Gracious Fanatics Transcript
- [Narrator] It's 5:00 in the morning, already a few hours late if you wanted to be first in line. For the next few hours, cars continue to line up along the dark, dusty roads of rural North Carolina. People sit in the dark silence, waiting. Many try to sleep, but few are able; they're too anxious, too excited for what lies just a few yards away. At 9:00 AM, the gates will open, and then the battle begins.
- [Mark] It's a wonderful event. Keep your places in line as you go down to the barn.
- And then when it's go, they all just start sailing.
- It takes about 10 minutes to completely devastate the shelves. All the merchandise is gone.
- I have been guilty of buying things I didn't need. Especially when it comes to this.
- When you meet a pottery enthusiast, regardless, it's worse than a terminal disease.
- [Narrator] North Carolina is pottery country. In the Seagrove area alone, there are over one hundred potteries, attracting neighbors and distant travelers alike, all of whom share a love, and for some, an obsession, for pottery.
- Friend of mine took me there for the first time, and it was over for me.
- You know it's done right here.
- I collect a little bit, I don't have a huge collection at this point.
- It's like going on a easter egg hunt, and you're not sure what you're going to get.
- You get addicted, real fast.
- [Narrator] Among all the styles of pottery in North Carolina, it is the traditional North Carolina folk pottery that has inspired the greatest passion among buyers. Folk potters continue to make pottery in traditional ways, digging and mixing their own clay, firing their pots in groundhog kilns fed with local timber, shaping the clay into time-tested forms, and glazing the pieces with the subtle shades and textures of generations past and present. And they sell their work in traditional ways too: by having a kiln opening. For some, like Sid Luck, the opening is often a literal one, with customers unloading the kiln. People chat, eat, and listen to music. It's also a reunion, both for the collectors as well as for potters who apprenticed with Sid Luck and who also sell their work there. At Ben Owen the Third's, the opening is more carefully choreographed, with people getting numbers as they arrive. Here, people show up the night before to make sure they get the piece of pottery they want. The same is true at Mark Hewitt's pottery, where people regularly line up as early as 3:00 in the morning.
- Kiln openings are a wonderful way of inviting everybody down at once to come see everything that comes out of a kiln. When you fire a big kiln like this, it's sort of a special event and such is the appreciation for pottery in North Carolina. It's like people who queue up for a sporting event or concert of whatever kind. This place is perceived of as being special, and people want my work, and they're happy to stand in line and engage in a type of shopping that they don't at the mall. And it isn't the mall. And I think that's a big part of it. It's out in the country, it's a very one on one, very special connection people have with a potter.
- Well, I think the kiln opening is kind of like a chase. So if you kind of like first in line, then you get the pick of the litter.
- It wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be the same as getting up in the middle of the night, getting up at three o'clock in the morning and shaving and getting out here at 4:30.
- [Narrator] Getting up early in the morning is only part of the process. The real planning and strategizing begins the night before at the preview, where a potter invites buyers to take a peek at what will be for sale the next day. WD Morton Jr. is scouting out the new firing and plotting his strategy. He's been first in line at the past seven kiln openings at Mark Hewitt's and plans on being first again tomorrow.
- The kiln opening here tomorrow, one particular piece is a large bowl. This would probably be, you know, price wise it's a little pricey at $950, but right now I would think it would probably be on the top, as well as several other people.
- [Narrator] Debra Hayley is also a regular at Mark Hewitt's. At the last kiln opening, she arrived in the dark to get a planter for her garden. This time, the list has grown.
- Dinner plates would be the top. And then some cute little vases that go quickly. And then a planter that's kind of towards the front, so I'll have to make sure I get here early to get that one. This table in particular is of great interest to me. I love these colors; I have a lot of these colors in our home. And it's the blue that I really like.
- [Narrator] Tom Gaffney collects pots with clear ties to the past, particularly the early nineteenth century.
- The piece I'd really like to get tomorrow is a pitcher that I noticed had an incised sort of an outline of a lizard on it. Sort of reminds me of pitchers back in the early 1800s in the States. There's a lot of incised birds and other animals and birds on pitchers. So it's a kind of a throw back to that sort of design.
- [Narrator] And Sherrie Jameson is back to find a tea pot to match another one she bought at the last kiln opening.
