The Journal-Record - Bicentennial Edition Thursday, July 1, 1976 Section D, Page 9 THE RYE JUG FACTORY WAS ONCE A PROSPEROUS BUSINESS In the early 1870's the RYE Jug Factory was started in Hamilton. The factory was located in what was then known as the Cross Roads near Hamilton, and operated through 1944 or 1945. The RYE family that operated the factory used raw materials such as white clay (which is now known as kaolin), water and wood for the jug making process. The glaze used to coat the finished product was generally made form ashes, that were mixed with water to form a paste. the items were dipped in this solution and when it dried it formed a glossy, hard glaze on the finished produce. The glaze had nothing in it added for color, but turned out different colored jars and jugs that were very pretty. James A. (Jimmy) RYE was one of the early operators, and John and Curt RYE who still live in the Hamilton area worked in the factory also. Curt RYE's son, Jessie, helped his father and grandfather around the factory when he was a small lad. The making of the various pots, jugs and jars was not an easy task. The raw materials, clay wood and water had to be hauled by wagon to the factory. And, just any clay, and wood would not suffice. The clay had to be tested and mixed to just the right consistency or when the pottery items were placed in the kiln to be fired, they would burst. Some of the various items produced by the RYE Jug Factory included: one, two, three and five gallon jugs, chicken jugs, used to water chickens, churns ranging in size from two gallon to five gallon, pitchers, one and two gallon and flower pots of different sizes. They also made some 10 gallon jars for preserving meat. These jars wee somewhat straighter up and had larger mouths generally. The factory did some custom work for customers. Syrup makers used special jugs for storing their syrup and of course, moonshiners came in and ordered special size containers to store their goods. The RYE descendants traveled miles and miles to sell their goods. They sold in Sulligent, Carbon Hill, Leighton, Vina, Bear Creek, Hackleburg, Hodges, Winfield, Fayette and in the edge of Mississippi. The churns were sold at 7 1/2c per gallon, thus a four gallon churn sold for 30 cents. Later the price of the churns were raised to ten cents per gallon, or 40c for a four gallon churn. To make a jug or jar, the person first began with a ball of clay. It was placed on a type of spinning machine that was pumped by foot, and as the ball of clay was spinning the man would use his hands to bring the clay up, one hand on the inside and one on the outside of the jug until it was rounded out and perfectly molded. The rings inside of old churns and jars seen today are the fingerprints of the man who made it, or "turned it" as it was known to pottery men. After the jug was turned, it was placed in the kiln, a large stone apparatus that was built in the ground. It was then fired for anywhere from 14 to 18 hours. It generally took three or four cords of wood to fire a kiln of pottery. Considering that all this wood had to be chopped with axes, it took a lot of hard work to just fire the green pottery. The fire was started low, and gradually it was built up until it was so hot that inside the kiln was so bright the pottery men said it hurt their eyes to look at it. Then the air vent sin the kiln were closed off and the fire gradually died down. The pottery then had to set, closed up air tight, for about three days before it could be taken from the kiln. Remains of the old kiln, that was built of fetal stone and clay still remain in a wooded area near the old house place. The Jug Factory was also used as the polling place for the RYE Beat. After th factory shut down, the old RYE home was used for voting and later the polls were moved to the Byrd School where citizens presently do their voting.