Your china pattern(s) and any family history or stories connected with it.

[polkanut]

Not wanting to hijack the estate sale thread, I thought I'd start one about our china patterns.  In the estate sale thread Greg commented that he liked bold-patterned sets, and I've received many compliments on it over the years.  The Norway Rose dishes came into our possession in quite a unique way, via my wife's late Uncle Edmund.  Around 2001 Uncle Edmund (lifelong bachelor) decided that he wanted sell  about 75 acres of the homestead for some much needed money so he asked me to place an ad in the local shopper newspaper.  Well, a young couple made him an offer on the entire 80 acres with the agreement that he could stay living in the house for as long as he wanted provided that he maintain it, pay all utilities, and keep it insured.  So a deal was struck and after it was all said and done, Uncle Edmund wanted to pay me for my time and energy in helping him with the legal paperwork, and for driving him into town to the lawyer's office.  I said that instead of money, I'd like to pick something out of his attic.  He agreed, and was shocked when I brought that box of dishes downstairs.  He said that he had gotten them as grocery store premiums in the late 1950's-early 1960's.  They looked like they had had mud poured all over them, but I knew I had picked a winner.  When I brought them home my wife thought I was nuts too, until they came out of the dishwasher.  About a year later at an estate sale my wife doubled our service for 8 with another box full for $125 plus some serving pieces that we were previously missing. 

 

The Rosemary dishes my wife inherited from my Grandma Wilde when she passed away in 2005.  Two years ago I doubled the original service for 8 when I found a box full at one of our local thrift stores for $40.  That was the fastest I've ever spent money.  Grandma bought the original set around 1978 at K-Mart of all places.  We treasure the memories both sets have helped create over the years that we've had them.

 

Any others? 

[this post was last edited: 8/15/2012-20:01]

 

[xraytech]

I very much enjoy different china patterns, especially floral ones.
Growing up my mother colelcted and built her set of china service, it was a very long running in store promotion at the Shop N Save grocery stores in the early 90s, a different item would be featured at a reduced rate each week and we slowly buit a service for twelve including dinner plates, soup bowls, dessert plates, berry bowls, cups and saucers as well as a covered casserole, meat platter, and coffee pot, there were two patterns offered one was a peach and green one, but mother chose the lovely Blue garland pattern by Johann Haviland, it is a white china with a garland of blue roses and a platinum band.
My paternal grandmother has a set of china I'm most fond of, it was purchased early in her marriage around 1953 or 54 with money she saved while working building radios at RCA in their Canonsburg, PA plant, her pattern is called Silver Pine and was sold under both Kent China and Narumi China. It is a white plate with a thick gray rim and a platinum band, in the center is a big sprig of long needled pine and a pinecone, my fondest memories of this set is eating Sunday dinners of chicken paprikash and grated noodles, or cabbage rolls and mashed potatoes.
Pictured below is the Kent Silver Pine pattern

 

[xraytech]

This is my mothers Johann Haviland Blue Garland

 

[xraytech]

While my set of good china has no family ties I still love its elegance, it was from the late 40's-early 50s. It was made by a local company called Canonsburg Pottery, the pattern is LaJean. It features a multicolored floral bouquet in the middle of the plate and a thick band of warranted 22kt gold filigree. I have slowly built a complete service for 12 plus several serving bowls, creamer and sugar, butter dishes and platters.
This service makes a grand table when set with my vintage Rogers silverware and my vintage hand made Duncan Miller glasses and rich damask table linens
However my great grandmother used to have a set of stoneware dishes from Canonsburg Pottery called brown drip.
Pictured below is the Canonsburg Pottery LaJean pattern:

 

[iheartmaytag]

We don't have China as one would actually call it. We have one set of Phalzgraft crockware or what ever it's called from the early 90's. We lived in Macomb, IL then and Hager Pottery had it as open stock.

Mom still has a 4 place setting that she got as a wedding gift when she married #1 back in 1950. It's an iridescent orange gold. Mom is sure it is supper valuable now and no one is allowed to touch it. My sister will probably post it on e-bay from the funeral home when something happens to MOM.

We used to have a Wheat pattern that Mom actually got as a grocery store premium. I do understand it is valuable now, however, we lost the whole set one night when she threw it at #2 while they were fighting.

#3 bought her a set of Correll, plain white, open stock. That way if it gets thrown you can replace it. #3 died 23 years ago and we never have had to replace any pieces. In fact the dishes hold up better than the husbands did.

 

[polkanut]

Harley,

If you can manage to get a look at the back of a plate (maker & pattern name or no.) from set #1 you can look up the "value" at Replacements.com.  I realize their prices are overly inflated but, it will give you a general idea as to value.

 

[norgeway]

Replacements Limited!

Is about 40 minutes from here, very pricey, but you can bet they will have what you want..

