Creating Native pottery reproductions

Avocational archeologist & AAS member Julian Cranfill, Southern Arkansas University, has taken ceramic repair to an extreme – he creates a latex mold of his reconstructed Native American ceramics and essentially casts replicas from the mold using DURHAM’S Water Putty. He then paints them to match the original pottery finish. Return to top.

“Eggs-actly” what the zoo needed

The Dallas Zoo uses DURHAM’S Water Putty^® to make fake eggs to fool their exotic birds. They start with real eggs, remove the contents, and then fill them with DURHAM’S Water Putty. The “dummy” eggs are used to replace real ones in the birds’ nests so that the female birds stay on their nests and keep laying. The real eggs are put in an incubator to hatch. Even if the shells are cracked or broken, the Water Putty holds the pieces together with just the right weight and feel to fool the mother birds. Return to top.

Recipe For Disaster:

Just Add Water To The DURHAM^® Plant

Des Moines, Iowa, was hit by a flood in the summer of 1993. Flood waters contaminated our water plant, so we lived without running water for a month.

High waters closed roads for days at a time. Hundreds of families lost their homes and everything they owned. Dozens of businesses in Des Moines and West Des Moines were flooded. Inventories were ruined, buildings were gutted, and many smaller companies went under – figuratively and literally.

We were hit too. In fact, 7½ feet of flood waters entered the Donald Durham Company. The waters covered our equipment, our inventory, our supplies, even our letterhead and stationery. It took approximately 3½ months to get back into production. Fortunately, our customers stuck by us and remained patient as we cleaned up the mess.

On the bright side, the flood taught us two things. First, never underestimate customer loyalty – we’re still grateful to this day. Secondly, the can says “ROCK HARD^®” for good reason. Return to top.