While doing the research about ceramics for the Emerson Creek Pottery write up (link below), I remembered my son’s paternal great-grandmother, Laura Jakstis. She was a ceramist who made very fine porcelain figurines that people collected.
According to her obituary, she learned the art of ceramics and porcelain during the early 1950s in California and introduced the making of ceramics for the hobbyist in Massachusetts.
She was interviewed on local Boston television stations at that time to explain her craft to the viewers. With her husband, she owned and operated Laura’s Ceramics and Supplies.
Her first two stores were in Worcester, MA; after she and her husband moved to Shrewsbury, they built a store on Boston Turnkpike Road (Rte. 9) in 1960. She retired in 1974 from the wholesale and jobber business when her husband passed away; she closed up the store as well and subsequently sold the building and the land.
She then devoted her time to giving private lessons in her craft while working out of her home’s basement. Laura created molds to make flowers for ceramics and porcelain. She also invented a mother of pearl luster – which was quite beautiful. She excelled in china painting and lace draping of figurines and was well-known for this art. She was a founder of the New England Ceramics League.
The photo above is how I remember her — ca. 1998. We had just moved from California to Massachusetts, so this is our first meeting. (James was her first great grandchild.) She would have been 82 years old. You can see some of her pottery pieces on top of the hutch, which was also filled with her work.
Until she passed in 2007, we’d visit her house, which was located behind the former shop, for holidays and to simply visit. She’d take us down to the basement to view her molds and the items she had in progress. She still had a kiln and used it regularly while also giving classes to women in the area.
Although I knew her only a very short time, I always found her amazing and loved talking to her; she made the absolute best apple pie and pierogi, too. I cried when she died. She was 91 years young and lived a long and productive life.
Her one piece of advice that I still carry with me to this day: “Always be nice to people so that you have a good showing at your funeral.” The church was packed for hers.
A tradition that goes back to our Founding
I tell her story because it’s people like her that John Hancock had in mind when he wrote in 1776:
“The more people who own little businesses of their own, the safer our country will be, and the better off its cities and towns; for the people who have a stake in their country and their community are its best citizens.”
Laura Jakstis was the embodiment of this sentiment. In fact, our manufacturing base after the Revolutionary War was built on small craftspeople filling supply orders for the newly elected U.S. government.
When you buy American-made goods, you support the people who make them — a tradition that goes back to the founding of our country.
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Links
Laura Jakstis, Obituary — Legacy.com
Emerson Creek Pottery: “Functional Art that’s Usable” — A Keep It Made USA write up.
Full Disclosure
I’m not paid nor asked to write about products or the companies that make them. All links in this piece are FREE — meaning, they’re not sponsored or paid for. I buy products, use them, and if I like them, I tell everyone about them.
I do this because my mission is to keep manufacturing jobs stateside. This mission is my way of giving back. We like to think our “small” choices won’t make a difference. They do.