 

[danemodsandy]

Wheat Pattern

The wheat pattern you're referring to is likely "Golden Wheat," packed in boxes of Duz. It's not super-valuable, but it does have a collector following. If you buy it, look for cups that have the gold band on the SIDE of the edge, not on the TOP of the edge. The manufacturer moved the location of the gold band when it was discovered that it wore away quickly when placed on the top of the edge. Also, you'll have to be careful with the stuff in general; the gold band is not protected by glaze. It was a giveaway, after all.

Speaking of giveaways, that's what I'm collecting these days. I have Royal China's "Currier & Ives," thanks in no small measure to Keith (westingman123), which was a premium for A & P - buy $10 worth of groceries, get a dinner plate for 29 cents, that sort of thing.

I also have Oneida's "Queen Bess" pattern of silverplate flatware. That was a General Mills premium for Betty Crocker; you sent in the little red Betty Crocker points and redeemed them for the pieces you wanted.

And I have "Early American" glassware from Big Top Peanut Butter; the product came packed in footed goblets or sherbets or juice glasses. This peanut butter brand was later bought out by Proctor & Gamble, who renamed it Jif after a couple of years.

Only the "Early American" glasses have a family connection. My mother collected a set of the stuff, and promptly put it away for a special occasion. In all the years since, there has never been an occasion special enough for her to use it - I think she's waiting for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to drop in. When I was a kid, she had conniption fits if you got within six feet of it; I grew up thinking it was something wildly valuable. It's not, though again, it has a collector following. The "Early American" I have is not her set - she's still got it - but it's the same stuff. And I USE mine.

Here's an ad shot of the "Early American." The flatware in the ad is Holmes & Edwards' "Danish Princess," but I've never been able to I.D. the dishes. If anyone knows, I'd be grateful, though this is just curiosity, not a desire to own them.

 

[danemodsandy]

Queen Bess:

Here's an ad for "Queen Bess" flatware.

This is an early ad; they made even more pieces later, like demitasse spoons, orange spoons and pierced serving spoons. The great thing about "Queen Bess" was that it came in all the pieces that more expensive stuff did - a working-class woman who had no other way to have nice silver had no reason to be ashamed of her "Queen Bess." It's good quality, too, with extra silver at points of wear, like the bottoms of spoon bowls, and it's made on the same copper alloy other Oneida silverplate is. Obviously, those nice Minnesot'ns at General Mills didn't want to be associated with an inferior product even if they WERE giving it away.

 

[danemodsandy]

Better "Queen Bess" Shot

This is some of mine, showing the detail in the pattern better. The motif is the Garden Rose of China, in a diagonal spray across the handle:

 

[chuffle]

Xraytech...

The Silver Pine pattern reminds me very much of Lenox Pine, which I am quite fond of (but don't own).

May parents bought a set of Cameo Rose, made in Japan by Princess China, in the 1970s. Dont care for it at all, and it has been sitting here, as I would like to sell it. Growing up, the special dinner service was the Golden Wheat pattern.

I don't entertain, and don't set a special table just for me (not whining - it is what it is), but on the few occasions over the years, when I would have house company, if we didn't eat in the kitchen with the Corelle or Pfaltzgraff Yorktowne, I would drag out the Pfaltzgraff Heritage (in the dark avocado color) of which i have a decent number of pieces. No family connection there, just something that I liked and picked up here and there.

Joe

 

[circlew]

My parents were married in 1943, and my mom started her collection of Franciscan Desert Rose shortly after the end of WWII. She eventually obtained place settings for 12, and most of the accessory pieces. The older items are marked "Gladding, McBean & Co., some later ones marked "Interpace", and the most recent are "Johnson Bros.". These were the good holiday and special occasion dishes. I now have all these.

When I was little our everyday dishware was Homer Laughlin Fiesta, that they had gotten in the 40's and early 50's. Colors included the original shades of Yellow, Blue, Red, Turquoise, Ivory and Green, plus the 50's Forest Green, Rose, Gray and Chartreuse. I loved eating on these dishes. When I was about 6 or so, Mom decided to get some others, and the Fiesta was put on the shelves in the basement closet. I always liked looking in there to see them. One day Hermeana (a neighbor lady) came over, and told my mom that they were going on a camping trip out west, and that she was looking for some old dishes to take. Mom told her she could have the Fiesta! Needless to say I was disappointed to hear this, but there was nothing I could do. The only pieces she didn't take was a Yellow plate that was in the refrigerator, and the creamer. There were at least ten dinner plates, plus bowls, cups & saucers, dessert plates and the sugar bowl. Today these would be worth in the hundreds.

My dad's cousin Mary began buying Fiesta the year it was introduced (1936) which was also the year she married. By the time of her passing in 2001, she had a collection that included every color ever manufactured, and nearly every piece made in that pattern. I loved going to her house, and always liked seeing the Fiesta. I estimate the value of her collection to be over $10,000, as she had several very rare pieces and colors. Her son and his wife now have it.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tom:

I feel your pain.

