Notizen zu dieser Person
Wilhelm's birth and christening dates were verified by records in the LDS Family Search database; some sources erroneously use his christening date (October 29, 1862) as his birth date. The William Pothast (sic) listed in the Social Security Death Index (born October 31, 1873) is not the same William. After serving an apprenticeship with his father (most likely in Borgholz), Wilhelm went to Berlin, where he was employed as a journeyman cabinetmaker with a prominent firm, largely patronized by the nobility. He not only gained valuable experience from his daily work, but also devoted his evenings to the study of furniture design under the guidance of masters of the craft. The creations of the great English designers such as Hepplewhite, Sheraton, and Chippendale won his admiration. Apparently Wilhelm's time in Berlin filled him with ideas of expanding the family cabinetmaking business. According to his grandson, William A. Potthast II (son of George), Wilhelm/William came to America with $1,000 in German marks which his father gave him after rejecting Wilhelm's plans for expanding the business in Germany. His father challenged his son to take his bright ideas to the United States. And so, after serving his military service, Wilhelm came to America, settling in Baltimore in the year 1892; the following year he married, and he soon Anglicized his name to William. He was the second of the Potthast brothers to come to America (Vincent was the first). William's immigration date (1892) is confirmed by two different immigration records. Once in America, William (and his brother Vincent) initially found work at the Knabe Piano Company in Baltimore. Knabe was a large, well known and respected piano manufacturer that has since gone out of business. The old Knabe factory was used for awhile by the Sweetheart Cup company; Oriole Park at Camden Yards now occupies the land where the Knabe Piano factory once stood. Soon after William's arrival in the USA, he and his brother Vincent accepted their father's challenge, left Knabe, and founded the Baltimore furniture manufacturing firm of Potthast Brothers. John and Theodore both joined their brothers after their immigrations (in 1894 and 1900, respectively). The business maintained a steady growth and soon enjoyed a deserved reputation. Some (if not all) of the four American Potthast brothers returned to Germany for periodic visits. A record of one of William's entries into America (in September 1909) is listed in the Ellis Island records (perhaps a visit home to celebrate the birthdays of his brother Karl {August 31} and/or his sister Anna Florentine {August 27}). On his return visit in 1909, he lists his residence as Baltimore, U.S.A. A proud American, he is also now going by the name of William, not Wilhelm. William was also an amateur photographer. The Potthast Brothers collection at The Maryland Historical Society includes numerous glass plates of photos which were taken by William. It was his custom to meet ships coming to Baltimore and take photos of the ships, crews and passengers. William also took several photos of The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, referenced below. William's love of photography was inherited by his grandson (and namesake) William, who opened a photography studio in Florida, which is now operated by William's great-grandson, Michael. William's brother Vincent died in 1911, and William married Vincent's widow, Lena, in 1924. At the time of the 1930 Census (enumerated April 3, 1930), three of Vincent and Lena's children were living with William and Lena: Agnes, age 29; Joseph, age 22; and Charles, age 20. Agnes is a clerk with the railroad, Joseph is an upholsterer in a furniture factory, and Charles is a finisher in a furniture factory ... in both cases, the furniture factory is presumably Potthast Brothers. William's occupation is listed (not surprisingly) as "cabinetmaker of house furniture." William is actually counted twice in the 1930 Census -- once as the father of the children of Anna Leib, and again as the husband of Lena Rehrmann. In the same 1930 Census, William lists his age at the time of his first marriage as 25; this would imply that he married in 1887 ... prior to arriving in America. However, other sources verify the marriage as occurring in 1893 when Wilhelm was 30 (soon to turn 31). William's obituary appeared in The Baltimore Sun, Sunday, August 4, 1935: "Potthast. On August 2, 1935, William A., beloved husband of Lena Potthast. Members of the Third Order of St. Francis will meet and recite the Rosary Sunday, August 4, at 7:15 PM. Funeral from his late residence, 117 West Lanvale Street, on Monday morning at 8:30 o'clock. Requiem High Mass at Corpus Christi Church at 9 o'clock. Interment in Holy Redeemer Cemetery. Please omit flowers." POTTHAST BROTHERS FURNITURE The company slogan of Potthast Brothers was "The True Antiques of Tomorrow." They opened their first store at 321 N. Howard St. in Baltimore; in 1899 they moved to 507 N. Howard St. The business grew at this location, and in 1903 they separated the sales and manufacturing aspects of the business and opened a factory at 506-508 Tyson St., which was completed just before the Great Baltimore Fire of February 1904. Neither the Potthast Brothers showroom nor the factory was damaged in the fire; both were located north of the burn zone. In 1913, the showrooms moved again, to 702 N. Howard St., and in 1923 the factory moved to 1438 Wicomico St. There is a large engraving of this Howard Street store created by George Potthast (son of William Potthast); it is now in the possession of the Maryland Historical Society (a copy is in this author's possession). In 1924 the Potthast Brothers' showroom moved to 924 N. Charles Street, where the company remained until Ted Potthast, Sr. (son of John Potthast), the last member of the famed furniture-making family, closed the business in 1975. The old showroom eventually enjoyed new life as The Brass Elephant Restaurant. By 1900, Potthast Brothers (then less than ten years old) had already earned such a reputation that many American museums were sending the firm their antiques which were in need of repair. Dr. William Crim, one of America's earliest collectors of fine antique furniture, acquired an original Chippendale chair and sent it to Potthast Brothers for minor repairs. While the chair was at the factory, William Potthast made