The early 20th century heralded growth of both a personal and professional kind, when sons of the partners joined to help them run the family business. The Great War brought Johnson Brothers to a halt, but it was not too long before it re-gathered its energies: new patterns and shapes were introduced, alongside innovative, under-glazed print patterns. Production innovations followed too - including the installation of gas-fired tunnel kilns to replace coal-fired ‘bottle’ ovens in the late 1940s.