Certain people portray critical thought as whining, so as long as I am being so branded, I thought I’d have a go at it! Let’s Whine!

I have a mountain of historical documents to preserve about which no one cares but me. My local historical society like every other Maine resource here to help with economic development and all sorts of other things, does not respond when I write to them. The innovative thinkers in Maine are all under the thumb of the wealth redistribution state and its targeted sector which does not include ceramics. If an idea does not conform to the grid’s guidelines of “innovation” and ”creativity”, they don’t want to deal with it, as it requires innovative and creative engagement.

The other day while I was sorting through a collection of old letters and cards, I came across a letter addressed to my parents from Eva Zeisel:

Eva’s handwriting is not easy to decipher. I uploaded the letter here

So I got to thinking about Wikipedia’s refusal to include Andersen Design in the history of mid-century design despite including so many of my parent’s colleagues and I went back to the Talk section to which I had not posted since 2021. Wikipedia generally rejects my edits, including one for Governor Longely’s page. Wikipedia has scrubbed Governor Longley’s page clean of any references to the fact that it was under his guidance that the Maine Legislature instituted the centrally managed economy. I added an edit but it was not allowed even though I referenced it with documentation from Maine congressional records. Perhaps the erasure of this significant history explains why the only significant legislation attributed to Governor Longley on Wikipedia’s bio has to do with Native American affairs.

If you want to know about the transformations in Maine government that took place under Governor Longley’s administration, I have documented it here:

Here is what I was told to justify deleting my contribution

Hello, I’m331dot. I noticed that you added or changed content in an article,James B. Longley, but you didn’t provide a reliable source. It’s been removed and archived in the page history for now, but if you’d like toinclude a citationand re-add it, please do so. You can have a look at thetutorial on citing sources, or if you think I made a mistake, you can leave me a message onmy talk page. Thank you.331dot(talk)21:16, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

The gist of it is that independent research is not valid unless someone in academia authorizes it, validation using actual congressional records notwithstanding. I haven’t come across anyone writing about this history. I only know about the history because I read congressional records. It was the same reason Andersen Design could not be included in midcentury design history. Andersen Design’s participation as industrial designers during the midcentury must be validated in academia, otherwise Andersen Design never actually happened, according to Wikipedia.

So I added this to Talk for the historical record that maybe will be read a hundred years from now and someone will dig Andersen Design up from the grave where current leaders tell me Andersen Design belongs.

I understand Wikipedia does not believe that my family’s business Andersen Design of Maine meets its standard for inclusion in midcentury industrial designers despite having been established in 1952 with the mission to create a handmade product affordable to the middle classes, and despite that many of my parent’s colleagues are listed including Heath Ceramics which was established at about the same time as Andersen Design but does not have as extensive a line, as Andersen Design. It was rare to produce both a functional forms line and a wildlife sculpture line.

Russel Wright asked my Dad to apprentice twice but Dad decided to move to Maine and start his own ceramic design and production company instead, to which Eva Zeisel exclaimed “But that’s such a hard thing to do!” and Indeed it was and so most designers just designed for other companies.

Andersen Design was distinguished in making its own product from raw materials sourced in America and crafted into glazes and stoneware bodies made from original recipees designed by my Dad. Later an employee stole our glazes and started his own copycat line called POD. Today there is a commercial version of our brown slip on the market. The product was sold in George Jensen’s, main street retail stores, Museum Stores, Department Stores including one in Denmark and Itoya in Japan, and catalogs such as the Smithsonian, and so on.

I have a mountain of history to document and preserve on my own with help from no one. The papers include many drawings of designs as well as many handwritten letters.

Yesterday I picked up an envelope addressed from Eva Zeisel to my parents in 1984. It starts out by saying she listened to a talk by my Dad and then goes on to talk about a project but I am unable to decipher her handwriting. It ends by exclaiming that they have been friends for forty years.

the letter is here

In addition, I am the sole custodian of hundreds of original classic designs that are still viable. The designs sustained their marketability throughout the decades and were never over produced because it was a small production. It would be helpful in finding support for placing these designs and molds in good hands if Wikipedia would give Andersen Design the recognition that we truely deserve in the history of ceramics and industrial design. Others recognize Andersen Design’s contribution, just not Wikipedia.

Andersen Design: Industrial Design, Now and Then: The Andersen Design Journey Mackenzie Andersen (talk) 21:24, 4 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

After five years maybe the people who prohibit Andersen Design from being included in mid-century history are no longer there.

You can also shop for great gift ideas on my Art Storefront