172 WE FARM FOR A HOBBY 



out on a limb unless prepared to clothe as well 

 as feed and shelter the family. Meanwhile textiles 

 as a by-product would swell the dollar income. 



As a source of income if not as a maintenance 

 necessity I should rate pottery well up alongside 

 textile production. It was my privilege to know 

 one of the last of the great Pennsylvania German 

 potters, Mr. Jacob Medinger. He came nearer to 

 having the world by the tail than any man I ever 

 knew. His shop and kiln adjoined his house, on a 

 small farm a dozen miles north of Medlock Farm. 

 Everything he made was sold before it was fired. 

 He loaded up the kiln two or three times a year 

 with a large assortment of plates, cups, saucers, 

 platters, bowls, jugs, pitchers, and pots. If an ar- 

 ticle did not fire exactly as he wanted it the cus- 

 tomer could not have it. He stuck to the traditional 

 conventional Pennsylvania German styles and dec- 

 orations, in which the tulip and the peacock pre- 

 dominate. He often hinted that his work some- 

 times found its way into collections of early 

 American antiques. It might just as well; it is as 

 authentic, as true to type, as the work of his great- 

 grandfather. Because it was first-class, the world of 

 trade beat a path to his door; he had no overhead 

 expense, no payroll to meet, no merchandising or 

 selling costs, no delivery charges, no exchanges or 

 returns. He got cash in advance or on delivery. In 

 season he varied pottery with a bit of home-use 



