Durawear Melmac from Santa, Paula, California

Durawear, (not to be confused with Duraware) seems to be hard to find, but I often wonder if that's because I'm on the East Coast and this lovely line was made in Santa Paula, California.  I hardly ever see it, and when I do, it may be a stack of orange cups here, or brown leafy plates there, never a complete set.  Update: As of 1959 I found where Durawear was being made, read the post here. Up until 1959 however, remains a mystery to me. Even stranger to find sugar bowls with patterns , both lovely and rare, are few and far between. This pretty item is on sale currently in UpCountryVintage's shop , but normally retails for a real bargain price of only $8. 

I often love thinking of how far an item traveled before it gets to you. The future new owner will be happy to know it was made in California, but now resides in Hawaii, and will have most likely traveled thousands of miles before it gets to you. Sweet!

Pretty Rainbow of Plaskon Plastics : 1930's to the 1950's

Plaskon : Molded Color

1940 ad

How I wish I was alive in the 1940's and 1950's to see all this beautiful plastic.  Plaskon, a urea-formaldehyde molding compound (essentially a would-be rival to Cyanamid's Melmac), was used to mold coffee pot handles, stove knobs, beauty and cosmetic containers, industrial plastics, electrical channels, switches, socket plate components, picnic plastics, toys, advertising premiums, displays, and perhaps the most popular two of all in my opinion, radio covers and clock housings.   (Both of which certainly hold their place in value among collectors today!)  Take special note the old time service-ticket writing pad you see in the upper right of the ad above.  Probably when you went to get your car serviced, or ordered something special at the hardware store.  

Before the 1940's

RYDER offers this great 1937 ad for only $6.99.

Plaskon's use of urea dates back to 1931.  The company originated from the inner workings of the Toledo Scale Company , (Toledo Synthetic Products Company.) By 1934 their "molded color" brochures were everywhere, although I find it odd to see so much off white and ivory plaskon pieces floating around.  Is this because people are coveting the colors?  By 1937 Plaskon was making housings and specialty boxes for the Gruen watch company and even ring boxes (see ad above).  I have some old packaging Encyclopedias, and they were always proud to show off their new housings.

Gorgeous Plaskon Radio Courtesy of DecorRadios, which is unknown origin circa 1938. You really must visit this site to see all the gorgeous Plaskon radios and learn about them.

In 1939, they produced this strange oddity:

Guess what this is?

Dab-Ette Plaskon Perfume Bottle from RareTodd

This item is a real steal in RareTodd's shop, it's actually an art deco bullet style vintage perfume bottle.  It soaked up the perfume via the cord and you could "dab" it on (hence the Dab-ette name.)  I did ample research* and here's what I found:  This was distributed in chain stores in 1939. (Note chain store, and not dime store!) One of the distributors "B AND F SPECIALTIES" of  Cleveland, Ohio, proudly announced: 

Miss Dab-Ette, a purse size perfume applicator, which is a non-leakable non-breakable plastic cartridge. It can be filled with the purchaser's favorite odor. "

1939, Colors of handles and knobs and industrial parts!

Plaskon : Lives On
Much past the glorious forties and fun fifties, Plaskon would live on. In fact in melmac dish land, Plaskon was being used as an alternative to Cyanamid's Melmac molding powders, but that is another story.

 
Plaskon Info: 

Gorgeous Plaskon Radios on Deco Radio's Plaskon Page here.

Complete Plaskon History and early Toledo Scale Pictures in this book preview of American Plastic: A Cultural History by Jefferey Meikle.

You can see old radios and learn how to "test for Plaskon" (?)  here.


*Chain Store Age, Volume 15, 1939

Vintage Goodies Etsy Shop Loaded With Melmac and TexasWare

Vintage Goodies, how I adore thee!

These saucers she has are pretty hard to find, I think they could be called Fantasy...

Lisa Price has a real eye for cool melmac, in fact, her Etsy shop Vintage Goodies has proof of that.  She's from Grand Rapids, MI and opened her Etsy shop in 2006.  She lists her new plastic and melamine finds under the "Melmac Attack" section.  It's definitely worth a look-see....her prices are fair and good bargains are waiting to be had!  Here's some previews of what you may find!

