Mary Alice Hadley Pottery

A few weeks ago I was out "junking" and I found a bag of these adorable drawer pulls. They were heavy and hand done so I knew they had to be expensive. I scooped them up not knowing anything about the maker M.A. Hadley. Well, it turns out that M.A. Hadley is referring to Mary Alice Hadley of Louisville, Kentucky. I did know that Louisville had and still is a major pottery hub since there are amazing deposits of clay in Southern Indiana. 

Mary Alice, born in 1911, became a nationally recognized artist at a VERY young age for her whimsical designs. In 1939 she began putting her designs onto pottery. Having come from a well established potting family, she whipped up plates and bowls for herself and for friends who loved her designs. In 1940, she and her husband opened the Hadley Pottery Company in Louisville and has been extremely successful ever since. The Hadley factory is STILL in the original building in Louisville and it features some of Mary Alice's original art, murals, and pottery. Despite the fact that Mary Alice died in 1965, her designs live on given that Louisville natives bought the company in 1970 and it has since sill remained known as Hadley Pottery.

The blue gaze you see is Hadley Signature Blue, and they are the only company to use this color. 

These are also designed to be extremely durable - and you can tell because these are very thick and solid pieces. According to their site, all their pieces are microwave and dishwasher safe - and they have been made the same way for over 70 years.

Aren't these adorable?! They have the cutest country theme, and although I do not have the same style going on in my house AT ALL (Everything in my house is Mid Century Modern) I can appreciate solid, American craftsmanship and design any day! M.A. Hadley pieces are only made for limited amounts of time apparently, so once a style is gone, you really have no way of finding it again. New knobs retail on their site for $14.50 a piece, but I can say these are well worth it because they will last a lifetime I am sure. In case anyone is interested, you can visit the website here.