Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 423
Josiah Wedgewood
Hello Everyone
You may remember that when Mrs Jenkins up at the farm started her cheese making business, she asked Henry, Emily, Bill and Bob to help her out by trying out some of her cheese samples and giving their opinions about them.
They became, what is called in business, a focus group.
There are many special words and phrases used to describe things and situations in business.
Marketing means building an image and reputation of a company and testing products to see if people will want to buy them.
Advertising means trying to sell those products to people after the products have been produced.
Marketing ideas have been around for a long time.
A man called Josiah Wedgewood certainly had one when his wife invited her friends round for tea parties and ask all the ladies to give opinions about designs of various tea sets.
The most popular were then produced – because it was thought that if certain designs were liked by a few ladies then they would also be liked by a lot of other ladies too – and then sell well!
The Wedgewood factory also used a system called mass production.
This is when, instead of a craftsman producing a product by himself; like a cabinet-maker making a chest of drawers – each worker pays attention to only one part of a production process and then passes the product being manufactured on to the next department for the next stage of the manufacturing process.
Mass production enables goods to be sold more cheaply which means they are more affordable to the masses.
Nearly three hundred years later, this system is still being used.
Sometimes, nowadays, robots are employed to do a job instead of a person though, like the robots used in car factories.
When you do the same job over and over you should become better and quicker at it very soon. Jobs get done more quickly when you only focus on one thing at a time.
Josiah Wedgewood was a designer and manufacturer of high-quality pottery. He was born in Staffordshire in the centre of England in 1730, into a family of potters; so followed the family trade.
He was the youngest of eleven children and after his father died in 1739 he went to work for his eldest brother, Thomas, where he began to learn the potter’s craft.
He contracted Smallpox as a child. But although he survived this terrible disease he was left with a weakened right knee and could not continue to work the pedal that turned a potter’s wheel. He had to give up making pots and turn his attentions to designing instead.
He loved to experiment with his craft and became an expert in developing new ideas.
After Thomas refused Josiah a partnership in his business, Josiah went to work for other people and then eventually started up his own business.
At first, he worked in his cousin’s house and then opened up a factory.
ln June 1769, he set up a partnership with a merchant called Thomas Bentley and they opened a new factory near Stoke-on-Trent. Attached to the factory was a lovely village built by Josiah where the workers could live with their families.
The crockery the factory produced was high-quality.
Josiah had married a rich, distant cousin, Sarah, and her money helped to fund the business. They had eight children together.
Josiah produced cream-coloured, earthenware crockery he named ‘Queen’s Ware’ after Queen Charlotte who appointed him Queen’s Potter in 1762.
Empress Catherine ll of Russia also employed the company to make hundreds of pieces for her household.
Josiah took an interest in other projects besides developing new materials and techniques for making pottery. He invented a gadget for measuring oven temperatures called a pyrometer and was consequently elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1783.
He concerned himself with efficient organization of the workings of his factory and the transporting of raw materials and finished products by using canals.
ln 1780, Thomas Bentley died and Josiah asked his friend Erasmus Darwin for help. Darwin’s son would later marry Josiah’s daughter and they would become the parents of the famous naturalist Charles Darwin.
Charles would then marry into the Wedgewood family – so that Josiah was grandfather to both Charles and his wife Emma. (See Blog Post 218)
The factory went from strength to strength and developed a reputation for creating high-quality wares. Josiah was very interested in science and experimenting and produced wares that were very distinct from other producers. He was a man of vision in the lndustrial Revolution and is often credited with inventing the concept of marketing.
He had showrooms in London, Bath, Liverpool and Dublin for the public to visit. He had travelling sales men with cases of pattern boxes to show customers. He used catalogues with pictures and direct mail with free delivery. He sent goods to customers with money-back guarantees. He invented BOGOF (buy one get one free).
Demand for Wedgewood products was so high that the factory was open for production day and night.
Wedgewood pottery is famous for cameo figures decorating it – that means the pictures are not flat.
There is also a colour of blue called Wedgewood blue – because it was a distinct shade of blue that was used in Jasper Ware pottery.
He cared about his product and looked after his customers and workers.
His products were sold across Britain, Europe and America.
Because he was a well-respected businessman he was listened to when he spoke out against slavery – that is to say keeping people as slaves.
Josiah Wedgewood was very rich when he died in 1795.
His business continued and is still in existence today.
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Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bob: What did one plate say to the other?
Bill: Dinner’s on me!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
Jasperware – the blue is made from metal oxides
The themes are classical
Cameo figures stand proud of the flat surfaces
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
This week, I took Emily, Bill and Bob out for a walk across the hills.
You can see the signs of spring everywhere now.
It was very, very refreshing. Walking out in the fresh air is good for your mind as well as your body.
Then we went up one particularly high hill. We wanted to see the view from the top.
But of course, what goes up must come down!
The sides of the hill were steep and quite slippery as well because the ground was damp.
I taught the children how to come down a steep hill.
You need to turn your feet sideways and edge down carefully.
You can even walk diagonally across the slope as well rather than going straight down.
Bob insisted that he could walk normally down the hill. In fact, he thought he would run.
No!
I shouted out, but it was too late.
Once he started running, he couldn’t stop. Gravity was getting the better of him and he was out of control.
He lost his footing and tumbled. Then he started to roll.
Seconds later he was in a muddy heap at the bottom of the hill.
When I say he was in a muddy heap, I don’t mean that he was actually in a muddy heap – he was the muddy heap!
