I cannot recall the first time I saw it but I know it was in those early years, between maybe 3 and 5 when you have some memories of your childhood but they are dreamlike, wrapped in gauze. There were these dishes at my grandparents house. They were unlike any dishes I had ever seen before. Most of the dishes I had come across fell into one of three categories...the very ornate china that sat in the big piece of furniture and was never used, the light colored everyday dishes with maybe a printed border or stripe of some sort, and plastic (this was the 70s after all).
These dishes were BROWN and they had the coolest caramel-colored edges, almost like the entire plate had been dipped in hot chocolate or something. They didn't get used much either, and sat in a Danish mid-century modern buffet.
I didn't give those dishes much thought but I am keenly aware that they made their mark on me. as I grew, I developed an appreciation for the aesthetics of the periods that came before me, specifically art deco, arts & crafts, and mid-century modern. As I became an adult, I began to care very much about the design of things, how they looked from different angles, how everyday items could really be beautiful.
Needless to say, when my grandparents passed, both the buffet and those brown dishes went home with me. Problem was, there were only three dinner plates. Would have to get a couple of those...then I found a Hull brown drip cookie jar at the thrift store, and then a couple of coffee mugs at a garage store...
A lot of years have passed since those first few pieces and in that time I have taken home every good condition piece of Hull Oven Proof brown drip stoneware that I could rummage up. They just aren't making them anymore. Hull produced the brown drip design from the 60's through the 80's but went out of business in the 80's. There were other makers of the brown drip style including McCoy but they all also went out of business in the 1900s. Don't get me wrong, I have a fine appreciation for Franciscan, McCoy, Redwing, and all the other long-gone incredible vintage stoneware makers but the cream of the crop for me for brown drip has always been Hull Oven Proof.
When I am out rummaging to this day when I come across a piece of the brown stuff I immediately flip it over. If I see the indented "hull oven proof U.S.A." oultined in a luxurious suede brown contrasting the deep brown and echoing the always unique and almost psychadelic cream colored pattern that outlines the edge of the piece a warm glow grows in my belly and an immense smile spreads across my face. SCORE!