Royal Doulton is an English ceramic manufacturing company dating from 1815. Operating in Vauxhall, London moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of English pottery. From the start the backbone of the business was a wide range of utilitarian wares stonewares, including storage jars and the like, extending to pipes for drains and other bathroom ceramics. From 1853 to 1902 its wares were marked Doulton & Co. from 1902, when a royal warrant was given, Royal Doulton. It always made some more decorative wares still stoneware, from the 1860s the firm made considerable efforts to get a reputation for design, in which it was successful; this was done through artistic stonewares made in Lambeth, but in 1882 the firm bought a Burslem factory, intended for making bone china tablewares and decorative items. It was a latecomer in this market compared to firms such as Royal Crown Derby, Royal Worcester, Wedgwood and Mintons, but made a place for itself in the 19th century.

Today Royal Doulton produces tableware and figurines, but cookware and other home accessories such as linens and lighting. Three of its brands were Royal Albert and Mintons; these brands are now owned based in Barlaston near Stoke-on-Trent. On 2 July 2015 the acquisition of WWRD by the Finnish company Fiskars Corporation was completed; the Royal Doulton company began as a partnership between John Doulton, Martha Jones, John Watts, as Doulton bought an interest in an existing factory at Vauxhall Walk, London, where Watts was the foreman. They traded as Jones, Watts & Doulton from 1815 until Martha Jones left the partnership in 1820, when the trade name was changed to Doulton & Watts; the business specialised in making salt glaze stoneware articles, including utilitarian or decorative bottles and jars, much of it intended for inns and pubs. In 1826 they took over a larger existing pottery on Lambeth High Street; the company took the name Doulton & Co. in 1854 after the retirement of John Watts in 1853, a merger with Henry Doulton and Co. although the trading name of Doulton & Watts continued to be used for decades.

For some of the 19th century there were three different businesses, run by the sons of John Doulton, with cross-ownership, which came back together by the end of the century. By 1897 the total employees exceeded 4,000. Manufacturing of circular ceramic sewage pipes began in 1846, was successful; this merged with the main business in 1854. His brother John Junior later set up his own pipe-making business. Sewers were just channels made of brick, which began to leak as they aged; the 1846–1860 cholera pandemic, the tracing by Dr John Snow of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak in London to a water supply contaminated by sewage led to a huge programme of improving sewage disposal, other forms of drainage using pipes. These and an expanding range of builder's and sanitary wares remained a bedrock of Doulton into the 20th century. Metal plumbing items such as taps and cast iron baths were added to the range later. Kitchen stonewares such as storage jars and mixing bowls, laboratory and manufacturing ceramics, were other long-standing specialities.

Further facilities were set up for making these in Paisley in Scotland, Smethwick, St Helens near Liverpool, Rowley Regis in England, Paris. By the 1860s Henry Doulton became interested in more artistic wares than the utilitarian ceramics which had grown the business enormously. British stoneware had languished somewhat in artistic terms, although Wedgwood and others continued to produce jasperware and some other stonewares in a refined style, competing with porcelain; the Doulton wares went further back with a varied glaze finish. This "gave stoneware an new impetus, realizing the potential of the material"; as the company became interested in diversifying from its utilitarian wares into more decorative objects, it developed a number of earthenware and stoneware bodies. The so-called "Lambeth faience" was "a somewhat potted creamware much used in decorative plaques and vases" with underglaze painting. Other bodies were called "Impasto". By 1871, Henry Doulton, John's son, launched a studio at the Lambeth pottery, offered work to designers and artists from the nearby Lambeth School of Art.

The first to be engaged was George Tinworth followed by artists such as the Barlow family, Frank Butler, Mark Marshall and Eliza Simmance. John Bennett was in charge of the "Lambeth faience" department until he emigrated to America in 1876, where he had success with his own pottery. Doulton was rather unusual in that most of the Lambeth studio pieces were signed by the artist or artists with initials or a monogram incised on the base. Many are dated; until 1882, "every piece of the company's art stoneware was a unique item" but after that some pieces were made in batches, as demand grew. There were initial technical difficulties in producing the "art" pieces.

Carole Crist is an American businesswoman and former First Lady of Florida. Crist is the former wife of U. S. Representative and one-term Florida Governor Charlie Crist, having served as First Lady of Florida from December 12, 2008, to January 4, 2011. Crist was raised in Roslyn, New York, a New York City suburb on Long Island, she is the daughter of Robert Oumano, the former president of the Franco-American Novelty Company, a family-owned novelties business. The company is based in Glendale, Queens. Crist graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a degree in accounting. Crist has two children from her first marriage, she married Charlie Crist on December 2008, at the First Methodist Church of St. Petersburg. After nine years of marriage, in February 2017, Charlie Crist filed for divorce from Carole, stating, "I think the world of Carole. She's an amazing person, it just didn't work out for us, I wish all the best for her."Crist resides in Fisher Island, Florida. After her father's death in 2000, Crist ran Franco-American Novelty for the next six years.

She coined the slogan "Where Fashion Meets Halloween" and changed the focus of the company to more figure-flattering, high-fashion costumes. In 2006, she handed over control of Franco-American to her sister, Michele Oumano Powell, in January, 2013 resigned from her management position. In 2012, Crist started a new Halloween Costume business in St. Petersburg, Florida called Goddessey, L. L. C. which she sold in early 2017. During her husband's 2016 campaign for Congress, Crist served as acting campaign director, played a significant role in fundraising. Crist is founder and CEO of CLC Global Advisors, a philanthropic and entrepreneurial venture focused on impact investing. First Lady webpage

Graterford is an unincorporated community in Perkiomen Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1756 by Jacob Kreator, a textile weaver, Graterford was named Grater's Ford until abbreviated to Graterford by the postal service in the mid-1950s. A state penitentiary is located there, a prison farm. Located along the Perkiomen Creek, Graterford was a vital summer resort community during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Baptisms were held on a small island in the middle of the Perkiomen. A non-denominational church is located there. Railroad service to Philadelphia was provided until 1955. A post office operated there until the early 1960s. At various times, principal enterprises have included a general store, hardware store, bakery, auto service stations, hair salons, an antique furniture dealer, three hotels and resort lodging. An agricultural area through the mid-20th century, it is located 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia, it is at the center of Perkiomen Township.

The Perkiomen Valley School District High School is located here. Scenic appeal is provided by two tributaries, Lodal Creek and Landis Run; the Graterford name continues to fade as newer residents adopt the nearby Collegeville name, whose postal zip code Graterford shares. Other places of interest are Central Perkiomen Valley Park. Graterford separate community from Collegeville. There has been an increase in population in the last 10 years as farmers have sold land to companies who build houses. PVSD High School is in Graterford. Perkiomen Township is a part of the Perkiomen Valley School District. All residents are zoned to Perkiomen Valley High School; the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections State Correctional Institution - Graterford was in nearby Skippack Township. It closed in July 2018 and was replaced by State Correctional Institution – Phoenix