What a terrible sight!
Luckily, he wasn’t hurt. Little boys sometimes seem to have the great ability to bounce somehow; I don’t know how they do it.
Anyway, something had to be done fast, and Auntie Alice’s cottage was the nearest place to go to.
There, we ‘hosed him down’ and Auntie Alice put his clothes through a quick wash.
I didn’t want his mother to see the state he was in.
She might not have let us go off on any adventures ever again!
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Quick Quiz
What do these phrases mean?
- the wheel of fortune
- to throw a tantrum
- the salt of the earth
- someone has feet of clay
- to put a spoke in the wheel
- to be thrown
- it’s a crock
- to get a handle on it
- to break the mould
- all fired up
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE A LlTTLE KNlTTED LlTTLE BOY BLUE
This Little Boy Blue seems wide awake and ready to play with you.
There is also a Little Red Riding Hood that he could play with on Blog Post 395.
BODY FRONT (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and white dk yarn cast on 8 stitches
Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch
Change to light blue dk yarn
Knit 10 rows of stocking stitch
Change to white dk yarn
Knit 6 rows of stocking stitch
Change to light brown dk yarn
Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch
Don’t cast off – leave a length of yarn to pull through your stitches
BODY BACK (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and white dk yarn cast on 8 stitches
Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch
Change to light blue dk yarn
Knit 10 rows of stocking stitch
Change to white dk yarn
Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch
Change to light brown dk yarn
Knit 6 rows of stocking stitch
Don’t cast off – leave a length of yarn to pull through your stitches
LEGS (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and white dk yarn cast on 8 stitches
Knit 8 rows of stocking stitch
Change to black dk yarn
Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch
Don’t cast off – leave a length of yarn to pull through your stitches
ARMS (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and light blue dk yarn cast on 6 stitches
Knit 6 rows of stocking stitch
Change to white dk yarn
Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch
Don’t cast off – leave a length of yarn to pull through your stitches
TO MAKE UP
- Sew a little blue button to the front of the chest
- Using over-sew stitching and with right sides together sew together the side seams of the body pulling the stitches in at the top of the head to make a round top – use appropriate colours as you go
- Turn body right sides out
- Stuff the body
- Using over-sew stitching and with right sides together sew together the arm seams
- Turn the arms the right way out tucking the ends of the yarn inside – this is all the stuffing the arms will need
- Bind one end of white yarn tightly around the wrists – poke it out of the base of the wrist before you turn the arms the right way out
- Using over-sew stitching and with right sides together sew together the leg seams
- Turn the legs the right way out tucking the ends of the yarn inside and put a little stuffing in the legs
- Bind one end of black yarn tightly around the ankles – poke it out of the base of the ankle before you turn the arms the right way out
- Bind some white yarn tightly around the neck to create the head – make sure the ends are secured well at the back
- Sew the legs and arms into place working from the back
- Neaten all ends
- Embroider a face before or after construction as you prefer
- If you use sparkly dark yarn the eyes will sparkle too
TROUSERS (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and cream dk yarn cast on 11 stitches
Knit 2 rows of garter stitch
Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch
Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of the next 2 rows of stocking stitch
Knit 4 rows of garter stitch
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
Sew the front and back together then the inside leg seams.
Take a 30cm/12 inch length of navy yarn and thread it around the top channel of the trousers, tie a bow and cut off any excess.
WAISTCOAT BACK (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and mauve dk yarn cast on 8 stitches
Knit 2 rows of garter stitch
Knit 1 row
Slip1, knit 1, purl 4, knit2
Repeat last 2 rows once
Knit 2 rows of garter stitch
Cast off
WAISTCOAT FRONTS (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and mauve dk yarn cast on 4 stitches
Knit 2 rows of garter stitch
Knit 1 row
Knit 1, purl 2, knit 1
Repeat last 2 rows once
Knit 2 rows of garter stitch
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
Sew 1cm up the shoulder seams and 1cm up the side seams with wrong sides together.
HAT (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and light blue dk yarn cast on 8 stitches
Knit 4 rows of garter stitch
Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of each of the next rows of garter stitch until 2 stitches remain
Knit 2 together
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
Using over-sew stitching sew side seams with right sides together.
HORN (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and golden yellow dk yarn cast on 8 stitches
Knit 2 rows of garter stitch
Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of the next rows of stocking stitch until 2 stitches remain
Knit 2 together
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
Using over-sew stitching sew side seams with wrong sides together.
Sew in a length of yarn to the ends of the horn so that Little Boy Blue can carry it over his shoulder
Do not give a toy with small parts that can be swallowed to a baby or a very small child.
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- the wheel of fortune – your life can get worse and then better again – fortunes rise and fall and rise again like a turning wheel
- to throw a tantrum – to lose your temper in maybe a childish way
- the salt of the earth – a good person
- someone has feet of clay – a person who is not what they seem
- to put a spoke in the wheel – to ruin a project
- to be thrown – to be at a loss to know what to do
- it’s a crock – nonsense/an untruth/a lie
- to get a handle on it – to understand a situation
- to break the mould – once something is made it cannot be made again (they broke the mould when they made him = there will never be another person like him)
- all fired up – prepared and ready to start a project
Embroidery Stitches
If you want to learn stuff this is easier to read than books.
Thank you for writing in LK.
Lots of people prefer reading from screens rather than books nowadays.
l think my blog is easy for people to read too.