An Interview with Larry Steinman (the son of Reuben Steinman,
founder of Rubens Originals)

Supon: Please tell us who you are and what is your connection with
Rubens Original.

Larry: Reuben Steinman, founder of Rubens Originals, was my dad. He had four children: I am the third and I was the vice President/Designer for about 15 years. But, I had worked for the company on and off since I was 10 years old. Prior to working as vice president, I was a disc jockey at KRLA in Los Angeles and hosted a TV show on KCOP-TV in Los Angeles for two years in the 1960's. I currently own the Carol Lawrence Galleries in Beverly Hills.

Supon: Tell me a little bit about the company and its history, such as
the founder, number of employees and locations.

Larry: The company started from United States Bag Co. that my dad Reuben bought from his mother after his dad passed away in the 1950's. He was making gift items with flour sacks that they made into dish towels and packaged with salt and pepper shakers for stores like Woolworth's. Dad went to Japan to buy flour sacks and ceramic items to put into the package. He saw them making floral containers and liked the idea. He and Mr. Krivit (from Reliable Pottery and Glass of the label "RELPO" out of Chicago) teamed up to design and distribute floral containers. Dad had the West and Krivit had from Chicago East. In the late 1950's dad formed Rubens Originals and split up to be on his own without partners.By the 1970's, we had about 30 staff and about 1,000 employees worldwide. Our main office was in Los Angeles with warehouses in Los Angeles, Chicago and Baltimore. We also had warehouses in Canada and Japan to service other countries, as we sold worldwide. We were always adding new and exciting products to the line. In the 1970's dad developed Polyceramics, a hand painted plastic to look like ceramic. We also had the license for Raggedy Ann and Andy and Wondersilk flowers.

We became the largest silk flower company in the world.

Supon: Do you remember any thing at all about head vases?

Larry: Some of the first head vases were the whole body. We had names for each one. As time went by, we made head vases with every kind of look.

They were given to secretaries, women in hospital, executives for
achievement, etc. Many had earrings and necklaces, some with real
pearls!

Some had rings and gloves. My mother Charlotte designed quite a bit of the line and always went with my dad to the Orient, sometimes months at a time. They went twice a year.

Supon: We all know that Rubens Originals has produced many head vases. Can you tell us the popular ones during that period? Do you know how many styles that Rubens Originals came up with? How much did they cost at that time?

Larry: The popular ones were with the earrings and pearls. They looked real. Dad made sure with my mother that the hand painting was perfect or it did not get shipped. There were too many styles to count. Every year we made new designs.

Supon: Who were your customers at that time? Were you just selling them directly to flower shops or also individuals?

Larry: Our customers were the wholesale floral supply companies, gift distributors and very large flowers shops doing volume. We did not really sell directly to shops except in the Los Angeles area to get a direct reaction to our line. We were the largest manufacturer and largest exhibitor at the Wholesale Floral Convention every year.

Supon: As you know, at some point in the history, a lot of pottery companies stopped producing head vases due to lack of their popularity. Do you know the reason?

Larry: We stopped making head vases in the mid 1980's as the demand slowed. We still had plenty of stock so we just stopped making new designs.

Supon: One point in the 1980's, you couldn't even give them away for 25 cents...

Larry: In the late 1980's we had stock to last years in advance and
offered headvases for 25 cents each. Many of the florists had gone to baskets and glass so they did not need the lady heads. We were stuck with quantity.

Supon: What do you think of head vases now? In contrast, you see that a lot of these head vases are now quite pricey.

Larry: The head vases, as the baby planter for newborns, are not anything like it used to be! We made vases for events. People have stopped giving flowers in a fire truck to a sick fireman, funny dogs or animals to kids and clowns with flowers to people in hospital. In other words, the cute funny stuff went out of fashion.

Supon: What happened to the company now? Is it still in operation?

Larry: In the mid 1990's my dad had a stroke and kept running the
company for a couple of years and then just shut it down. I was thinking of keeping it going, but my dad was a very tough businessman and was not feeling well.

It was his decision was to close, so that he did!

Supon: Any thought or comments would you like to add...

Larry: My mother is almost 88, and my dad passed away after a long illness in August 2001. My mom loves to hear about all the Rubens Originals on Ebay. She remembers them and thinks it's wonderful that so many people are collecting.

Supon: Any thing you would like to tell head vase collectors?

Larry: There are many stories of the markings and why a certain style
was made. It's fun to see the stories, because I know when and why it was made, but someone has got a story of their own. They were really great and will live on forever. We only have a few of the head vases left. We do not have any of the baby items.My dad was a very creative man and a great designer. He enjoyed designing them so much. He would be very happy, as my mother is, to know that so many people felt the same way.