Holiday Sale - Weekend 2 Preview

The second weekend of the Holiday Sale is just around the corner, so we're going to throw out a refresher for both returning a first time shoppers.

The Bauer Pottery showroom is where all of our "seconds" end up.  What are seconds?  They are the not-quite-perfect pieces that come out of the factory.  Nothing broken, nothing chipped, just a little glaze skip here, a pinhole there. Most of the time we have to point out the flaw to our customers.  Our standards are pretty high, if we do say so ourselves (and we do say so).



Since the pieces are not firsts, the prices aren't either.  Everything in the showroom starts at 30% off of retail.  If a piece is slightly less than a second, we'll knock off a few more dollars.  The added bonus at the Holiday Sale is that we double down on the discounts.  Last weekend was an additional 20% off of the discounted showroom price.  This weekend, that discount goes up to 25%.

Another reason to come to the Holiday Sale this weekend?  Grilled cheese!

It's been over 20 months since their last visit, but the Grilled Cheese Truck will be making another stop at the showroom this Saturday, from 11am to 2pm.  That means buttery crunchy bread, melty cheese, tomato-y soup and so much more deliciousness.

What's that?  You don't live near Southern California, but you still would like to shop for seconds?  We have you covered.  Starting on December 19th, we'll post a selection of seconds on our web store.  Since it takes a bit more work to move pieces back to the factory to pack and ship, the discounts aren't quite as deep, but you're still getting a great deal.  The only possible downside is that the online seconds will not ship until after the first of the year.  Just think of it as an after-Christmas sale that you get to shop before Christmas.

Subscribe to our email list, keep checking our Holiday Sale page or like us on Facebook for all of the updates and news about all of the holiday sales.

Holiday Sale - Weekend 1 Review

It seems like just two weeks ago it was Thanksgiving and now we're already into the the thick of the Christmas season. One weekend down and one (or is it two?) more to go for the annual Holiday Sale. The first weekend was a great success for both Bauer and for our customers, who made off with some beautiful pottery at a great price.



It's always nice to seem familiar faces who come by year in and year out and we're always glad to welcome the newcomers to the showroom. If you're in town and can stop by, please come visit us this weekend.



We had two great food trucks over the past weekend. Lidia's Dominican Kitchen was here on Saturday serving up great Dominican food. I had a Patacon Pisao, a pork sandwich, with plantains in the place of bread. Sunday, the Crispy Waffle & Frite truck made a lunch stop, serving up Liège (a.k.a. Belgian) waffles, in both sweet and savory varieties. The special Bacon, Brie & Basil waffle was great and if you like sweet, do not miss the Speculoos n' Cream.

Scroll down for a few more images from this past weekend...


Though there's plenty of pottery to go around, there's always a few who arrive before the doors open.


Moments after the doors open.

Lidia's Dominican Kitchen & the Patacon Pisao



Crispy Waffle & Frite truck and their Bacon, Brie & Basil Waffle


I get to include a picture of this pooch, the sweetest Blue Heeler named Cookie, because there's a Ringware Dog Bowl behind her.

For more details including hours, directions and more, please visit our Holiday Sale page.

2011 Holiday Sale!

It seems like just 12 months ago we were telling you about last year's annual Holiday Sale.

If you can think past next week's festivities and feasting and football, take a moment to jot down the dates for this year's sale in your calendar (iPhone 4s users just ask Siri to remind you).

Saturday & Sunday
December 3 & 4 and 10 & 11
9am - 5pm
We have lots of pottery on the shelves, as we do every year. We'll also have some new pieces from the Corita by Bauer line.



We're also excited to have some great food trucks back for the sale. Starting of on the first Saturday, December 3rd, we'll have Lidia's Dominican Kitchen.



They serve up great Dominican fare, as you may have already surmised. I'd recommend the Pernil or the Patacon Pisao.

For complete information on the sale, visit the Holiday Sale page.