- We go down to Seagrove a lot.
- [Narrator] The battles over a pot are usually waged between just two people. Rarely is there a single piece that everyone wants. Different tastes and different needs result in different pieces being fought over. This time, however, is different.
- This is the one I was decorating several weeks ago that went in the kiln and just came out prettier than I could have hoped it to have come out. The glaze melted beautifully. The pieces of glass were just the right length. And the shape to begin with is very, very nice. It's just a treat when something comes out even better than you could have hoped. Yeah.
- I just thought that the way which this is combined with this, and these pieces that are on the diagonal, I just thought it was fantastic. I just thought, "Whoa, that's a piece my whole life I'll love to have. And then hopefully, maybe, one day, a kid who will really like it too. And then it can be a piece in the family.
- [Narrator] This is Debs Anne Bew's first time to a kiln opening. And she's facing some very stiff competition.
- I think I'll go for the piece we talked about last night is number one, and then try to get a few of the tumblers, tea tumblers, if I can get that. So we'll see what happens.
- Someone grabs it just before I get there, and I'm like, "Uh."
- [Narrator] Most people have one piece they desperately want. And so, they've developed strategies to ensure they get that one special pot. Some work in teams. Others boldly nudge their way ahead in line. And still others are more far more sneaky.
- I know in particular, the last kiln opening, there was one small piece, the shape was very unusual. It was just the one piece; none of the others was like that. But, what happens on Saturday morning, when people come in, about 8:30, or prior, between 8:00 and 8:30. Mark will still allow you to come down to the building to look. So that particular morning, I came down to the building with some other people, and we looked, and you get a mental picture of where these pieces are. Because when you come down, it's not a matter of, well, what do I want to buy, it's like a straight dive right to the piece, as much as you can bring in and out. But that particular morning, I looked at the piece, probably about eight thirty, and I went back up and got in line, and I noticed when I got here, it would be a quick catch with my left hand and on in. I looked twice and the piece was gone. So evidently, someone had taken it and shifted it, moved it, put it behind another piece between the time I went back and the time I got here at 9:00. So that's a strategy. People will move pieces around on the shelf, so your mental image is disturbed or out of kilter. That's one of the better techniques.
- You get people who put yellow reserve stickers on pots during the preview. After he left, we just took them all off. I mean, there have been some wonderful moments at kiln openings. There was, at one point, two people put their hands on a very handsome big jar at exactly the same time, and they couldn't have been any more different from each other. One was a retired stockbroker from Long Island and the other was a mail carrier from Burlington. And I said to them, just come back in 5 minutes. If you still both want the pot, we'll toss a coin. They both still wanted it. Tossed a coin. The mail carrier got it. And the stockbroker said, "Well, I've been a gambling man all my life, just make me another." So I sold two pots. And that was good.
- I was head of this person by two and I had guessed. I had seen her maybe on Friday looking at something, and I was looking at that same pot, and I said, "Well, look if I get in ahead of her and get it, then it's mine I guess." I got there first and first come first served. And it was an umbrella stand and it was right here in the corner around here. And I knew I had it and I could read her mind. She was about two people behind me, and she was going straight for it, and it was in my hand. I didn't run, but I walked fast. Anyway, it was a situation where you could read that person's mind and she was like, "That you know what."
- I noticed last time that people tend to run first to the big planters, so I'm hoping to, even though I think my wife would like one of those planters, I'm going to run pass those, and try to go for this, and then double back probably and see if I can grab a planter on the rebound. That's the strategy.
- We'll see how soon I can get to the tables and inside. I don't want to run, but I'm going to be moving fast.
- What time are you going to be here tomorrow morning?
- I don't know. We'll see. Between seven and eight.
- You'll see?
- You think we ought to be here by seven, huh?
- I would encourage you to be here by seven or seven fifteen if you want to get what's on that list. But divide it up. You take on some, and Ralph, you take on some and run like hell.
- [WD Morton Jr.] I tell you, it's tough right now because the mosquitos are so bad, and it's very humid. So I'll probably sit here and suffer. I don't think I'll do too much sleeping.