Just lovely..

I was shocked to see Purple Texas ware style bowls in her shop.  This is a Texas Ware Design.

I was astonished to see so much Texasware Purple stocked, because normally the only "purple" I see is the Marcrest/Royalon Corsage Patten (see it here.)  The good thing about Lisa's shop, is you can buy a few pieces here and there to build your set, and assemble it over time! This is a more affordable option than investing in a whole set at once.  Plus, if you only need the plates, or mugs, you've come to the right place.

I love solid purple melmac!

Lisa explains, "I just LOVE a good estate sale. I love to reuse things from the past because they are made so much better than things today, and they are much more interesting. From the color to the design they evoke a feeling and often a story. I am particularly fond of items from the 1950s and focus on 40s-60s wares in my shop."

A sweet little set of cups and saucers. Love the styling on these handles!

Lisa's shop has more than just melmac, in fact, it's cool of all kinds of great linens, textiles, aprons, kitchenalia, mod things and more!  She explains, "These finds already have a story to tell, and I think it is amazing to walk into someone's life and see what books they read and what clothes they wore. I am offering things that I like but either don't quite fit my decor or I just know is a good find."

Her retro style block printed towels are a must have as a melmac-go with. What great gift ideas!

She has a second shop, Art Goodies, which has block-printed towels, great for any vintage kitchen or baking diva! The designs here are amazing.  They are cute, stylish, and the best part, handmade with love!   Nothing like adding that....to this:

SO MODERN!

Beautiful Boontonware.

So I wonder, why the love of vintage?  Lisa says, Vintage is also a way of shopping green. Use something fun and interesting from the past, it creates a unique and fun look while being nice to the environment! :)"    Kudos to you Lisa, ding ding, I'm adding your shop to the sidebar, YOU ROCK! 


Catch up with Lisa: 
VintageGoodies on Etsy
ArtGoodies on Etsy 
ArtGoodies Blog
See her photos on FLICKR!

More Spaulding : Found in the Original Box by Junk and Howe Etsy Shop Melmac and Melamine Lover's Dream

Spaulding Ware Melmac

Chad over at Junk and Howe sent me these great pictures to share with you all, of an amazing IN THE BOX Spaulding Ware set he has stumbled upon. These dishes were MADE IN THE USA and of course you know how much I adore vintage, and reuse, and items that were made here!   Originally, the set was featured in LIFE magazine and retained for $66.40 for a 55 piece set. Amazing.

Chad says, "I stumbled across your very interesting post about Spaulding and thought I'd at least tell you about a recent Spaulding find of mine: 49 pieces of a 55-piece set, still in the original box."  Chad explains, "Unfortunately, the stamp on the box was been smeared and duct-taped over, so I can't make out a date of delivery. "

He continues, "However, the inventory sheet is on the box, and it has the price of the set: $66.40. 'Advertised in Life Magazine' is also printed on the box, among other copy. "   Chad notes, "It's also a different style than all the other Spaulding stuff I've seen - this set's cups have flat bullet-hole handles."

This sure is a rare find, and gives us hints and clues about Spaulding. Advertising in LIFE magazine was not cheap but proves that from Chicago they would have reached target audiences all over the USA.  Their box design was clever--and well thought out. The colors seem  60's to me, but we know (in reference to my previous post on Spaulding)  that in 1962 the company was kaput or in huge trouble so this has to be earlier than that --I know for a fact they advertised in 1956 because I have an ad from Life.  Chad is right, the design is somewhat off from the other Spaulding ware you see--how clever for them to have different styles, lines and options.  Many melmac manufacturers offered a "premium" line,  and a "non-premium" line which would be not as fancy and be priced less.

Chad's best point is this, "The crazy thing is that with inflation, that set would cost almost $500 today!"      WOW!


Thanks Chad & Julie.  They used to sell on Etsy under Junk and Howe, but when I revisisted them in November 2018 their shop was closed.  Here's just a few things they had featured at one point:

Byrd Tranquil Ware Plastic Set, $18 so great in RED!

King Seely Thermos Set, $24, Atomic!

