CUP MANUFACTURE

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 263, 5 August 1942, Page 6

CUP MANUFACTURE

15,000 A Week Being Made In Auckland HEAVY DEMAND For the first time cups are being made in New Zealand. They are being produced at the rate of 15,000 a week from an Auckland kiln in an effort to cope with a small portion of the Dominion-wide demand. Saucers are not being made yet, though the potters hope to be making them soon. Crockery shops have difficulty in maintaining their stocks.. Orders from England, the home of chinaware, are increasingly difficult to fulfil, and some firms have been waiting over a year for stocks. There remain fairly good quantities of choice lines; it is the everyday ware for which there is an unsatisfied demand. An importer explained that during the current sixth licensing period 125 per cent, of 1938 imports were permitted, and for the seventh period, starting next January, only 50 per cent. But in 1938 cheap crockery could be obtained from Czechoslovakia, Germany and Japan, whereas today almost the sole source of supply was Britain. Only one English cup could be ordered today at a price which would secure three or four from other countries before the'war. Moreover, in Britain the pottery industry had been “telescoped” from 163 potteries to 63. The quota had been restricted to 60 per cent, of 1941 exports, and no fancy or decorated lines were to be manufactured after July 1. There was a crockery famine in England today, and that naturally affected the export trade, apart altogether from shipping difficulties.

“We expect to receive only 25 per cent, of imports in 1942 for which permits are available,” he added.

Restaurants, hotels and tearooms report varied experiences, though most of them are carrying on with difficulty. Plastic sets have been used in tearooms quite extensively. Formerly they were used almost exclusively at picnics. Almost every enamel mug left in the Dominion has gravitated to the forces. But they have still been insufficient to meet the demand, and many tin mugs are now in use.

One dealer summed up his viewpoint in this way: “Half the crockery in most homes is not used. It reposes in china cabinets and showcases. When all this has been smashed we can talk about a shortage,” But there probably exists some difference of opinion about that.