- Hull Pottery was founded in 1905 in Crooksville, Ohio by Addis Emmet Hull. Hull died in 1930 and his son, Addis E. Hull, Jr. took over. The junior Hull left the company in 1937 and was succeeded by Gerald F. Watts. The plant was destroyed June 19, 1950 in a flood that caused the kilns to explode and resulted in a fire. It was rebuilt and reopened in January, 1952. The 1980s brought global competition, and the plant closed in 1986.
- Hull Pottery in its early days produced tiles, stoneware for everyday use and semi-porcelain dinnerware.
- According to myantiquemall.com, Hull was no competition for much larger potteries such as Rookwood, but Hull's art pottery lines sold well and were popular through the 1960s. The most popular lines were floral designs--such as Magnolia, Calla Lily, Orchid, Open Rose and Wildflower--with a dual-colored background in a soft matte finish glaze. Others were in shapes of baby carriages, swans, lambs and other figures. Thanks to the art pottery lines, by the 1920s Hull Pottery had grown large enough to establish offices in Chicago and Detroit, a showroom in New York, and a large warehouse in New Jersey.
- As popular as the floral trade pottery became, the most popular and notable piece of all created by Hull Pottery was its Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar, introduced in 1943. It was so popular that an entire line of Red Riding Hood figures was created, including teapots, sugar bowls, banks, butter dishes, creamers, pitchers, salt and pepper shakers. Hull Pottery continued producing Red Riding Hood figures until the mid-1950s.
- Most Hull Pottery pieces are inscribed on the bottom with the name of the line and a number with the additional mark of "Hull." Pre-1950 and post-1950s marks are different. (Study the articles in the Reference section below, and other guides to make certain you know the colors of the glazes used and the marks to look for so you're not duped by the many forgeries on the market.)
- When the Hull plant was rebuilt in 1952, the kilns and machinery that had produced the popular matte glazes on the floral pottery could not be duplicated on the new machines. The company produced the same designs in gloss glazes, and added new lines through the 1950s and 1960s, including Ebb Tide, Continental, Parchment and Pine, Sunglow,Tokay, Serenade and Tuscany.
- When the popularity of its art pottery lines started waning in the 1970s, Hull discontinued producing art pottery, turning back to its beginnings and once again limited itself to dinnerware and utilitarian pottery.
