Vase with initials NP

 Yes, the initials are mine for Nancy Patterson. You could try to send a photo to:

lambsgoodearth@gmail.com. I do not know it’s worth.

 Dear Kathy, I am delighted to hear from you! Your parents were very special friends. When they came on field work in our part of the Appalachians, they stayed with me. I hiked with them looking at rocks! Thanks for writing! Nancy

Hannah's Flowers?

Hello, Your question about a pattern, "Hannah's Flowers," is no , there was no such pattern. I think what you saw probably was "Rachel's garden," also a blue and white pattern with flowers, usually painted within a square frame. There also were bugs.

Olive Green

The Olive Green pattern is named POND MOUNTAIN. The glaze is derived from iron, whch in a reduction firing cycle turns the glaze a Celadon green.

Reasons for closing Iron Mountain Stoneware

To granddaughter of Margaret Gose: I am having difficulty in managing the posts on the blog with a new system by Google. However, to answer your quetion about the reasons for Iron Mountain closing, they are as follows: There was no natural gas in Johnson County, and we used propane for fuel to fire the ilns. However, propane cost a lot more than natural gas. There was a shortage of gas, and prices doubled. That was one reason. Another was increasing costs for insurance and labor, another, the high cost of bank interest (18%). Our kilns needed repair. Retailers took longer to pay for shipments. We always suffered from insufficient working capital. altogether, it was impossble to continue.