Sleepy Eye Pottery

One of the more popular potteries today is Sleepy Eye Pottery. Old Sleepy Eye was a Native American chief. Sleepy Eye is also the name of a town in southwestern Minnesota. The original Sleepy Eye flour mill was built in 1883, in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. 

At the turn of the 20^th century Sleepy Eye started a promotional line of pottery and other items. In 1903 they created a line of blue and grey Flemish ware made by the Weir Pottery of Monmouth, Ill., including salt bowls, butter crocks, vases and steins. The pieces of pottery were given away to with 50lb. barrels of flour as a promotion. However, the government intervened in the giveaways, perhaps because the rather heavy pottery pieces had a negative effect on the amount of flour that was contained in those 50lb. barrels. The stoneware pieces were later sold, printed with advertising, to grocery stores and such.

Today Sleepy Eye Pottery is highly priced by its collectors. Most people know about Sleepy Eye pottery because of the Indian face that is on a lot of the pottery. Many different companies have made the pottery and some collectors buy according to who made it. The Flemish pieces are harder to find and more valuable. Also the pottery is very big with people that collect country and general store items.