A little history about T.R.C. Designs, Inc.
In the early seventies, my pop presented me with an antique clock. It was an odd looking clock called an Ogee that had belonged to one of my great uncles. As part of the agreement, I was to have the clock repaired in order that I take possession of what I though would be a very valuable antique. Now if one were to fast forward here, and view a photo of my grandmother's family as presented to me by my aunt, it would be clear as to why my grandmother would see fit that I should receive this clock. As I look at the photo taken some decades before I was born, I could see my image in my great Uncle George! I could have passed as his twin whose mannerisms, I’m told, were as eccentric as my own. Ok, call me sentimental...
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| The logical route to take in repair of an antique clock would be to pay someone trained in the craft the hundred dollars, or so, to perform the repair. Instead, I would spend thousands of dollars and years in training to learn the craft to repair the clock myself! Brilliant! Seeing an opportunity for a small business in clock repair in a field with little or no competition, I began the task of learning this dieing craft. I accepted an apprenticeship at a local jewelry store that happened to be owned by an old fellow who agreed to train me in exchange for half of the money that we would earn together.As I advanced in my apprenticeship, I began to acquire the tools that would be required to enter a clock making profession. As my horological skills matured, so too came the realization that my artistic desires could not be satisfied by the "point A to point B" nature of a repair business. So began the experimentation with small Christmas ornaments for my new bride. |
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To my delight, she would, on occasion, take my experiments to work to share with her coworkers who would "ooooohhhh" and "ahhhhhhhh" over the "tiny treasures".As the "ooooohhhhs" and "ahhhhhhhs" began to swell my head, came the conclusion that everyone would love my "little toys" and I would do well to participate in a local, mall sponsored craft show. I set my sights, paid my fees, and began to build the inventory required for my "grand premiere" as a "world class" toy maker. |
| As the grueling five-day show came to it’s grinding conclusion, I found my cash yield just a bit short of what I had paid for my space! Count our time, the raw materials, food...(you get the picture...) I would quickly discover that perhaps this was not exactly the "make a million overnight" adventure that I hoped it to be.As time eventually teaches us all, success is not always to be measured in dollars and cents. As during this show one of my few customers had a request for a miniature nutcracker for her dollhouse mantel, I began work with my watchmakers lathe to soon produce some interesting results! While the results of this first effort may not have been quite "world class", we now know that the ideas spawned that weekend may just have been the beginning of something great! |
Along the way in producing these few tiny miniatures came an idea that perhaps a larger version (4 inches or so) might do better for the folks who collect nutcrackers. So, we swallowed our pride, healed our wounds and set focus on the next craft show to be held in an arena setting. To say the least, the results were dramatic. Our handmade miniatures quickly sold out, as did some of our other products that we had come up with using the same techniques that we had learned while creating our miniatures. We even had the Governor’s wife (Lynda Johnson Robb - daughter of former president Lyndon B. Johnson) purchase one of our music boxes for her daughter. Hmm! Could we be on to something? |
A December to Remember! A few years passed with the same results at nearly every show that we attended. Now, what confused us a bit was the fact that our hardwood trains, and other wooden toys sold nearly as well as our miniature nutcrackers! Oh, by the way, at this point in time, we were known as "The Three Ring Circus". Handmade toys and joys by Glenn and Diana Crider. We had solid hardwood trains, clown toys, circus toys, toy fishing rods, toy ironing boards, music boxes, doll beds, and lots of Christmas ornaments. They all sold well, but the miniature nutcrackers were the items that usually stole the show. Literally… The year was 1987 and this was the year that my little nutcrackers would indeed steal the show by catching the attention of our local newspaper who intereviewed us for an article! As you might imagine, the phone began to ring and the mailbox filled with orders! Over two-hundred of them, that were all expected to be delivered in time for Christmas. I had just quit my ‘real job’ to start full time production as T.R.C. Designs. I worked day and night (over 120 hours a week) to produce that first wave of nearly 300 handmade miniatures!As I look back over the years, I realize just how lucky I am to have discovered this very special talent in practice of such a wonderful craft. |
| In the mid-ninties, our small family-owned business grew to become a small cottage industry with over a dozen employees producing products for hundreds of accounts all over the country. We’ve produced several hundred original designs in many scales from one-inch to six-feet. As one of only a very few companies in the United States to produce nutcrackers, (less than five) T.R.C. Designs, has been fortunate to have been nationally recognized in magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Wood Magazine, Southern Living, Richmond Magazine and many others.With all this success, and as I grow a bit older, I’m reminded of an earlier comment about artisitic desire. |
| So… in 2006, we decided that we would stop large volume production to focus on design. We began to scale back by not accepting new accounts for production and informed our current accounts that we would stop in 2007. Our idea was to spend a few years to design some new products, build a few masterpieces, and perhaps, write a book. With that decision came some news that we will be releasing soon. |
We don’t yet know what the next chapter holds. Stay tuned, this should get interesting!