Question:
How can you tell how old a piece of pottery is, I have a piece with the number 8 on it and it also has a redwing logo with wire and wooden handles and it says that it has a patents of Dec 24th 1919. I don’t know if there is something else that I should be looking for other then it said it was made in Red Wing Union Stone Ware Company. Red Wing MN. Any advice would be great. Thank you so much…

Answer:
Rick, your patent date must be a little fuzzy as your patent date should read, Dec 21, 1915. This is the patent date that Red Wing used on their handles. So we now know that your crock was made after 1915. The next thing you need to do is measure the Red Wing from it’s longest points. If your wing is 4 1/2" long then your crock was made between 1915 and 1930. If your wing is 2 7/8" long, your crock was manufactured after 1930. Hope this helps. Al Kohlman