- [Narrator] So what might explain this passion for pottery? What might explain the camping out, the sleeping in cars, the jostling for position, the underhanded strategies? The obvious answer is the beauty and power of the pottery. All collectors have their own specific tastes. Some are drawn to the visual artistry, the forms, the glazes, the textures, the colors. Others to the ties to the past, a rural romanticism rooted in clay, a past that speaks against runaway consumerism, where a few, fine pots are valued far above cabinets full of cheap plastic ware. Here, each pot is unique. But many are drawn as much to the potter as to the pottery. Kiln openings are a chance to forge a personal connection with a potter, a connection re-established every time you sip from a well-turned mug or pour water from a well-balanced jug. Kiln openings are also a chance to forge ties with other collectors, people who share a passion for pottery. And that's where the paradox of the kiln opening lies. Collectors want to be surrounded by other enthusiasts to share stories and talk pottery. But every colleague is also a potential competitor.
- It seems, particularly when we see everybody gathered up in the waiting area that they're all having a good time together. They know each other. Sort of seems like, certainly on the Friday night, it seems like a cocktail party with old friends.
- The people stand in the driveway with their chairs that they brought, and you get to talk to the people behind you and in front of you and compare notes about how many times they've been to this kiln opening. It's sort of interesting.
- I think that was 1980. And we had pots from that first firing in our shop. And I still have some of those pots. I guess I have about 15 of his pots now.
- I think that's what's fun when you go into some people's houses, and you recognize Mark Hewitt's stuff and "Oh, that's Mark Hewitt's stuff."
- Well, I keep trying to swap it back to Mark so we can trade up. He says, "Trade up? Don't even show it." It's actually quite good.
- So it works out fine. I mean, clearly some people are hell-bent on getting particular pots. They're the ones that come out early, and they usually get them.
- Hello. Good morning, everybody. You know the rules. Just keep your place in line, if you will please, until you get down to the barn. Thank you for coming. Just go slowly. Just start.
- [Man] That's just the one I wanted.
- I'm sorry.
- Dad, which ones did you get?
- I got two of these.
- [Tom] You got it.
- I got it.
- Got everything I wanted. That's great.
- I got to work quickly.
- Did you get what you need?
- Yeah, I did.
- I was pleased with my position in line. So I got to get most of the things I was looking for. I did get a couple of the incised lizard pitchers, so I was happy with that. I guess maybe I was the only one who was after those.
- Which one did you get.
- I was looking at an umbrella stand, but I didn't get that one.
- Oh, you didn't? It's still there?
- I think it's still there.
- Oh yeah, that's gorgeous.
- The color.
- [Man] How did it go?
- It was okay, but I didn't get the one.
- [Man] Do you know who did?
- Yes, I do. She was the one two people in front of me. So number two. Next time I'll be number two, if I'm that serious.
- [Narrator] So, who did get the pot coveted by so many?
- I'm Emily Lambeth from Thomasville. So I came up to Chapel Hill to spend the night so I'd be nearer. Everybody was eyeing everything; that's why I couldn't sleep all night. So I finally set the alarm for 4:30, but I got up at four and just came on. I was third in line. Two people spent the night in their car, and I was the third person. One person said, "Oh, you got the most beautiful thing here." But everything here is beautiful. And if you didn't get what you wanted, there's always another time too.
- You know, most of the time when you go, you don't get the pot you want. Because there's a lot of people, but there's always, I mean, everything he's got out there is wonderful, so you really don't go home, you definitely don't go home empty handed and feel like, "Oh, that was a total loss," because you fall in love with the pot you pick.
- There was a time when kiln openings at Burlon Craig's were riotous and unpleasant, and it certainly makes for a good story to know that people were actually physically fighting over pots. But if you asked Burlon, he found it really distasteful and unpleasant. And, you know, potters aren't into that. We want it to be nice for everybody. We take great pride in our work and want to distribute it in a prideful way too.
- I guess I just have to wait for the rejects. This is so funny. Can I look at your rejects?
- We don't have people fighting over the pots. It may be that somebody sees a pot that they want picked up before they can get to it, but as far as I can tell, everybody leaves satisfied, whether they got what they wanted or whether they had to settle for something else.
- It's just something about it. Southern Charm or whatever you want to call it. But it would definitely be a loss if he decided not to do this anymore.
