They’re Vintage Industrial Porcelain Glove Molds!
Glove Molds were primarily used for making latex or rubber gloves. Porcelain hands served as forms (glove mold) to used to attach to a machine to “dip” into the rubber or latex mass, and make the gloves. Examples have been found by many pottery companies–from Germany to Japan.
US examples include Mayer China and General Porcelain among others, but according to the Potteries of Trenton Society, General Porcelain one was a leader in it’s day. Located in the town of Trenton, New Jersey the building was located at 951 Pennsylvania Avenue. Incorporated in 1939 it’s early days were manufacturing Laboratory and industrial pottery such as electrical porcelain manufacturer–insulators, ceramic light parts, etc. China, Fine Earthenware, and art pottery soon followed and by the early 50’s glove mold production was in full swing.
Note the many different sizes on display from Retro Chalet which make collecting fun. The company remained one of the largest producers of the glove mold in the USA, and locals knew it as General Porcelain Manufacturing Co. which, this facility was considered the “Justrite Ceramics Division.” According to one of the last Dunn and Bradstreet updates, the company had 50 employees at the time and was reporting almost $6 million dollar per year gross income …until their demise .
What happened to the demise of this manufacturer around 2006 we may never know, especially for a company who was doing so well. We can only assume the fact that industrial production costs in the United States were too high in comparison to companies like Shinko of Japan and Mexican Potters who produce many of the industrial glove molds for the US companies that still use them today.
Credit: hubpages.com
