Frankoma Pottery - History

History

Frankoma was founded by John Frank in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1933. Frank had been a professor in ceramics at the University of Oklahoma at Norman from 1927 to 1936 and used light-hued local Ada clay in his initial products. He moved the company to Sapulpa in 1938, only to soon rebuild that factory after a fire later that year. The name Frankoma was created from Frank's last name and the last three letters of the state of Oklahoma.

The light Ada clay was replaced by brick-red local clay in 1953. John Frank operated the pottery with his wife Grace Lee Frank until his death in 1973. The factory was rebuilt in 1984 after a September 1983 fire destroyed most of the facility; the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1990. His daughter Joniece ran the pottery until 1991 when she was forced to sell the struggling company. In 1991 Richard Bernstein of Maryland purchased Frankoma and in 2005 sold the business to Det Merryman.

The company was closed for six weeks and was sold again during the summer of 2008, reopening on August 18 with new owner Joe Ragosta. Ragosta planned to bring back all the employees and continue the Frankoma line of pottery. The year 2008 marked the company's 75 year anniversary. It closed in 2010 and then went on the auction block on May 18, 2011. Over a thousand pieces of pottery plus showroom fixtures and equipment were sold. The 1,800 original molds and the Frankoma name were not included in the sale. The real estate also was not part of the auction.

Oklahoma University's Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art opened an Oklahoma Clay: Frankoma Pottery exhibition in 2012, documenting Oklahoma culture through pottery.

As of December 2012, Frankoma Pottery is back in business according to the new website Frankoma Pottery