In the past people put moonshine in pottery jugs. Children had a habit of getting into everything including this moonshine. Therefore, the potters put ugly faces on the jugs in order to scare the children away from the moonshine.
Another story of the History of Face Jugs goes like this: The ugly faces were made on the jugs and put at gravesites to scare the evil spirits away.
American Face Jug History
Face jugs are sometimes called "ugly jugs." Face jugs were first made in the early 1800's by slave potters and others in the Edgefield district of South Carolina. They had bits of porcelain or white rocks for eyes and teeth. Moonshine was traditionally stored in face jugs to differentiate them from other jugs. Children were told the "boogie man would get them" if they touched the jug. Kaolin clay was combined with the dark stoneware clays on the jugs to make features that mimic human eyeballs and teeth. The southernUnited States has been the world's most prolific region for face vessels. Famous potters - Craig, Meaders and Brown, now deceased, could hardly get 25 cents for their jugs, but now one of their jugs are selling at four and five digit prices.