plaster of paris molds of the chair and shortl;y thereafter began producing reproductions of it. It was marketed as "The Crim Chair." Because of the extensive carving and large curves of the back and legs, the Crim Chair was expensive to manufacture. But there were enough wealthy buyers to make the Crim Chair one of Potthast's best sellers. By the 1920s, Potthast Brothers had twenty-five craftsmen creating antique reproductions. To reproduce exact copies, the company relied on an archive of more than 1,000 detailed drawings and measurements taken from pieces brought in for repair. They took wax molds of intricate wood carvings and made plaster casts before the pieces were returned to their owners. In an atmosphere of saws driven by overhead leather belts and an elevator that was hand-operated, custom-made orders for new pieces took 8-10 weeks to complete and were almost completely handmade. At its pinnacle of success, Potthast Brothers had over eighty employees. "It was de rigueur for mid-20th century Baltimore brides to be taken to Potthast's showrooms by their mothers to select dining room furniture," said Stiles Colwill, former Maryland Historical Society curator and decorative arts consultant. "Their furniture was always top of the line." Potthast Brothers furniture found its way into President Woodrow Wilson's post-White House residence, and the Baltimore home of H. L. Mencken (see below); they also created chairs for film director Cecil B. DeMille, the mayor's desk in Baltimore City Hall, and a dining room set for the State House in Annapolis. They also created 87 pieces of furniture for the Maryland House at the 300th Anniversary celebrations in Jamestown, VA in 1907. Their chief rival at the time was The Biggs Company, based in Richmond, VA. P. Raab Christhilf, a fine arts appraiser in Baltimore once commented "People tell me that you bought Biggs or Potthast depending on which side of the (Civil) War that their families fought." The Potthast name is mentioned in a book of letters (published by the Maryland Historical Society) exchanged between H. L. Mencken and his friend, Philip Goodman, a theatrical impresario. Mencken and Goodman wrote fictional material based on growing up in the German Baltimore of the 1890's and ensuing decades. Mencken would use the last names of his friends, invent a first name, and then invent a story. The reference to Potthast was of a fictional "Adam", who operated a winery and manufactured counterfeit champagne. On August 21, 1918, Mencken wrote: "The incident occurred in 1898, and in the back room of Adam Potthast's Weinhandlung. Adam was famous for selling champagne at ten cents a large glass. He made it of California white wine with the aid of a bicycle pump. Every afternoon at three o'clock, the Kriegerbund used to meet in his back room to drink synthetic Affenthaler at five cents a glass." When someone purchased a piece of Potthast furniture, they received a written guarantee signed by the brothers. It stated: "We the undersigned guarantee we have given particular attention to all details in the construction of this (name of piece), and having conscientiously built hand-made reproductions since 1892; we therefore, place a written guarantee on same. We also guarantee this furniture to be made in accordance with U.S. Government Specifications, of selected genuine mahogany, first class materials and the finest hand-made workmanship by thoroughly experienced master craftsmen. We further guarantee the finish to be of the highest grade varnish. The tops -- a Duco finish -- so that with an asbestos mat or heavy linen and reasonable care, will prevent marking from warm or cold plates and warm or cold water. Should we be responsible for any defects, in accordance with this Guarantee, we will make good the damage without cost to the purchaser." The decision to close Potthast Brothers in 1975 was based, in part, on the fact that the family's younger generation was not interested in inheriting the business. Ted Potthast, Jr. commented, "I had spent time in the company as a kid, with my uncles and all those tough old Germans. I didn't want to work for them." My father, Berthold Potthast (son of Theodore Potthast) told me that they were also finding it increasingly difficult to find skilled craftsmen. Additionally, the market for antique reproductions in the mid 1970s had significantly declined. My father also told me that in the later years of the company, a considerable part of their business was generated by purchasing their own pieces at auctions, then refinishing and refurbishing them for resale. After the company closed, Marie Corcoran Potthast (daughter-in-law of John Potthast) carefully tended the company's sales records; in them was listed who bought every piece and how much they paid for it. Often the bill of sale would include a drawing of the piece, created by one of the brothers. New purchasers would often come to her, and Marie could track the original owner of a piece; she would also provide appraisals for insurance and inheritance purposes. Upon her death, the sales books and related material were donated to The Maryland Historical Society. Catherine Rogers Arthur, curator of the Homewood House Museum of the Johns Hopkins University, wrote her master's thesis on Potthast Brothers for a degree from Winterthur Museum and the University of Delaware. The Potthast Brothers were the last significant name in Baltimore and Maryland furniture making. There were several prominent Baltimore cabinetmakers during the Federal era, including Richard Lawson (operating 1749-1803), William Camp (operating 1801-1822), Edward Priestly (operating 1802-1835) and John Needles (operating 1812-1850). During the first few decades of the 1800's, Baltimore furniture was dominated by painted or "fancy" furniture. The leading manufacturers were John and Hugh Finlay (operating 1799-1840), who made furniture for the White House in 1809. After the Civil War, original Baltimore furniture creations were no longer equal in sophistication to those of New York and Philadelphia. Robert Renwick (operating 1835-1876) operated Baltimore's leading shop of the era, employing 120 workers, many of them German immigrants. Baltimore furniture became more and more conservative in design, and by the end of the nineteenth century many firms sold and restored antiques and made reproductions. The most famous of these was Potthast Brothers.
Georg
Potthast
