Vintage Color-Flyte Melmac Dinnerware Ads

1950's Ad for Color-Flyte by Branchell was found on Etsy at thevintageshop

Kaye Lamoyne was the designer on Branchell's melamine lines, shown here Color-Flyte and Royale. Both similar in design but different colors kept the lines distinguishable. The ad above shows how you could sign up and get items for only $1!  Below, the elegance of Royale by Branchell is showcased, with the hard-to-find silverware.

Hard to find silverware is shown in this ad on Etsy's thevintageshop.

The Elegance of Branchell! This stack a mixed bag $35 at LisasRetroStyle2

For more information on this company, visit Dennis' great history site here: 

http://www.notagaingraphics.com/Branchell/

Color-Flyte Branchell Collection of Melmac

SugarCookieLady on Etsy is cleaning out her melmac above. Wowsy! Just look at all this Colorflyte melmac dinnerware you can buy for $99.00. Sure is great for a starter collection - keep the pieces you need and sell off the rest to recoup some of your expenses.  I am sure some of you may think this is a high price to pay for plastic used melamine dishes, but not so, Color-Flyte by Branchell is still extremely collectible.  I remember fifteen years back a set of Branchell Colorflyte in the original box sold for $250-$300, almost four to six times the original store price in 1955!

If you are lucky enough to piece together a set by thrifting or flea marketing, there is fun in that too, but some people need to start a bulk collection somewhere and it seems SugarCookieLady has some other collections too. 

Branchell melamine dinnerware was designed by Kaye Lamoyne (a guy, go figure with a name like Kaye) and is still pretty much indicative of retro 1950's design.  It is somewhat easier to assemble a complete set because it was popular. Most was used by housewives and so finding it in great unused condition will be a challenge. It sure can be fun collecting the original colors shown here on the Branchell Melmac information site of glade green, mist grey, glow copper and spray lime. Some of the colors in this set look like the Branchell's Royale line which is super cool to collect to and in the same overall design, just a different color palette.

In my opinion, platters sugars, creamers,  and serving dishes are still easy to find but salad tongs and salt and peppers are getting harder and and harder to find. You can see a photo of the mist grey ones here in this picture, and their original Color-Flyte sales boxes peeking from the back.   Super cool!

Original colorflyte salt and pepper boxes are in the back and shown at RetroChalet on Etsy.

Collecting melmac is fun.  You may be interested in How to Clean Your Melmac Dishes here.

Branchell Colorflyte and Kaye Lamoyne Originals

By the Wayside has these great Colorflyte bowls for sale!

Deenis Teepe (Rhode Island) has done a ton of research on The Branchell Company and Colorflyte melamine dinnerware. His site, all about The Branchell Company has great 100% free information and photos.  It was in St. Louis, Missouri!  I really do hope you will visit it and drop him a line sometime, and tell him how much you appreciate him keeping the information out there, sort of a free encyclopedia on Branchell!

What you may not know, is that Dennis is instrumental in my love for plastics. I remember in the early days corresponding with him, as he was a wealth of knowledge on plastics. Not to mention he would outbid me on most everything I wanted on ebay.  Come to find out, he used to live right by me --within a few miles. What were the odds of that, considering he could have lived anywhere else in the whole USA?

Ashtrays, getting harder to find,  by GrandmasVintageAttic  on Etsy.

We ended up getting together to talk and see plastics.We decided not to bid against each other and it made acquiring some pieces we liked a heck of a lot cheaper.  I had a room for plastics that was so-so, but Dennis topped the cake by having a whole basement done in 1950's retro kitsch! Complete with an old dinette, old kitchen cabinets, all filled with vintage plastics. From old toy cars to melamine in the boxes,  it was truly amazing.  I had never seen anyone's collection so large and so vast.  Dennis alsohad a love for vintage toys like Puzzles and they were cool too.

Rare Kaye LaMoyne Originals, Kaye was the designer of the Branchell Melmac lines....these offered by JazzyMarie

Now I had been collecting many patterns, but leaning towards the Home Decorators Flowertime because I liked Russel Wright's designs but I had not seen the half of them. Dennis started trading me his Russel Wright overstock for some of my pieces he needed.  I then decided to trade all my other lines just to obtain Russel Wright.I suppose he's really the one responsible for making me the Russel Wright guru I am today. Had I never met Dennis, I probably would not have found all that Russel Wright had to offer and learned so much.  So today, out of my graphics studio, I made a great little icon to link his site too, as I was tired of the old one.

So, I hope you will go to his site, and find out all about Branchell, Colorflyte, and Kaye Lamoyne Originals!!!

Branchell Melmac History and Factory Tour: Kaye Lamoyne, Colorflyte, Royale and Aztec

What a steal!  This trio of Kaye Lamoyne designed ashtrays are only $15 at The Weathered Bungalow on Etsy.    

Kaye Lamoyne was the designer for The Branchell Company--you may know them from the wonderful lines such as  Colorflyte and Royale Melmac Dinnerware!

