Dinnerware Diary

Oldest Christmas Flatware, Most Popular Christmas Flatware

Hello again, and Happy Holidays, from Pinot the Blog Dog, and Ross! He has about as many wrinkles as a Shar-Pei, don't you think? Anyway, he's a pretty good human, so I humored him by letting him be in the photo. Well, this is our final installment about the oldest and the most popular Christmas patterns at Replacements, Ltd. - this post is about flatware!

Oldest Christmas Flatware. Frankly, we were surprised to find that this honor is held by an American silver company, rather than one from England. Mistletoe by Oneida is a silverplate pattern that was produced in 1894. The pattern is clean and shapely, with a mistletoe design etched into the handle.

 Oneida, of course, is a tableware designer recognized for the excellence of its products worldwide.  The company grew out of the original Oneida Community founded in upstate New York by John Humphrey Noyes more than 150 years ago. This Christian communal society was based upon the principles of individual self-perfection and shared property.  Women bore the same duties as men, and individual responsibilities varied from day to day. This constant rotation of roles required creativity from the members of the community, and many inventions were developed at Oneida. For more than 30 years the "community" received recognition - and profit - for areas of endeavor as diverse as silk, chain making, and, eventually, one of the world's most recognizable, high-quality, and beautifully designed products, Oneida flatware.

Most Popular Christmas Flatware. Our winner here is from another legendary American company - Lenox! Holiday stainless steel flatware was produced between 1996 and 2006. It's a beautifully detailed, glossy finish, stainless steel pattern, scallop-shaped, with a scroll-design edge, gold detail, and white enamel insets featuring brightly colored holly leaves and berries. This pattern is so festive, you'll think Santa himself designed it!

 Lenox is a great American success story. It was founded in 1889 by Walter Scott Lenox as “The Lenox Ceramic Pottery Company.” Born in 1859, Lenox was named for the 19th century Scottish writer, Sir Walter Scott. Lenox grew up in Trenton, NJ, the “Staffordshire of America” of its time. With excellent transportation and good sources of fuel and clay, the state capital of New Jersey became the nation’s leading center for ceramics production. Lenox first organized his company as an art studio, producing one-of-a-kind pieces for a select market. By 1897 examples of the company’s work were displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. By the end of the 20th century, about half the china set on dinner tables in this country was made by Lenox. Over the years the company has become one of the most prominent names in the international dinnerware industry, and is the parent company of several firms, including Lenox Collections, Lenox Classics, Gorham 1831 Silversmiths, Kirk Stieff Silversmiths, Bridal Line, and Dansk. Walter Scott Lenox left an American dinnerware legacy that is honored every day on tables around the globe. Although Lenox in 2008 filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, the company is expected to emerge healthy and sound after its reorganization.

Be sure to let us hear from you at ross.howell@replacements.com, and visit our web site. A healthy and happy holiday to you all, and best wishes for a joyful and prosperous New Year!

Pinot the Blog Dog
 

Oldest Christmas Crystal, Most Popular Christmas Crystal

Hello again from Pinot the Blog Dog!  Since we're on the subject of special patterns for the holidays, I couldn't resist putting in another Christmas picture. I'm sitting on the sales counter in the Replacements, Ltd. showroom, where we have 12 different decorated trees on display, and more beautiful ornaments than you can believe!  As promised, here's information on our oldest, and our most popular, Christmas crystal.  

Oldest Christmas Crystal. The Boston & Sandwich Holly crystal pattern was produced between 1860 and 1870. The bowls of the glassware feature a raised design of holly and berries, crowned by a garland design around the circumference. The stem is multi-sided, with a round foot.

The Boston & Sandwich Glass Company was founded by Deming Jarves in 1825 in Sandwich, MA, near Cape Cod. Jarves, a salesman, not a glassmaker, had been one of the founders of The New England Glass Company, established in Cambridge, MA, in 1818.  Jarves left that company to start the Boston & Sandwich Glass Factory, which produced both high-quality glassware and glassware for everyday use. A manufacturing innovation of the time was the pressed-glass machine. Jarves recognized that the new method made possible decorations of much finer detail and complexity than could formerly be achieved in blown glass, and with greater efficiency. He promptly employed the most brilliant mold-makers in the world. These artisans cut their designs in wood, from which iron or brass molds were subsequently made. In spite of production innovations that Jarves introduced in his factory, fierce competition from glassmakers in the Midwest and a labor strike in Massachusetts forced the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company to close its doors in 1888.

