The Story Behind The Glass: J N Ledford "Souvenir of Cooleemee".
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Left: J. N. Ledford, Souvenir of Cooleemee, NC. plate in marigold (the only reported colour), made by Fenton. Courtesy Edward Loew.
Right: a Heart and Vine plate which was the design base for the Cooleemee Advertising Piece.
Right: a Heart and Vine plate which was the design base for the Cooleemee Advertising Piece.
The peacock’s tail was used as a motif on Carnival Glass as well as the peacock itself; the feathers, the “eye” and the sweep of the tail were incorporated into various stylised forms and used in pattern design. Above on the right is Fenton’s Heart and Vine plate; the stylised hearts are the feathery tendrils of the peacock’s tail, entwining in an undulating circle around the pattern. The pattern was introduced in 1911, and it was also used as a multi-purpose design in which the blank middle area allowed the addition of an extra element - advertising! It was used as the base design for both the Cooleemee plate (Souvenir of J.N. Ledford Company, Cooleemee, NC.) and also for the Spector's Department Store.
"Provenance is Guaranteed!"
The Cooleemee plate shown above appeared on eBay in early August, 2014 and is shown here courtesy of seller, Edward Loew, who informed us that the item originally belonged to Mrs. J.N. Ledford and was then passed down to her granddaughter. Mr Loew stated that “the winning bidder will receive a letter from the granddaughter attesting to its ownership. The Ledfords kept only one plate, and this is that one. The provenance and authenticity are 100% guaranteed.”
What’s the story behind the J. N. Ledford Company in Cooleemee?
The town of Cooleemee in North Carolina was a mill town and a "company town", being owned by Erwin Mills. As well as a department store they also provided “a drug store, cafe, library and even a movie theater in the town square. Millworkers had their own traveling concert band, and the Cooleemee Cools had their own lighted baseball field and grandstand.” (Source: Carolina Country Stories).
The J N Ledford department store was established in 1901 as the outlet in Cooleemee for Erwin Mills' cotton goods. It styled itself as “The Home of Good Merchandise”, specialising in textiles and clothing. In a 1925 ad they boasted “Large well-selected stocks of clothing, shoes, hats, gent's furnishings, dry goods, notions, ready-to-wear, millinery, groceries, furniture, floor coverings and hardware.”
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No doubt the Fenton souvenir plate was a promotional item intended to enhance sales for the J N Ledford store in Cooleemee, but the relative scarcity of these Carnival pieces (very few sales are reported) is interesting in itself. The store closed some sixty years later when bulldozers pulled it down after Erwin Mills had been purchased by Burlington Industries, then the USA’s largest textile company. 
For comparison, this is the other Fenton Advertising Piece that is based on their
Hearts and Vine pattern. As with the Cooleemee plate, it is only known in marigold. Courtesy of Seeck Auctions. |
Ad for J. N. Ledford Department Store in the “Geerooleemee”, 1926 (Cooleemee High School book): via internet archive.
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Historic Cooleeme
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There is a fascinating video on YouTube that tells the story of Cooleemee. It was made by the University of North Carolina and runs for around six minutes. It is really worth watching! Click on the image on the left, or go here: Textile Heritage Center, Cooleemee. |
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