Julia Allisson Cost x Hadley Pottery
A story 50 years in the making.
From a wedding gift of secondHand pottery in 1975,
to a Picture book of paintings,
TO a collaboration with a classic American Pottery Company,
to my parents ending up in the New York Times.
Have you heard of Hadley Pottery, the classic blue and white countryside themed pottery made by hand in Louisville, Kentucky? Well I grew up in a house filled with it.
When my parents got married in 1973, they were living in a Volkswagon bus on Maui with dreams of building a home one day. My mom always knew she wanted blue and white pottery for her future kitchen. My dad’s mom Harriet found a collection of Hadley Pottery at an estate sale on O’ahu. It was exactly what my mom wanted, no matter that it was secondhand.
Thus began a decades long tradition of collecting Hadley Pottery. Below: my parents in their early years of marriage living in a rental cottage (down the road from our family property today). Their home was always filled with Hadley Pottery.
When my parents built their own house in 1984, they even installed Hadley tiles into the kitchen backsplash and put Hadley plaques on the sink. Remember this view because it ended up in my book!
Hadley shows up in every photo album. Here I am as a newborn with a Hadley mug on the arm of the couch.
Take note of this photo from 1988. I ended up painting this exact view of the Hadley kitchen about 34 years later. Where baby me was, the boat would sit on the counter, and where my mom was, my main character would stand!
My dad and I circa 1988. I am taking a highchair nap with a collection of Hadley all around.
Hadley was our everyday plates, bowls and cups then, and we still use them daily today.
On our birthdays, we always got something special to eat on the Hadley birthday plate!
We would set out Santa’s gifts on the Hadley Christmas plate.
THE GIRL AND THE BOAT
I grew up and became an artist. I work in an art studio with a Hadley plaque outside the door.
One of my goals since childhood was to write and illustrate a picture book. It took me 6 years but I finally did it (2018-2023).
In 2021, I was working on my picture book, The Girl and the Boat, and staging every scene from life with real child models. When I needed to stage the lemonade scene, it was in our kitchen filled with Hadley Pottery.
Below: my young friend Tehya modeling for my picture book in 2021 at the same kitchen counter as all the old pictures above!
Below: me painting Hadley Pottery in oil on canvas for The Girl and the Boat. Circa 2022.
I published The Girl and the Boat in November 2023. Here is a sneak peak of the lemonade painting in the book, packed with Hadley Pottery!
In early 2024, I started to wonder: “Wouldn’t it be cool if Hadley knew I had painted their pottery in my book?” I got in touch with Sarah Baker, manager of the company and we had a wonderful phone call. We discussed how the countryside aesthetic of Hadley shares a quality with my book. Both celebrate a time before screens and distractions, a love of gardens, home, family, and making things by hand. What happened next blew me away.
THE GIRL AND THE BOAT PLATE
Hadley Pottery not only decided to carry my book, but they also designed a Girl and the Boat plate. I cannot believe that my girl and her boat get to live in the Hadley universe through this gorgeous plate design.
Furthermore, Hadley would throw a book signing event for The Girl and the Boat on June 15, 2024. My family would fly out to Louisville, Kentucky for the event! My mom had always dreamed of visiting the Hadley Pottery factory!
HADLEY POTTERY FABRIC
It got even more exciting. Sarah Baker, who is also the archivist of Hadley Pottery, told me that according to old newspaper clippings, Mary Alice Hadley’s classic “Bouquet” design had been on a blouse in a NYC department store decades ago. Hadley Pottery has long had a dream of having a Hadley fabric to honor the work of Mary Alice Hadley (1911-1965) who created such an impact with her artistry in her short life. Sarah had learned that I am not just a painter but also a textile designer and she wondered if she could commission a Hadley Pottery textile design. So I got to work painting 46 watercolors of Hadley Pottery pieces.
I designed the fabric before our trip to Louisville so I could sew outfits for my mom, Sarah Baker, Brook Smith (owner of Hadley Pottery) and myself! Plus bandanas for my aunts who were coming to the book signing!
I also sewed a Hadley dress for the doll in my picture book! Hadley Pottery’s instagram and my own instagram shared photos of the doll in her Hadley dress traveling from Maui to Kentucky. So much fun!
The doll from The Girl and the Boat traveling to Louisville, Kentucky for her book signing!
We had such an incredible experience at Hadley Pottery. It felt like home even though we had never met anyone there before! The level of work that goes into every piece of their ceramics had our jaws on the floor.
the book signing at Hadley Pottery: June 15, 2024
With Sarah Baker, manager of Hadley, outside the Hadley factory in Louisville, Kentucky. I got to see the famous hand painted ceramic Hadley horse!
Hadley Pottery even made a Girl and the Boat pitcher, which they raffled off during the book signing!
My family will always cherish this experience at the Hadley Pottery factory. We met so many kind, hardworking, loving people and we went home feeling like we will always be a part of the Hadley Pottery family and they will always be a part of ours.
THE New York Times: June 2025
What we could have never anticipated is that a year after the book signing, The New York Times would run an article in the Weddings Section about Hadley Pottery, and they would feature the story about my parents receiving the pottery as a wedding gift from my grandma Harriet and how it has been treasured for over 50 years and counting. Thank you to journalist Chantel Tattoli!
The article featured two photos of my parents: one from the 1970s with their Hadley Pottery drink canister:
…and one from today in our Hadley kitchen, including the Girl and the Boat plate on the top shelf! My mom is wearing the Hadley dress, and my dad is wearing a shirt that has a Hadley girl on one sleeve, and a Hadley boat on the other.
What a journey! We are so grateful for every moment of this experience!
I wish I could tell my grandma Harriet how her wedding gift to my parents set off an incredible series of artistic adventures. She would be thrilled and wowed. I love you grandma.
This is where the story ends …. for now! But this story is woven into the everyday lives of my family. As I write this, I am about to serve up another dinner on our beloved Hadley plates, as usual!
Check out Hadley Pottery online and be sure to visit if you are ever in Louisville, Kentucky!
