more general information, there's a Hagen-Renaker group on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hagenrenaker/
And you can see many examples of the company's work at Ed and Sheri Alcorn's website:
http://hagenrenakerhorses.com/Directory.html
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