Phil Schaltenbrand is the man behind millions of custom keepsakes.
His Scenery Hill company, Westerwald Pottery, will probably make its 4 millionth handmade pot within the next year, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. Many of those creations will last for decades to come.
“Most of these pots will be around for 500 years if they're cared for,” Schaltenbrand said. “That's me. That's my legacy.”
Schaltenbrand's interest in pottery grew while taking ceramics classes at Temple University during his graduate studies. Handmade crafts of all kinds were growing in popularity, and he got caught up in the rising tide.
“A lot of people got hooked on working with clay,” he said.
He helped create a ceramics program at California University of Pennsylvania, and spent his time teaching and honing his craft.
His life changed when some of his neighbors asked for his help. It was the 1970s, and the United States' bicentennial was approaching. They wanted pots personalized to commemorate the borough of Centerville, and they wanted Schaltenbrand to make them.
He was hesitant at first.
“They were asking me to make something they could sell fairly inexpensively, and in mass numbers, and that kind of hit me the wrong way,” he said. “Now we're talking about a pottery business, when before I was trying to be an artist.”
Nevertheless, he took them up on their offer and watched as the pots he made rapidly sold out.
“One thing led to another, and we started making them for different towns,” he said.
So Schaltenbrand became a businessman, almost by accident. He named Westerwald Pottery after a region in Germany famed for its ceramics.
He didn't realize it, but he was starting a pottery operation at the perfect time. Trends were starting to change.
“I discovered, without even realizing it, that we were part of the phenomenon known as the ‘country look,' ” he said.
Rustic, handmade, old-fashioned items were in vogue, and Westerwald's work became wildly popular.
Schaltenbrand and his staff of about 30 sold more than 100,000 pieces a year, mostly to stores with names like “Country Boutique” and “Country Outlet.”
Schaltenbrand said he never really thought of his style as being “country,” and he was almost relieved when the trend started to die off in the 1990s, even though it had been great for sales.
Westerwald now only has about half the output it did in its heyday, making 50,000 to 60,000 pieces a year. Schaltenbrand has 10 employees, including part-timers.
Despite the smaller scope, the business is still going strong, and Schaltenbrand has plenty of regular customers from across the country who keep giving him reasons to fire up the kiln.
“Made in America is so huge today, and there's so little of it anymore,” said Lisa Girard, who orders several large shipments from Westerwald every year to sell at the Moravian bookstores in Bethlehem and Allentown. They always sell out quickly, she said.
In his spare time, Schaltenbrand likes to create caricaturized clay sculptures of the United States presidents. They can be seen staring down from shelves in his store and factory — Lincoln, Obama, Fillmore, he's made them all, except Calvin Coolidge.
He says the wacky sculptures help him blow off steam when the stress of the business gets to be too much.
“They're what I do to keep my sanity, to give me an escape,” he said.
Schaltenbrand, 73, is starting to think about retirement, but he doesn't want to step away from Westerwald until he knows it's in good hands.
Good potters are hard to find these days, he said. People learning about ceramics in college usually want to be artists, but production pottery requires a different set of skills.
“There's a lot of little tricks to it,” said Barry Gray, who has worked at Westerwald for decades. He met Schaltenbrand when he was a student at California University, and Schaltenbrand taught his art history class.
Though the popularity of pottery may not be as strong as it was 30 years ago, Schaltenbrand said he thinks there will always be a need for people like him.
“As long as we are human beings, I think there will always be people, and I hope this is true, who appreciate that we make things by hand,” he said.
Jacob Tierney is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-836-6646 or jtierney@tribweb.com.
