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Brand/Publisher: Van Briggle; Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States.
Item: Original vintage promotional tour brochure advertising the Van Briggle art pottery studio in Colorado Springs and inviting visitors to a free guided tour of the pottery works.
Front cover design features a bold red header reading FREE TOUR above an illustration of a family watching a potter shape a vessel on a wheel, accompanied by the phrase The OLDEST art in history and the headline "Throwing on the Potter's Wheel..." together with a printed quotation about Colorado's sunset colors being perpetuated in Colorado's clay and the red script Van Briggle art pottery logo with Colorado Springs, Colorado address.
A handwritten date Aug 24, 1972 appears in ink along the lower front border, suggesting use of the brochure as a souvenir of a specific visit to the pottery.
Reverse panel text opens with the heading ENJOY the tour of Van Briggle... SEE the oldest art beside a photograph of a decorative lamp, describes Van Briggle pieces as examples of the most beautiful lamps in the world, and lists glaze colors Monoglo (as shown), Turquoise Ming, Jet-Black, and Wood-Grain Brown.
Additional copy on the back cites the biblical passage Jeremiah 18:3 about going down to the potter's house and seeing a work on the wheels, reflecting on the continuity of the ancient art of throwing on the potter's wheel and the continued inspiration it provides to modern visitors.
Interior panels open to a colorful illustrated map showing the only home of world-famous Van Briggle below snowcapped Pikes Peak, with labeled landmarks such as Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, Pikes Peak Highway, Colorado Avenue, Nevada Avenue, Interstate 25, and the downtown business district, as well as a small compass rose.
The lower interior section presents a color photograph of the arched Van Briggle pottery building and parking area with cars and buses, alongside the stylized double-A Van Briggle mark and the caption THIS MARK is on it, plus text noting that the company was established in 1899 and that 600 So. Twenty-first St., Colorado Springs is the only location where Van Briggle pottery is made and sold.
Format and appearance: multi-panel fold-out advertising brochure printed in full color on both sides on semi-gloss paper stock, designed for distribution to tourists visiting Colorado Springs and now suitable for collectors of Van Briggle art pottery, Colorado travel ephemera, and American studio pottery advertising.
Notes: Informative mid-twentieth-century promotional piece combining religious and historical references with detailed directions to the Van Briggle pottery works near Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods.
