When is Frankoma not Frankoma? When is Frankoma McCoy? Or Haagar?

In 1972 the Frankoma Pottery Company was awarded the contract to produce the Easter Plates shown below for the Oral Roberts Ministry. The order was for 100,000 plates to be made. At the time that was more than Frankoma could manage so they sub-contracted with the McCoy and Haagar to help with production. Frankoma made 50,000 with McCoy and Haagar each making 25,000.

At the very first quick glance, they would appear the same. Upon lingering you will notice the differences that distinguish each manufacturer of the plates.

Below: #1 is the Easter Plate made by McCoy. This plate measures 7 1/4” in diameter and is marked “ORAL ROBERTS ASSOCIATION, TULSA, FRANKOMA”. “©ORA. 1972” . The glaze is matte white and is a white clay.
Below: #2 is the Easter Plate made by Haagar. Slightly smaller, it measures 7” in diameter and is marked the same as the McCoy plate. It is a gloss white glaze and has just a slight tint to the color…not as white as the McCoy plate.
Below: #3 is the Easter Plate made by Frankoma. The diameter of this plate is 7 3/8”. Markings on this plate are ”ORAL ROBERTS ASSOCIATION, TULSA, FRANKOMA” “©ORA J.F. 1972”. The details of this plate show up differently because of the red clay. The glossy glaze is light enough allow the outline of the design to be highlighted.

Here it is…this is when Frankoma is not Frankoma. I asked Nelson McCoy if there were other items sub-contracted to them by Frankoma and he replied this was the only one. This information offers you something else to look for when you’re pottery hunting.