Marshall Studios Timeline
1922
Mrs. Jessie Talbot Marshall goes into business in St. Louis making hand-painted parchment lampshades, while her son Nicholas finishes high school.
1924
Jessie Marshall moves back to Indianapolis and establishes Marshall Studios at 30th & Washington Boulevard. Gordon Martz Born February 20th.
1926
Mr. And Mrs. Nicholas T. Marshall, son and daughter-in-law of Jessie Marshall, join the business. Nicholas Marshall begins making hand-turned period wood lamp bases.
1929
Jane Talbot Marshall is born January 19th. Marshall Studios is incorporated.
1931
Marshall Studios is located at 3001 North New Jersey Street in Indianapolis, formerly AT&T's long-distance telephone switching building for Indiana.
1932
Jessie Talbott Marshall passes away, aged 50. Nicholas Marshall returns to Marshall Studios from a period studying architecture at the University of Illinois. (1)
1938
Marshall Studios begins producing equipment for the photography industry. Nicholas Marshall makes and produces commercially the first color slide viewer, the Marshall Studios Vuescope. Additionally, the Marshall Slide Binder is produced. Later, Nicholas designs and produces a color film densitometer, which was ordered on a priority basis by the US Government during World War II. (1)
1941
Marshall Studios, Inc. moves to Veedersburg, Indiana. The move was prompted by a number of factors, including a concern for living in the city during wartime, a wartime labor shortage, ownership of a family farm, and a factory space which was available. For a couple of years, the Indianapolis location remained open as well.
1948
A fire in the photographic department destroys all of the dies and equipment, and it was decided to discontinue manufacturing photographic supplies. (1)
1949
Jane Marshall begins attending Alfred University to study art and industrial ceramics. (1)
1950
Jane and Gordon are married on June 15th. (3)
1951
Gordon Martz graduates Summa Cum Laude from Alfred University. Jane and Gordon Martz move to Veedersburg, Indiana and become the third generation of Marshall family to join the family business. Jane and Gordon add contemporary designed stoneware lamps and accessories to the Marshall Studios line.
1953
The Marshall Studios M101 lamp is featured in Edgar Kauffman, Jr.’s 1953 “Good Design” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Catalog #4 is produced in the fall of 1953.
1955
"Family Share Business" Article published in the Christian Science Monitor.
1956
John A. Marshall and his wife, Carolyn M. Marshall, trained in business administration from DePauw and Drake University, join Marshall Studios. (2)
1957
Catalog #8 is produced in April of 1957.
1958
"US Home-Based Crafts Increase," Article featuring the work of husband and wife artisans including Jane and Gordon Martz, Frances and Michael Higgins, and Mary and Edwin Scheier published in the Christian Science Monitor, August 19th.
1959
The Home Accent Shop is opened in Veedersburg, Indiana and run by Mr. And Mrs. Broward G. Brusard, brother of Grace Marshall. (1,2)
1960
Catalog #14, Accessories, is produced.
1962
Jane begins making handmade textiles which include such materials as drawn natural cotton, linen, cockfeathers, reed, wool, and strips of wood. The textiles are initially wrapped as lampshades.
1964
Dinnerware published in INTERIORS Magazine, March 1964, p.10
1966
The Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Textiles and Furs grants registration to Marshall Studios for the production of textiles and pillows.
1968
Marshall Studios begins furnishing lamps to the military and governmnet agencies through Government Services Administration contracts. (2)
1974
Catalog #35 produced.
1989
Unnumbered final catalog produced (white cover w/ blue graphic).
Jane and Gordon Martz sell their interest in Marshall Studios and retire to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Jane and Gordon continue to produce studio pottery and ceramic sculpture in their retirement.
Early 1990's
Marshall Studios name is changed to Genesis Wood and Stoneware, John Stull is the owner. Stoneware items produced during this period are commonly signed "Genesis."
1996
Genesis Wood & Stoneware ceases business operations and the remaining contents of Marshall Studios / Genesis Wood & Stoneware are sold at auction.
2002
"Modernism From the Heartland: Jane and Gordon Martz," written by Sandy McLendon, is published in March of 2002 on jetsetmodern.com, a mid-century modern collector site by Joe Kunkel. Joe is a collector, dealer and curator of Marshall Studios ware and Martz Studio pottery since the 1990's.
2002 - 2005
Craig McCormick retrieves catalogs, photographs, records and ephemera from the Veedersburg Mill Street location of Marshall Studios. The building is in disrepair and partially collapsed.
2006
Marshallstudios.net, A Resource for Collectors is launched as a web archive of information for Marshall Studios collectors.
2007
Jane Marshall Martz passes away at the age of 78 on February 22nd.
2015
Gordon Martz Passes away at the age of 91 on November 30th.
Sources:
(1) January 28, 1960 Letter from Grace Marshall to Mr. Garvin Brown, editor of The Indiana Manufacturers Association Reporter.
(2)Veedersburg, Indiana Centennial 1872-1972 Publication, pps 102-104, 1972.
(3) Email correspondence between Jane and Gordon Martz and Craig McCormick, February-September 2005 and November 2006.