Find Junk and Howe Here:

Blog

Article Updated 11.22.18, Thank you for reading RetroChalet , my melmac  and vintage blog.  Please LIKE  Melmac Dinnerware  on Facebook!  

Visit my Etsy Shop!  RetroChalet.etsy.com

Raffiaware Thermo Temp Mallory Randall Melmac History

Ice Cream Bowl by ThermoTemp pic at CheMichele

Themo-Temp , Raffiaware and Mallory Randall Corporation

I first wrote this post in 2011 when I ran into Etsy shop Modern Plastics owner Kailani Burke Nakanaela who helped me fill in some blanks and use her photos. At the time she was listing and cleaning out a huge collection of Thermo Temp / Raffiaware by the Mallory Randall Corporation.  This same corporation made Melmac in Classic, Malloware and Mallo-Belle lines.  However, widely popular was this super-duper insulated plastic ware set featuring burlap and straw in their lines.   

Note:  Not to be confused with THERMO-SERV,  find the post here. 

First of all, for those of you who maybe haven't seen all the wonderful items in the Themoware collection, I will break it down into several popular styles for you. Perhaps you have seen them unmarked, or didn't even know what they were. 

I like to break them down into five distinct easy to spot groupings, although more I'm sure exist.   First know they made tall tumblers, coffee sized mugs, tall mugs, ice buckets, pitchers, snack sets, salad sets, ice cream bowls, salad serving tongs, and more. 

Group #1 The ribbed Thermo Temp cream ribbing and pastel insides

Shown here at CalliCatVintage

Group #2 The ribbed Thermo Temp whitish ribbing and green insides

Find them and more at CheMichele

Group #3 The smooth looking embedded burlap sets 

Thermo Temp Salad Set serves six!  Sold at Modern Plastics, $45.99

Group # 4:  Straw outside of gorgeous pastels 

pic: Modern Plastics note the rare serving tray and different style ice cream cups.


Group # 5:  White inside of colorful burlap

These available at 7Trafalgar on Etsy.

So, when I picked the brain of Modern Plastics shop owner from Kailua, O'Ahu, Hawaii I had to find out what her story was, back then unleashing hundreds of hard to find Mallory items. 

Hard to find Mallory, in a breakfast sold quick at only $10 at Modern Plastics.

Shop owner Kailani Burke Nakanaela explained, "The story begins when my Husband and I decided to renovate his Parent's beach house. We have over fifty years of memories there, we actually met on the beach in Kailua as kids. We've been married 30+ years and now that the house has been passed on to us, we need more space for our children and grandchildren when they come to visit. I have been removing Melmac from the attic space for a couple of weeks now, the boxes are all deteriorated from the humidity and sea air, so bringing them down a rickety ladder has proven tricky. As I peel away the layers of cardboard I am just amazed at how wonderful everything looks. Yesterday my Husband tried to convince me that we could put these in the dishwasher .... I just smiled and banished him from the kitchen. This is probably the first time I have actually enjoyed washing dishes."

This is what she found....I'm gasping...how rare is this to find in the original box?

Kailani explains "I will be listing more items soon, there are over 200 Mallo-Ware plates and cups and saucers that I have not gotten to yet. This picture is one of ten Mallory mail-order boxes. Each box has service for four and the 1960 First Class Postage to Hawaii was a whopping $2.11."   So just what is Kailani doing with all that melmac and thermal plastic ware?   She says, "I am keeping a few pieces for myself, and for my children and grandchildren since they never really knew my Husband's Mom. I think I will be busy for the rest of the Winter cleaning and cataloging Melmac."

Let's talk Thermo Temp and Raffiaware. 

She had explained to me that she had original ephemera in some of the boxes, showing evidence up through 1966 (Spring.) She said that the term "Raffiaware" was no where to be seen in the promo pamphlet, which was odd, as some cups are marked Thermo-Temp and others Raffiaware.  Why?  Not only did she take note that some items were exclusively offered via a dairy service as a way of promoting dairy products, but that Sears had the exclusive right to market "THERMO WARE" tumblers (which by 1963 they were sold in 8 colorful tumblers.)