Most Popular Christmas Crystal. Produced between 1942 and 1980, Holly-Clear by Fostoria is our most popular Christmas crystal pattern. (Interesting to note that holly is the holiday greenery that "owns" the crystal category!) Classic, elegant, exquisite - pick your own adjective to describe Holly-Clear!  The pattern features a single garland of stylized holly encircling the bowl near the top, with a multi-sided, wafer stem, and round foot. The delicate cuts in the crystal are absolutely beautiful!

The Fostoria Glassworks were founded in 1887 in the eponymous Ohio town. Although the townspeople of Fostoria had given the company free land in order to attract the plant and the jobs it would provide, a lack of natural resources caused the company to relocate to Moundsville, WV, just four years later. Fostoria was a glass manufacturing leader. In 1891 the company built a large furnace capable of firing 14 pieces simultaneously, a remarkable achievement for the late 19th century glassworks industry in America. This furnace would continue to produce glass until 1972. Over the years Fostoria introduced many successful patterns, developed innovative marketing strategies, and was well run financially. But under pressure from foreign competition in the 1970s, the company's assets were sold to the Lancaster Colony Corporation. That company's board of directors ultimately decided to close the Fostoria Moundsville works in 1983. Fostoria patterns are highly sought-after by collectors today.

Next post, Ross and I will have information on the oldest Christmas flatware pattern at Replacements, Ltd., and the most popular. We hope your holiday preparations are going well.  Let us hear from you! Our e-mail address is ross.howell@replacements.com. And don't forget to visit our web site. 

Pinot the Blog Dog

Oldest Christmas China, Most Popular Christmas China

Hello and Happy Holidays from Pinot the Blog Dog! The sun was so warm and comfortable at the Christmas tree in the front of our beautiful Replacements, Ltd. Showroom, I couldn't resist taking a little cat nap. Wait a minute - did I just say that?! Actually, it was visions of sugar plums dancing in my head! By the way, how do you like the reindeer antlers?

Anyway, Ross and I have been having some fun getting ready for the holidays. You know we both love history, so we've done a little rummaging around in our archives. We thought you'd be interested in hearing about the oldest Christmas patterns in china, crystal, and silver that we have on file, and also the most popular Christmas patterns. This post, we're starting with china. Here we go.

The oldest Christmas china pattern Replacements, Ltd. has on file was produced by the Homer Laughlin Company and dates from 1890. We don't know the pattern's original name, so we've assigned a pattern number (HLCHLC1188) of our own. This white china pattern is scallop-shaped and rimmed, with sprays of holly and bright, iridescent red berries scattered over the rim and spilling onto the verge (the verge area is where the center of the plate merges with the rim). An elegant, embossed garland design is on the outside edge. Isn't it beautiful?

In 1871 two brothers, Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin (their parents obviously were literary), began making pottery in East Liverpool, OH. The brothers soon opened a factory and began production under the trade name of Ohio Valley Pottery. Six years later, Shakespeare left the business to pursue other interests (no, not the theater - he stayed in the dinnerware industry, but passed away in 1881, just four years later, in Philadelphia). In 1897 Homer Laughlin sold his interest in the company that had been changed to his name after Shakespeare left. The buyers were W. E. Wells, Louis I. Aaron, and Aaron's sons, Marcus and Charles. Today, more than 100 years later, the Wells family continues to own and operate the Homer Laughlin Company.

Most popular Christmas china? Spode Christmas Tree is not just the most popular holiday pattern at Replacements, Ltd. – it’s the most popular of all the hundreds of thousands of patterns warehoused in our facilities! Produced by one of the most respected and venerated china companies in the world, in business since 1780, the Spode Christmas Tree pattern was designed in 1938 by an English designer, Harold Holdway, for Spode's North American counterpart, Copeland and Thompson, Inc. Since Holdway had never seen a Christmas tree decorated in the American style, he was left to his own creative devices. His original sketch called for the Christmas presents to hang on the tree's limbs, like ornaments.  When he was told gifts in America were placed under the tree, he revised his sketch to reflect that tradition.  He did manage to leave a unique touch, however. Since he did not realize that most Americans used angels or stars as tree toppers, Holdway placed atop his tree design a figure of Santa Claus. While the unique design created some concern among Holdway’s North American colleagues, his design was commissioned for production anyway. The results have been spectacular over the years.

Spode Christmas Tree offers a veritable smorgasbord of pieces – more than 700 dinnerware, ornament, and accessory pieces from which to choose! Believe it or not, currently Replacements, Ltd. has 2,895 Christmas china patterns on file. How's that for selection?

OK, next post we'll feature Christmas crystal! For the holidays, love your neighbor, love your family, love your pet. Be sure to e-mail us at ross.howell@replacements.com. Ross and I will be back soon.

Pinot the Blog Dog