continued to hire well-known artists to create new dinnerware patterns. Rockwell Kent designed three dinnerware sets based on his famous woodcuts: Salamina, Moby Dick, & Our America. Don Blanding, a Hawaiian poet and illustrator designed four basic tropical design patterns for tableware. Vernon Kilns signed a contract in 1940 with Walt Disney Productions to make figurines based on Walt Disney's films: Fantasia, Dumbo, and The Reluctant Dragon. Vernon also manufactured art ware based on the film Fantasia. Janice Pettee sculpted and designed a series of celebrity figurines including Sally Rand Paulette Goddard, Madeleine Carroll, Anne Shirley, Wallace Beery, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, Victor McLaglen, Evelyn Venable, Gary Cooper, Preston Foster, Walter Hampden, Dorothy Lamour, and Bette Davis. Prior to World War II, Vernon Kilns ceased production of art ware, however continued to manufacture dinnerware and specialty ware. During the war, Vernon created a new set of English-style dinnerware molds and patterns to meet the demands of consumers who could no longer purchase imported dinnerware. This shape, known as Melinda, featured an embossed rope motif and was decorated in approximately 24 different patterns between 1942 and 1955. In April 1946, a fire in a drying room destroyed most of the pottery plant including much of their manufacturing equipment. Vernon quickly rebuilt, but the company suffered another devastating fire in 1947. They rebuilt their manufacturing facility again, taking the opportunity to modernize. The old beehive kilns were replaced with modern tunnel kilns that dramatically increased production capacity. Vernon Kilns produced transfer-print specialty ware that could be special ordered. Custom decal plates, as special order items, were produced for department stores, for promotional advertisement, for commemorative events, and for the tourist trade. In 1952, Elliot House was hired as art director and continued to work with outside contract artists and designers such as Jean Goodwin Ames and Sharon Merrill. In 1955, Faye Bennison retired. By 1958, Vernon Kilns and several other potteries, including Santa Anita Pottery and Brock Pottery, closed their businesses due to mounting labor costs and competition from foreign imports. Metlox Manufacturing Company, Manhattan Beach, California, bought the molds and continued to manufacture some of Vernon's patterns in their Vernonware division. References Sources Chipman, Jack. Collectors Encyclopedia of California Pottery, Second Edition. Collector Books (1998) Chipman, Jack. California Pottery Scrapbook: Identification and Value Guide. Collector Books (2004) Nelson, Maxine F. Collectible Vernon Kilns, 2nd Edition. Collector Books (2004) External links Vernonware.com