Bauer Gift Certificates Available During the KCRW Pledge Drive

We already know that you’re a fan of Bauer Pottery, but if you also enjoy public radio, why not combine your passions and support KCRW? Their bi-annual pledge drive started last night and to support their fund raising, we’ve given ten $100 gift certificates as pledge premiums.

You can listen over the air all over Southern California, anywhere with an internet connection at or on your Android, Blackberry or iPhone.

Gift certificates can be redeemed over the phone (888) 213-0800 or at our showroom in Los Angeles, were you can purchase discounted seconds. Either way, you will also receive an additional discount when you show us your KCRW Fringe Benefits card.

In addition to the Bauer gift certificate and the Fringe Benefits card, you’ll be entered into all sorts of sweepstakes and daily drawings for prizes including trips to Barcelona, laptops, iPads and more. Listen to the pledge drive or check their web site for more details.

The Bauer gift certificates are only available at the time they are announced on the air, so you need to be listening when they make the announcement and then you can call in and claim one for yourself. The pledge line is (800) 600-KCRW or (800) 600-5279.

KCRW 89.9FM

Pottery Repair & Restoration by Yesterware

Oil Jar during repair (left) and after (right)

We get the call once or twice a month.

A semi-distraught voice tells us how a vintage piece of Bauer, which has been in the family for a generation or two, got chipped, cracked or broken.

"Do you do repairs?"

"Can you match this glaze?"

"Do you sell a kit?"

Our answer to all of this type of question regrettably has been "no." We've also never had a good place to refer anyone for this type of work, until now.

We found Mike & Netta Yaeck while shopping for some vintage pieces on eBay. They were selling a Bauer Honey Jar bottom with a reproduction lid that they had made. After purchasing the honey jar from them we wanted to find out more about how they came to making vintage Bauer reproductions.

Mike & Netta have been working under the company name Yesterware out of their studio in Bakersfield for the past 10 years. While they were both collectors, they were not in the pottery business before Yesterware. He was a general contractor and she was a silversmith.

This Rebekah Vase was missing a handle before Yesterware created a new one.

Wanting to repair some of their own pieces, they researched repair techniques and started fixing up pottery as a hobby. The hobby became a full-time job and now they do a lot of custom work for auction houses as well as taking in private jobs.

Their service starts at $75.00 to repair chips and goes up from there. In addition to chip repair, they can fix cracks, reassemble broken pieces and even reproduce entire parts, as we found out with our honey pot.

If you have a piece that you'd like repaired, please call Mike & Netta at (661) 32-BAUER [22837] or by email at nyaeck@bak.rr.com.

Of course, if you need to replace a piece with some Bauer 2000, you can always give us a call!




* * *
Bottom photo: D&M Tile, Los Angeles, circa 1930, repaired by Yesterware
All photos courtesy of Mike & Netta Yaeck of Yesterware.

The Grill Plate

The shape is familiar to you.

You recognize it, yes, but something's different.

It's... it's not dull and white.

Oh! It's not made of paper or styrofoam. It's pottery. Beautiful glazed earthenware. What else? Five colors? Five gorgeous Bauer colors* you say?



Yes, the classic Bauer Grill Plate is available once again. Modeled in three sections and measuring eleven inches across, the Grill Plate is available in Bauer Orange, Bauer Yellow, Turquoise, Aqua and Federal Blue, as pictured above.

Did you think, like I did, that the sectioned plate was the introduced circa-whenever you first saw one as a kid?

The real answer is we don't know exactly when it was invented. It probably is not an original Bauer design, but J.A. Bauer Pottery did manufacture these plates as early as the 1930s.

Click here to begin shopping for the Grill Plate now.


(Click on the four arrows on the bottom right for the full-screen view.)

*Okay, we're making it in white too, for nostalgia sake, but you already have an idea of what that looks like.