Colorflyte:

Lovely Colorflyte set by AERetroRescue on Etsy, $58.

Royale:

Branchell Royale Colors!  This available at EnergyForTheSoul on Etsy!

Aztec:

Not much is said about Aztec dinneware, but Branchell did produce this.  More often than not, found in salad sets in browns/confetti melamine though actual dinnerware was produced.

This large salad bowl is available at Funkomavintage on Etsy.

Facts and Factory Information:
In 1958 it was written in a Chilton Jeweler's circular that Branchell was one of the largest dinnerware producers of it's day, having been officially founded in 1946** (by Ernest E. Hellmich).   The "Hellmich Manufacturing Company" was listed at 1610 Hampton Street St. Louis, Missouri in the November 1956 Life Magazine. **According to this very reputable Branchell website, this is not the date that the Branchell Company (4 partners) was actually incorporated.

There were two factory sites that may have produced the dinnerware. In Modern Plastics, 1955, there is talk of Hellmich Manufacturing company at Bayamon in Puerto Rico making melamine tableware. In the USA, Edna Campos Gravenhorst wrote in her book, "Southwest Garden" that the factory at 3176 Brannon Avenue aka the CD Midland Building had been where the Mundet Cork Company and Branchell Company was located.  She has photographs in her book.

The defunct site that Ms. Gravenhorst talks about is here:

From Google Maps.

By 1958 Lenox had taken over the Branchell company that according to Chemical Week had a "combined sales volume of over $14 million per year. "

By 1961 the company was still labeling products "Branchell -Aztec" with a mailing address of 4417 Oleatha Avenue in St. Louis.

Further Reading:
For more information on Branchell or Kaye Lamoyne, visit this great site here by Dennis Teepe.

Shades of Mottled Melamine - Confetti, Spatterware, End of Day and More

Gorgeous Bowl by JeremySmith1985

 It's no secret that I love the mottled melmac. Confetti, spatter, end of day, or whatever you want to call it it's probably at the tops of my list. Maybe because it's different, not boring, and and technically, there would be no two exactly alike.   Of course, for me, they remind me of a time in my childhood.

Creating something yummy with Mom in the early 1970's in my Texasware bowl. 

Most often we think of the large TexasWare and Brookpark mixing bowls when we think about confetti ware--exactly like the kind I used as a kid with my mom!  These nesting bowls are still very collectible today, and look just lovely in your kitchen holding fruit or snacks!  They are great to mix dough in !

This is most likely Brookpark, but is just as lovely and found at AtHomeinNapa.

Many other things came out in "mottled" plastic, from ashtrays to adorable cups!  I've seen a few mugs too,  lots of military ware out including tumblers, mugs, and mess hall dishes.  I think Halsey may still be making them.

Melmac cups like these were used in bathrooms and as premiums by Kraft Foods.  This by RetroChalet.

I've seen some office ware, nut dishes, and lots of school cafeteria trays!  Normally we see the compartmentalized tray, like this one :

Mottled Tray by CarpeBellus.

But once in a while you get lucky and find them without compartments that make them ideal for putting things on, from lunch....to boudoir items!

Lovely Mottled Tray by Nanas Mercantile!

Lovely tray by RetroChalet, probably not melamine but hard plastic, still lovely.

I suppose I really think the best bet when going for mottled is the bowls. You can use them for so many things.  This salad set below is a huge find, and at a reasonable price.

Lamoyne's original molds are being used, get this at OrangeDoorVintage.

Originally styled by Kaye Lamoyne for Branchell, it was sold in Color-flyte colors. Later after Lenox acquired Branchell, the molds were sold and the items reproduced by gosh-knows-who.  This is Lamoyne's design!  This would look great on your patio for a summertime picnic! With mottled melamine, you can't go wrong--all of it is lovely.

Rare mottled mixing bowl by Miramar of California, a harder to find line at Designs4Justice!

Read more about Confetti Plastics and End of Day Melmac Here!

Welcome to the Melmac Center : Russel Wright Melamine Ephemera at it's Finest Shows Rarities in Modern Design

Update: January 27, 2012: Mr. Melmac aka Robin Thorne has identified lots of new patterns! 

Not only do I love the Melmac of the 50's but the advertising too.  This ad is from one of my Etsy customers, who is enjoying their melmac dishes I sold them in their travel camper. I must say, they were very smart as they found a perfect match in Boonton's maroon and Meladur's burgundy.  I would not have thought of mix matching the two but they worked!

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO SUPERSIZE!

What I love most about old ephemera, is learning new clues.  I don't know what year this ad was from, but I think I' would have estimated it at 1953-1955, but I stand corrected by plastics great Christopher McPherson ! UPDATE: He has one very similiar if not exact from 1957.  So there you have it.

 I do know Russel Wright's Residential was really being advertised a lot in 1953-1954.  There seemed to be a huge campaign by Cyanamid for advertising the super duper Melmac dishes around this time.  I'm sure that companies may have paid to be included in their "Melmac Center" ads, as many different ones exist and sometimes the manufacturers will change.   We can also date the ad around the early 50's due to two other reasons a) the fab colors used and b) the 2 digit zip code. (by the early 60's the zip codes were changed.)