After talking with her I did some more research and surmised that means Mallory gave certain rights to certain retailers, and no doubt by Sears selling the colorful ribbed cups that's why there are so many that exist today.  I researched and found an ad dating back to 1959 mentioning the Thermo Temp double walled insulated tumblers.

Circa 7/59 Billboard Magazine.

Mallory's History has been sketchy. Luckily, I pieced this together.

Not much in my travels has been found on the web or in print about the late and great Mallory-Randall company.  I often thought they were somehow connected to P.R. Mallory, the battery company but I have no proof of that. Back in 2011 there was a Mallory USA still in existence, but as of 2018 I lost them. They had been in business circa 1900 proves that either all minds have the last name Mallory (and mold plastics) or something is missing to the history.  I suppose I don't have enough facts, so I will write what I have found.

Here is an ad from a 1956 Life Magazine (above) showing Mallow-ware (left, coming in ten colors at that time) and Classic (right.)  We know the company was producing melamine.

Furthermore, I found and sold an old open stock order form, according to the print code on the lower right, was printed in 1956.   The address for ordering was Mallo-Ware, 456 N. Parkside, Chicago, 44 Illinois although the dishes themselves often are backstamped Chicago, 41, Illinois.  This could mean the offices and factories were in two different places. 

To confirm this, an old Mallo-Ware brochure (in with warranty information, below) confirms the two different addresses, as shown below, lists the company Mallo-Ware at 3760 Milwaukee Avenue Chicago, 41 Illinois.  

Milwaukee Avenue Address is printed on this ephemera.

Mallory Sites: Parkside & Milwaukee Avenue Debunked 

So thanks to old paperwork, we know there were two addresses.  I used my trust snooping skills to do a Google Earth flight from the comfort of my chair.  The 456 N. Parkside Address proves defunct, there is a large apartment type building there, which according to property records was a 5+ unit facility that sold in 2005 for $800,000.  Could this have once been office buildings and housed the corporate offices of Mallory?  Probably not considering the dwelling doesn't look as old, and the same lot sold years early for 1/4 of that value.  Being there's a lot of new growth in the neighborhood; it is probably a more recent structure.

456 Parkside leaves us no clues.

So then I was off to the other location on Milwaukee Avenue. I used Google Maps and found an empty space at 3730 Milwaukee Avenue, and smaller empty space on 3760 Milwaukee Avenue with only the tiny brick faced Grayland Pub at 3734 Milwaukee Avenue still standing in between.  The area boasts residential housing across the street.  It appears the old buildings are long gone, but I find this hard to believe a factory was once here, hardly not enough room.

Only the skinny pub remains circa 2011 at the Milwaukee street address...

So, this begs the question, will we ever know what happened to Mallory Randall? Perhaps they only were in fact a distributor of wares and had another molding company doing the dirty work.  The only thing we will know is when we find wonderful snippets of history as marked on the bottom of the boxes, "Raffiaware by Thermo-Temp, Mallory Randall Corp., Made in USA,"  Even then, when we think we may be close to the answers, specimens pop up that surely puzzle us. 

Here are some more clues from Modern Plastic's finds: 

Courtesy Modern Plastics

What I learned from this photo? It doesn't say America's FIRST insulated, it says America's finest. I'm thinking that Thermo-Serv came before, read my article here.

Thank you to Modern Plastics.

We may never know just what these are, indeed a form of Raffiaware as listed in Jherrmann's shop quite possibly a knockoff or a spectaculr unfound Mallory design......

BUT WAIT!  Thanks to a great reader we have more information:  They write:  The footed cups at the end of this post are "continental coffee mugs" by Better-Maid brand from the J.P. Gits Molding Company of Chicago (also makers of Gits ware and, later, Roselle ware). They used the prefix Thermi- for their insulated plastic ware (Thermi-cups, Thermi-fashion, Thermi-ware). See here: https://www.pinterest.com/magria7484/better-maid/ads/

If you have information on the company that produced these items, please drop me a line. 

Mallory - Randall

ThermoTemp

Raffiaware

Malloware

MalloBelle

Classic

Mallory

♥

You can find me on Facebook, or in my Etsy shop.  I strive  to write accurate information but unfortunately more and more information is harder and harder to find.