Red Wing Pottery had its origins in the rich clay found in Red Wing, Minnesota in the early 1860's. The company was incorporated in 1877 as the Red Wing Stoneware Company.

Until 1910, Red Wing manufactured salt glaze pottery and stoneware . Known as utilitarian stoneware, items included crocks, jugs, butter churns, bowls, jars, water coolers, and other items used in the home and on the farm.

As time went on, new technology including the advent of electricity, refrigeration, glass and tin brought the decline of utilitarian stoneware. Like other pottery manufacturers, Red Wing looked to diversify its wares starting with the first Art Pottery line in the late 1920s. While Red Wing kept stoneware in production, by the end of World War II widespread refrigeration had rendered it obsolete. In 1947 the company ceased production of stoneware altogether.

During this same period, Red Wing had also moved into manufacturing art pottery and dinnerware. Beginning in 1935, Red Wing made over 100 dinnerware patterns, many of which were hand-painted. These stylish and beautiful dishes saw their heyday in the 1930s and 1940s. The pottery industry would evolve again in the 1950s with low-tariff ceramic imports from Japan and an increase in plastic production. By the time Red Wing Potteries closed after a bitter strike in 1967, in the only commercial pottery in the U.S. still painting its ceramic dinnerware by hand.

Red Wing Stoneware Company
1877-1906
Minnesota Stoneware Company
1883-1906
North Star Stoneware Company
1892-1896
Union Stoneware Company
1894-1906
Red Wing Union Stoneware Company
1906-1936
Red Wing Potteries.
1936-1967