If you perused the photos in my ‘life at the Cybis studio’ post, you might perhaps have noticed what the various artists and artisans were wearing – at least, in the photos taken at the Norman Avenue studio. They are dressed in normal, everyday street clothes (shirts, blouses, sweaters, even a jacket or two) which means that they were far more careful than I, when working with paints and clay: I’d only risk wearing old/throwaway garments for tasks like that!
However, there was indeed some additional CPE (Clothing-Protective Equipment) available: an apron. These can be glimpsed in four of the photographs that I have:
The first two photos are candids that were taken in the Mold Shop during the late 1960s/early 1970s: in the upper photo, a seated William Pae wears an apron. The second photo shows an apron-clad Jules Olewa (at left) and Doug Yahn. The third photo was taken at the 1982 Brielle Galleries event at which George Ivers demonstrated the painting of a Persephone. The press photo of the artist decorating a Carousel Charger was taken in either 1983 or 1984.
The aprons seen in the Mold Shop photos were plain white “baker’s” aprons that the studio bought in bulk for the artisans who were doing the messiest part of the sculpture-creation process. The decorators (painters) usually wore either these aprons or a cotton smock, while working. When a photographer came into the studio to take pictures for the studio’s advertising materials or for a newspaper article, the apron or smock was removed for the photo staging. In fact, the fourth photo above is the only press photo that I have ever found that shows an artist wearing an apron!
Although I was aware that there were also Cybis-branded aprons, I had never seen one until recently. A very kind and generous Archive reader sent me the still-brand-new Cybis apron that he had been given during his time as a buyer for one of the studio’s major retail chains during the 1980s. Thank you so much again, S.B.! :-)
The material is a natural, undyed canvas which is not too heavy but provides adequate protection. Crisp white cotton piping covers all of the outside edges as well as forming the ties and neck strap. Notice that the bottom corners are rounded; the plain-Jane studio/baker’s aprons have 90-degree corners and were likely of a heavier cotton canvas that would easily withstand hard use and frequent laundering.
During the 1980s, these aprons were the ones worn by any Cybis artist who was giving a demonstration at a retailer event (as in the Ivers-at-Brielle photo above), and were also given as promotional items. At least some of the Cybis employees had one as a keepsake as well, although the utilitarian white baker’s aprons were their go-to for actual work.
The Cybis Bowling Shirts
The other known Cybis-branded apparel item has a story behind it. During the early 1980s, a group of male Cybis employees went to Joe Chorlton and asked permission to form a bowling team that would complete in one of the local leagues. The studio would underwrite the expense of the team’s participation and provide custom-printed bowling shirts. You would naturally assume that, according to custom, a team being sponsored by a company would wear shirts identifying that company. Well….not in this case.
The only stipulation that Joe Chorlton made was that the team name shown on the shirt and on the registration must NOT be “Cybis”. Instead, the logo would be the horizontal phoenix (as seen on the apron, etc.) but instead of Cybis as the team name, it would be called Phoenix! Furthermore, the team members were not to tell anyone that they actually worked at the Cybis studio. The shirts were short-sleeved polo style, in purple, and with the Phoenix name and Cybis-phoenix logo in white on the back.
This was all because Joe Chorlton was so concerned (okay, some might say paranoid and likely be not too far from the mark) about the Cybis bowlers being approached by bowlers from other porcelain-related Trenton companies in an attempt to find out what the studio was currently working on, that he insisted on this ‘subterfuge.’ Of course, anyone in the industry would recognize the phoenix logo, so the mere name-change probably fooled no one. However, this was the same mindset that prompted Joe to lecture any employees who were to help out at retailer events to “never talk to any of the customers, because you don’t know whether they may be spies from [insert name of any other studio here]”, so I wasn’t really surprised to hear about the Great Bowling Shirt Disguise.
The Phoenix/Cybis bowling team lasted for a couple of seasons and then petered out. By the way, even though some women worked in the mold shop, the team was composed entirely of men. That particular phoenix wouldn’t fly very well these days!
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