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to Arie and Cheever Meaders in little more than a decade following
their marriage. The girls helped their mother with the household and
dairy chores and also assisted with the loading and unloading of the
kiln where extra hands were needed. The boys divided their time
between hoeing and pulling fodder in the fields, on the one hand, and
hauling clay and cutting firewood for the kiln, on the other. Two of
the four sons also helped "waitin' on a fella" in the ware shop, balling
the clay and setting it out for the turner. For a brief period around
1921, the Meaderses had several of the Browns in their employ as
turners, as well as an elderly German named Paige Eaton. In
addition, a black man, J.P. Thomas, served as a general laborer.
Before too long, however, the help drifted away, leaving Cheever and
his family to carry on alone. For his part, Cheever worked right along
with his boys going into town maybe once every other week ("not for
loafering or anything like that," maintains his son, "mosdy on
business").
In spite of this heavy regimen of work, occasions were found for
recreation. Standard fare included local square dances, tent and
medicine shows, and "Western" films at the Cleveland movie theater.
More often the activities were kept at home. "It was pretty much of a
gathering place, sort of like a crossroads store" in the description of
one family member. Dolphus Brown would drop by with his fiddle on
Saturday nights, and Cheever would join him on mandolin. Q_. recalls
that "Cheever was one of the music makers; he could play a mandolin
till ifd just talk." Cheever's sister, Johnnie May, would accompany
the men on piano, and sometimes a neighbor would bring over a
banjo or an autoharp to complete the musical ensemble.
It is not at all certain that Cheever Meaders had committed himself
wholeheartedly to the potter's life as he entered the third decade of his
life. Much had changed about the trade by the 1920s, and the coming
Great Depression was soon to bring about the demise of the remaining
potteries in the region — including those of his brothers. The fact
remains, though, that when hard times hit, Cheever simply reduced
the scale of his operation, burning his kiln on a monthly radier than a
weekly basis and calling on family members to help him keep the shop
in order. In some ways, the lack of competition and the reduced
standard of living worked to Cheever's advantage, as his son, Lanier,
relates:
People used more of our ware then and somehow they managed to find
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