Historic Palos Verdes Homes Tour

The Palos Verdes Arts Center recently held their annual Historic Homes Tour fundraiser in the coastal suburb of Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The event supports visual arts exhibition, education and community outreach programs by non-profit arts center.

One of the three historic residences on the tour is owned by Bauer customer and collector John Phillips. John invited Bauer Pottery to augment his personal collection by providing an outdoor table setting.



The vintage Bauer designs fit in perfectly with the 1920s home.



"All three residences, selected because of their historical significance in the early development of the area, were built in the mid to late 1920s. All three are variations of the Spanish Revival architecture - popular in that era - each has its own unique features and colorful history."
- Palos Verdes Arts Center

Photos by John Phillips

Shallow Dog Bowl on Dwell.com

Thanks to Dwell.com for the mention of the Shallow Dog Bowl as their "Product of the Day." We appreciate the love and we're fans of you too!

Home By Sunset Collection Spring Sale

For a limited time, prices for the entire Home By Sunset Collection are reduced by 30%. Take advantage of these Spring prices while you're shopping for Mother's Day or planning your 2011 garden. Sale runs through Mother's Day, Sunday, May 8th, 2011.

View a slideshow of the collection below, or just click now and start filling your home and garden with beautiful pieces from our Home By Sunset Collection.



Click the "expand" button in the bottom, right hand corner for a beautiful, full-screen slide show!

April Showroom Sale

We've bypassed Spring and gone right into Summer here in L.A. Get out and enjoy the warm weather and stop by the Bauer Showroom while you're at it.

We'll be here, Saturday and Sunday, April 2nd and 3rd.

Full details are available on the Showroom Sale page.

We've got lots and lots of pottery and some special deals only available at the Showroom on Dinner Plates, Salad Plates and 16 inch Oil Jars.

March 2011 Showroom Sale with the Ragin' Cajun

Are you ready for the first Showroom Sale of 2011?



Are we?


Regardless, the doors of the Showroom will swing open this coming weekend. As always we'll have great deals on factory seconds from the Bauer Pottery and Russel Wright® American Modern® dinnerware lines.


Serving lunch from 11am-2pm will be the Ragin' Cajun Cafe on Wheels. You may remember them from such television shows as the Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race". They'll be letting the bon temps and the shrimp po' boys roulez in the parking lot for all of you hungry shoppers.





Shrimp Po' Boy


If you'd like a virtual experience of the Showroom Sale, take a look at this slide show we put together via our Flickr page. It's a collection of shots from sales over the past year or so.

Full details, including dates, times, directions and more are available on the Showroom Sale page.

(Ragin Cajun truck and food photos by Guzzle & Nosh)

Arrangements by Flora Grubb

Some lovely arrangements using our Madagascar vases from Flora Grubb Gardens of San Francisco. Click on the image above to enlarge.

Pinnacle Vase in Apartment Therapy

Take a look at this house tour post by Apartment Therapy from last month.

A lovely Aqua Pinnacle Vase makes an appearance in the first photo.

(If you see Bauer or Russel Wright pottery showing up online, in a magazine, on TV or elsewhere, let us know so that we can share it here.)

New (Old) Nesting (Mixing) Bowls

Take a deep breath.

Clear your head.

This is going to be one of those things.

Let's start with a happy new year to everyone! Most people get a little lull after the first of the year. We're into the third week of January and we're just now wrapping up all of our post-holiday sale shipping. The sheer volume of orders coupled with the fact that heavy rains here in Southern California took out most of our phone service and all of our internet connection at the factory and we've had a heck of a 2011 so far.

Now let's get to the exciting and confusing news. We've got a new item to introduce to you. Actually, it's not a new item in that it's both a vintage Bauer design as well as a piece we've been selling for several years now. Plus, it's not just one item but six.

