Deneen Pottery
Favorite part of working at Deneen Pottery? Everything! Working alongside and inspiring our awesome staff and assisting our incredible customers. Getting to be around such a creative process and talented artists - the variety of 'opportunities' that fill my day keep me on my toes. Witnessing the transformation from proof to product.
Continuing on the topic of ‘mug collecting’ is at the center story of today’s blog… This one is a good one about the custom handmade mugs that we proudly create!
Did you say all 50 states?!?
“Yes – A round belly mug from each of the 50 states.”
Last month I wrote about about a couple that stayed at the Green Lake Guest House specifically because they had Deneen Pottery Mugs. The very next day I received an email from a self professed mug collector named Vince Smith (yes, his last name is really Smith) who let me in on his mug collecting goal. “Several months ago I decided to start a collection of round bellies WITH logos with the ambitious goal of acquiring one Round Belly from each of the 50 states. I’ve been using Ebay for [some of] these purchases and now have 14 mugs from 12 states – pretty good progress for just a few months.”
“The collection now has 13 states or 26% of the way.”
Vince first contacted us back in April of 2009 when he was looking to replace a round belly mug that he purchased years ago from the Rose Hill Inn (read that story here). Because the Inn was destroyed in a horrible fire, and it has not yet reopened, replacing that mug seemed impossible. “Unfortunately, the mug was broken beyond recognition, I know that’s hard to believe since they are so sturdy.” Here is a picture of that broken Rose Hill Inn mug, along with a distant ‘cousin’ mug from Scotland that Vince picked up on a vacation years before he knew anything about Deneen Pottery.
As fortune would have it, while sorting out samples for the Paii Conference at the start of they year I found a random box of samples… And inside of that box was… Yep, you guessed it, a lone Rose Hill Inn mug!?! Upon the suggestion of our newest employee, Heath Croft [Director of Social Media, Sales], we packed up that mug and quietly sent it to Vince, this was his reply.
“I really was surprised to see that you sent a Rose Inn mug exactly like the ones that I had before. Thanks so much. It is extra special with the matching cover. My wife is a big tea drinker, so she will probably want to steep her tea in the Rose Inn mug. Plus that adds a state that I did not have, due to the unfortunate demise of the two originals from the Rose Inn. With New York, the collection now has 13 states or 26% of the way.”
It’s been a pleasure working with you, Vince! We look forward to hearing back about your collection as it grows!!!
Thank you for reading our blog!
Niles Deneen, CEO
Deneen Pottery
Deneen Pottery
Favorite part of working at Deneen Pottery? Everything! Working alongside and inspiring our awesome staff and assisting our incredible customers. Getting to be around such a creative process and talented artists - the variety of 'opportunities' that fill my day keep me on my toes. Witnessing the transformation from proof to product.
