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The story of Pat Young Ceramic Arts began in 1950 when for health reasons, Pat Young, then age 46, and her husband Bud moved from St. Petersburg to Inverness, Florida.
Because of a heart condition, Pat's doctor had told her to slow down from the hectic social life she had been leading and find something more restful to do with her time.
Pat got interested in hobby ceramics, attended some classes and eventually split the cost of a small hobby kiln with a girl friend who was making china doll busts.
She developed the idea of making imprints of real Florida leaves she collected from her property into the soft clay and forming various plates and bowls following the outline of the leaf. She was resting and enjoying herself when fate changed her life.
One day in 1953, an insurance salesman came to the house to talk to Bud.
While there, he saw some of the ceramic pieces that Pat had modeled. After some heavy complimenting, he convinced Pat to let him have a few pieces to check their sales potential. Instead of selling the dishes as expected, he sent back orders, LOTS of orders. Suddenly bigger kilns, employees and suppliers had to be found. In May of 1954, Pat Young Ceramic Arts was established. Salesmen were employed in the early years but it soon became obvious the unique beauty of the china-like ceramics was its own best salesman and word of mouth has sold it since.
Pat Young built her business to the point where she was supplying 310 of the finest gift shops in the USA and many locations overseas.
Almost every day public customers would drop by and load themselves up with gifts for their friends. Pat made the ceramics and Bud ran the office, packed and shipped the china, and maintained the equipment. By then the "factory" had spread from the back porch to the entire house, with additional buildings being added.
The bottom of each piece of ceramics was "signed" with a simple PY and carried a bright gold label letting people know they were holding a Pat Young Hand Made Original
made in Inverness, Florida.
I know quite a lot about these early years because I lived in or next door to the "factory" as a child from 1956 to 1964. I worked there after school washing empty glaze bottles, dusting the china
displays, pouring animal molds, minding the kilns, giving tours to customers, rejuvenating the used posting clay and once in a while actually getting to model with the satiny smooth virgin clay. I even helped build
the greenhouse in which we grew the large supply of fresh leaves needed for the many ceramic designs.
While attending the 1958 Miami Ceramics Show, Bud Young had a fatal heart attack, leaving Pat with the entire business to run. This was ironic because Pat was the one with heart trouble.
Pat eventually "retired" in 1968 and her eldest daughter, Barbara Young Brokaw took over the day-to-day operations.
Pat still loved to spend time with customers and give them the "grand tour." By that time the product line totaled nearly 100 different items.
In July of 1980, at the age of 76, Pat Young passed away. She had spent the previous 26 years providing the world with very unique and incredibly beautiful pieces of art, while she was "resting
under doctor's orders."
Barbara Brokaw then became the second-generation owner of Pat Young Ceramic Arts. Employees were not replaced as they left or retired. Eventually she became, as her mother had started, a
one-woman studio, modeling, glazing, firing, packing and corresponding with the shops and private customers in her warm down-to-earth, friendly manner. She made many, many friends of the people she sold her ceramics
to. Barbara eventually increased the product line to 185 items.
In April of 1989, 34 years after that insurance salesman took out the samples, Barbara sold the Inverness property and moved Pat Young Ceramics Arts to Oveido, Florida.
She took just enough equipment and supplies to keep the business going from her new home. Eventually she scaled back her customer list, politely dropping most of the commercial accounts and filling only her private customer's orders. At that time Barbara started trimming the bottom of the well known gold label to eliminate the Inverness, Florida identification. The
PY still remained.
As the mid 1990's approached, Barbara started discussing her own retirement. Each time she would tell a customer she was closing the studio, they would order more Pat Young Ceramics.
She had difficulty convincing anyone that the time had come to close the business.
Early in 1996 I heard that "Aunt Barbara" was really finally going to close her studio. She sounded serious so I told her I was interested in taking over Pat Young Ceramic Arts if she was
willing to devote the time to teach me all of her secrets. She agreed and I went to Oveido every opportunity I had.
Barbara's only concern was my artistic ability. The ceramics I would be making had to be of the same quality as had been produced all throught the years. Soon after starting my apprenticeship, she told me that I must have inherited the natural creative talent for making ceramic from my Grandmother. She started telling customers, friends, and relatives that she was impressed with my work. Finally Barbara was satisfied and I "graduated."
In November of 1996 Barbara turned the business over to me as Pat Young Ceramic Arts' third generation owner. We then moved the studio to my home in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Most of the studio's furniture and equipment date back to the early Inverness factory. I am still using the original Florida leaf impressions made almost 50 years ago. I also have 20,000 of the bright gold labels my Grandfather bought in bulk. The
PY logo will be carried on. Pat Young Ceramic Arts has again returned to a small exclusive hobby status.
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