What I'm shocked at is in my opinion a lot of the dishes here are considered rare and hard to find now. Something so plentiful then, is dried up now. Rare in the sense that in my 20+years of collecting I've not seen enough of the below starred items to make an entire set.  To me, that's rare.

Obviously I'm not counting the dishes behind her. Be sure to click the hyperlinks to see "real melmac examples"!

First Row: 

Brookpark Modern Design  Update: Robin aka Mr. Melmac says, "This is the famous TROPICANA PATTERN in orange! This also came in turquoise, tan, red, and yellow although the orange and turquoise were by far the most popular." ( See a set similar here.)

TexasWare

Classic*(by Mallory, this is rare and hard to find,  If you are looking for other Mallory go here.)

Lucent Update: Robin aka Mr. Melmac says "Spring Bouquet by designer Raymond Lowey for Lucent, this is very rare indeed!"  (You may also like  Evening Song which is most often found Lucent also by Raymond Lowey)

Second Row: 

Holiday (by Kenro)

Branchell* (Branchell is common with their Color-Flyte lines, but this pattern, Button Flower is a rare pattern. See it here.)

Harmony House    Update: Robin aka Mr. Melmac says "This is a popular pattern called Woodland!"
 
Fostoria Melmac is hard to find much less this awesome champagne bubble pattern! Update: Robin aka Mr. Melmac says "This is one of my favorites called Kismet. There was a popular MGM musical by the same name at the time references the middle east. These are a little like moque domes, but also abstract and remind me some of the logos of the time like the ones for US Steel and Alcoa! Pure whimsy! "

Row Three: 

Prolon  Update: Robin aka Mr. Melmac says "This Prolon Florence pattern is called "Blue Poppy". I bought a complete set in Palm Springs about 20 years ago for $12--a steal today! It's heavy duty and often you will see this in brochures and articles."


Stetson

Russel Wright (Residential)

Lifetime (Watertown. I have never seen this pattern. Where have I been?)

Row Four:

Newport  (by Westinghouse)

Melmac Tag* these have care and cleaning tips and were included with sets.

Royalon* (Marcrest is common but this pattern isn't. Most often you see Royalon's Corsage. See it here and just for the record, I've always been confused why it says Marcrest styled by Royalon, no doubt just to sound fancy...)

Durawear (not to be confused with Duraware!)


So I consider 8 of these patterns to be rare.

Russel Wright obviously got special treatment. Not to mention a RetroChalet fave!

What's even better is that you could obtain clues by these old ads. For instance, why is the tiny tag on Russel Wright's Residential the only one that has a second name on it....  Everything else just has one line, but Russel Wright's name being associated with his design was imperative.  Note how his card is "special."  I rest my case.

What about the fact you could mail away a quarter and get a little melmac book?  How adorable.  What about the fact you could TRUST sending your "coin" away?  I so want to live back then. The two digit zip code is what I noticed right away.  Sometimes a silly old ad can be our best clues of what existed, and when.  Or clues to what else we may not have found...just yet!

Melmac Galore

Melmac Dinnerware, piled in boxes, makes for a good retirement plan someday. Back before no one wanted Melmac collectors were stashing it in their storage units and containers. Some of these boxes were given to me by Derek Schultz, a fellow collector I once knew, now deceased. He was attempting to collect it to write a Melmac book, as were several people I know.  These samples were collected from all over North America on outings.  Do you see any Melmac or melamine that you collect in these boxes?

Much older Melmac contains knife marks and needs a good cleaning.  I like to use a blend of comet paste and hot water and a toothbrush for scrubbing the dirt out of knife marks on most light surfaces.  Melmac was labeled as indestructible but over time it did lose it's sheen thanks to washing in hot dishwashers.

Some have yucky sticker residue on them.  Peanut butter helps remove the sticker good.

Rare Watertown Butter dishes in Olive green were found. Was this a mistake or did Watertown Ware come out with this fugly green?  Sorry grandma, I hated the 70's.

So where can you find all this Melmac for sale? RetroChalet.etsy.com look for it soon! I had went through and sorted it on the driveway once. The neighbors looked a bit puzzled. I put it in order by sets, and ended up donating a plethora of badly scratched examples to Goodwill. 

Derek Schultz, owned the collection, and I tried selling some of the best pieces and sending his wife some of the profits.  Unfortunately, sending melmac via the USPS turned out to be not profitable when postal rates soared and much has to be packed well in large oversize boxes. 

So some still remains, sitting in a dark and dusty place, perhaps, until the time is right.  

FURTHER READING:

You may wish to read more about Watertown Ware here on the Watertown Page!

OTHER PROJECTS I AM WORKING ON: 

White Witch Magazine is my new project.  It's for modern day nature lovers, and good witches! Hope you will check it out! 

This page last updated November 16, 2024.