OCT 29 1917 
Vol. XIX, No. 7. 
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 
November 1917 
VERY cloud has its silver lining. 
In tha midst of a disorganized busi- 
ness there is still hope and among 
many conviction that the china 
business will revive after the war. 
There is no reason why it should 
not. However poorly organized, 
however inconsistent in many ways, 
individual decoration of porcelain 
by women rests on two solid facts. 
First, there is an enormous, growing, constantly renewed 
demand for specially decorated china and glass of all kinds. 
In porcelain tableware alone, one of the Syracuse factories 
produces over eight million pieces of decorated ware a year. 
That is only one factory. There are many other porcelain 
makers in the United States and before the war they 
could supply only 25% of the demand, the other 75% 
were supplied by Europe. This gives an idea of the tremen- 
dous possibilities in a field in which individual decorators 
play only a small part, although their consumption of white 
china reached before the war very respectable figures. There 
is room for practically unlimited development, especially 
if the majority of decorators learn to do what the minority 
are doing now, artistic work of far greater merit than me- 
chanical factory work. 
There is another solid foundation to individual china, 
glass and pottery decoration by women, the fact that the 
emancipation cf women is progressing with rapid strides. 
More and more women become independent, make it a point 
to be able, if necessity arises, to earn their own living, or, even 
if there is no absolute necessity, feel the need of a useful and 
renumerative occupation. This will be increasingly the case 
in the years to come and what occupation is there more at- 
tractive than china decoration? The elements are easily 
mastered and women with a little persistence and taste are 
soon able to earn a fair sum. After a while teaching beginners 
is an easy way to add to the income. 
If one keeps in mind these two fundamental facts, and 
realizes that the present decline of the business is not due to 
lack of interest in the work but to abnormal and temporary 
conditions, there is certainly no reason to be discouraged, 
and the only thing to do is to prepare now for the better times 
to come. 
Decorators can do their share of this preparation by or- 
ganizing their business on a sounder basis than it has had so 
far. We will not repeat what we have already said on this 
subject. That part of the problem is the decorators' part. 
Keramic Studio has also its share to take in this preparation 
for a better, bigger business after the war. It must help 
decorators in a more efficient way if possible and that means 
that its editor must have constantly in mind the improvement 
of the Magazine in quality of designs, and also it must in some 
way appeal to the great mass of beginners and of decorators 
for whom advanced work has no special interest. On the 
other hand Keramic Studio must pay its expenses and give a 
living to its publishers. 
We do not need to say that the problem is not easy. 
Exactly what conditions will be after the war in regard to 
publishing expenses is much a matter of guess work. The 
cost of material, paper, ink, etc., may not be as high as it is 
now but in a general way prices will never come back to the 
old level. With the present tax law, the cost of mailing will 
gradually increase until in 1921 all the encouragement which 
has been given to publications by the low rate of second class 
matter will have disappeared. The price of magazines, if 
they are going to survive, will have to be adjusted in some 
way to the new conditions. 
However complex the problem, we think we will be able 
to solve it. Keramic Studio has lived over eighteen years 
and must continue its work. It will do so. Changes of some 
kind may be necessary, and they will be made as soon as 
there are signs of peace and of a revival of the china business, 
but whatever these changes may be they will not lower the 
quality of the Magazine. There is no possibility of a perman- 
ent revival unless better work is done all around than was 
done before the war and Keramic Studio must keep up with 
the movement for better, more artistic work in all lines of 
craftswork. 
Until conditions become normal its subscription price 
will remain what it is now. But we remind our friends that 
at present there is absolutely no profit in its publication, and 
we urge them to continue their support, both as subscribers 
and advertisers, even if this means to them a temporary sacri- 
fice. Our final decision in regard to changes, especially in 
regard to the subscription price, will very much depend on 
the support we receive from now to next January. 
The Detroit School of Design, 546 Jefferson Ave., E., 
Detroit, Mich, announces the opening in October of its seventh 
year. Courses in illustration, fashion design, poster, decora- 
tive and mural design, architectural and normal art, etc. 
Children's courses in design, color harmony and drawing. 
Mr. Walter K. Titze writes to us that he has been drafted 
for the war and will be unable to send his page in Keramic 
Studio for the present but intends to continue the work as 
soon as he returns to civil life. 
A subscriber sends us a very attractive set of Satsuma 
beads decorated in flat enamels, also instructions for decora- 
ting and firing them. We will publish these instructions 
and illustration of the beads in next issue. If there is de- 
mand for beads the Satsuma people and undoubtedly other 
potteries would put them on the market in quantities. It 
seems to be an interesting new field. 
STUDIO NOTE 
After a long illness Miss Louise Seinecke of Cincinnati, 
is back in her studio full of ambition and energy in the work 
for which she is so well fitted, that of glass decorating and 
glass staining. Miss Seinecke makes a specialty of instruct- 
ing teachers in this art, which is having wide-spread interest 
throughout the United States. 