We're very happy to finally launch* the Bauer Classic Style Mixing Bowl set on our web site. As you may know, we've been selling four sizes of what have been alternately called "Mixing Bowls," "Nested Mixing Bowls" or "Nesting Bowls." We will continue to make and sell this style, which going forward will be called "Bauer 2000 Mixing Bowls." They will continue to be available in the four sizes (7, 8, 9 & 10 inch) and 15 colors.


Bauer Classic Style Mixing Bowls: #9 Bauer Yellow, #12 Bauer Orange, #18 Turquoise, #24 Federal Blue


Bauer 2000 Mixing Bowls: 10" French Blue, 9" Lime Green, 8" Midnight Blue, 7" Chartreuse

The "new" set of bowls will be called the "Bauer Classic Style Mixing Bowls." This set will be available in six sizes and 15 colors. The Classic Style Bowl sizes are distinguished by numbers on the underside of each bowl. The larger the number the smaller the bowl, thus the #30 bowl is the smallest, and they continue up through #24, #18, #12, #9 with #6 as the largest. The middle four bowls (#24, #18, #12 & #9) are essentially same size as the four pieces in Bauer 2000 set of bowls.



Why are we causing all of this confusion? Well, when we started reproducing the mixing bowl set, the models were not as exact a reproduction of the ringware bowl set as we had hoped. Regardless of how we felt about them, they were still very popular. The Sundance catalog featured them for several years and we still sell many of them every month.

While the original bowls were flying off the shelves, we went back to the drawing board, or rather our model-maker's table, and made a new set of mixing bowls. These bowls reproduced the vintage bowls much more accurately. The rings were thicker, the rim was less flared out and the overall shape was more round and full. Both sets are lovely and most people can't really see much of a difference until they're side by side and we point out them out.

The easiest way to distinguish between the two styles is to turn one over and look at the bottom mark. A Bauer 2000 bowl reads "BAUER POTTERY LOS ANGELES" around the outside with "2000" stamped across the middle. A Classic Style bowl reads "BAUER POTTERY USA" round the ring and is also stamped with a "2000" across the middle, but below the "2000" is the size of the bowl: 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 or 30.


Bauer 2000 Mixing Bowl bottom mark


Bauer Classic Style Mixing Bowl bottom mark

So, why keep the first set of bowls if the second version is a more accurate reproduction? There are a couple reasons. The first being that a lot of people bought the Bauer 2000 set and sometimes want to add to their set or replace a broken or lost piece. We'd hate to leave all those people with no recourse but to buy a whole new set of bowls. Second, the pieces in the two sets cannot be mixed with one another and still nest properly. A Classic #12 does not sit properly inside a Bauer 2000 10 inch bowl and so forth.

Hopefully, this clarifies rather than confuses the situation. We are very excited to finally make these bowls more widely available. Please feel free to give us a call or send email with any questions you might have about our nested mixing bowls.

To shop for either style of Nested Mixing Bowl, click here now.




*Extra points to those who noticed that the Classic Style Bowls have been the header image for the Bauer blog since it launched.

Happy Holidays!(...and don't forget to shop the online sale)

Thank you to everyone who shopped at our showroom, online or at one of our many retailers in 2010. We know that though things are getting better slowly, not everyone's back on their feet and ready to buy multiple place settings of ringware.

We appreciate every single one of you, starting with the folks who are just picking up one piece at a time. We hope that the colors of Bauer Pottery were able to brighten everyone's day just a little this year and going forward into 2011.

The showroom is now closed for the holidays and the factory will be taking off some time between Christmas and New Year's, but this may be the best time of year to shop. You can still get some great deals on our factory seconds from our online store. Visit our Holiday Sale page for the link to the seconds sale. The online sale will stay open til 5pm (PST) on Monday, January 3, 2011.

Until next year, we leave you with a few colorful images from the last day of our Holiday Sale at the showroom.






Janek awash in a sea of Russel Wright American Modern Pitchers.


Some of this stuff is still available via the online seconds sale!





See you in 2011!