While it was never worth nearly as much as Fiesta, my mom trashed a bunch of our Branchell Color-Flyte in the '70s. It's the second most valuable Melmac around, Russel Wright's "Residential" being Number One, of course.

I did manage to save some of the Color-Flyte, pleading my recent move out of my parents' home. But a good chunk of money hit the curb that day in '71.

And a whole lotta memories.

 

[firedome]

Ours is a really austere pattern

called Lenox "Solitaire", that the bride started collecting it at age 15, so I guess domesticity must have set in early. Just a very plain off-white with a single platinum band around the diameter, always hand washed... the collecting of Sterling, Steiff's "Lady Claire" pattern, and Royal Brierley "Erinmore" Cut Crystal started at the same young age, around the same time appliances were becoming noticed on my part. The fancy tableware and linens are now used only at Christmas and Thanksgiving or other special occasions, usually we & guests eat on primitive Colonial style Bennington Potteryware.

 

[polkanut]

Joe,

I looked at your Cameo Rose pattern on Replacements.com and I have to agree with you.  It is too blah looking for my tastes.  Just my 2 cents worth.  Don't mean to offend you.

 

[vintagekitchen]

Everyday dishes

My family never really had what they considered good china, but when I think back to some of what they considered everyday dishes and threw out, I get a little ill, lol.

My great great grandmother's every day dishes were fireking Peach Lustre and Gold Lustre, mostly gotten as promotian items from bags of flour and such, with a few bought peices added. I have no idea what happened to them, as she passed away before I was born.

My great Grandmother's every day dishes were Johnson Brothers Regency pattern china, though many were unmarked all matched. They were plain creamy white heavy china, with swirls around the edges. When she passed away one of her daughters got them.

My grandmothers every day dishes were a mix of Jadite and Orange Fire King, mostly promotional items from buying various products, and a few bought peices. Most of them were broken during a fight in the late 70's, (why do people always take it out on the dishes), and Melmac was purchased to use with the few remaining peices. When I was about 4, My aunt got gramma a set of Lennox gold edged fine china, and gramma promptly threw out all the melmac and remaining Fire King except for 2 mugs. (My grandpa would drink coffee from nothing else). Of course the Lennox didnt hold up well to every day use, and in a few years was replaced by cheap stoneware, until I gave gramma her corelle a few years ago.

My mom always had a mismatch of various patterns of stoneware and some melmac thrown in, except for 2 Wedgewood bowls which she always kept on display in the china cabinet. She gave them to me when I moved out and I have always kept them on display as well. (But I use them at holidays, lol)

 

[chuffle]

Polkanut...

...you certainly didn't offend me. I agree with you, have always felt the pattern to be blah - that's why it is packed up to sell (has been for the last three years or so). Won't get much for it, but don't want to just give it to the Goodwill, either.

It goes to show how everyone has their own "taste." When I looked through my parents' items for the estate sale back in 2009, I oft thought "what were my parents thinking?" I kept a lot of the items from the 50s and 60s, but some of the things my parents bought in the 70s, when they finally had the funds to "splurge," just make one wonder. I sort of chalked that up to their growing up during the depression, making ends meet and so on. I don't know.

Joe

 

[chuffle]

I have my parents' set of Color Flyte...

They were married in 1954, and it was in use every day from then until my father passed away in 2006. I have a set for seven - don't have any idea why seven. The set has the serving bowls, platter, salad tongs, covered sugar, creamer. The plates are scratched, as one would expect with 50 years of daily use, but we always kept stains away by a good dose of bleach water. I always use one of the soup bowls when I make chili or vegetable soup - not a nostalgia thing - I just like the bowl capacity.

I should use the set more, but the plates are under the Corelle in the cupboard, and I always grab the top - the Butterfly Gold.

But I have wandered away from china patterns. Sorry!

Joe

 

[lordkenmore]

I'll probably be the lone voice here...but I have almost nothing. Until the last few years, I pretty much always lived with someone else, and I depended on that someone else's tableware. In one case, the quality wasn't very good (Oneida stainless and Corelle!). In another case, there was some impressive stuff even in the daily rotation.

These days, I live alone, and mostly have just odds and ends. I picked up a couple of sets of stainless flatware that are decent, but both have limited pieces, so I'd have to plan a dinner accordingly. (I can't remember for sure, but one set might be "dinner for 4, max." Which actually works well for me--I prefer smaller groups.)

No decent set of china.

At the moment, having limited tableware is irrelevant, since I realistically won't be entertaining until I'm living somewhere else.

I'm not sure what I'd get when the time comes. My one big desire is dishwasher safety. And I'm (pretty) unanimous about that.

Daily stuff is (and probably will remain) odds and ends I find in thrift shops. They very wildly, but are all (as far as I know) made in the 1st world.