Lapcor Meladur Marge Miley Russel Wright

Cattle Dog Modern on Etsy offers these great cups for sale!

I just had to snatch and post this gorgeous picture of Lapcor's Meladur cups and saucers taken by Cattle Dog Modern on Etsy. If you are wondering they are for sale in their Etsy shop. As you may or may not already know, I talk a lot about how this original Russel Wright design (produced by General American Transportation Company) was reproduced years later in Manitowoc, Wisconsin under the Lapcor label (and later very similar but not exact Rainboware in Canada.  All the details can be found on the Meladur page.

A lot of collectors hold out for the original designs which have the Russel Wright signature on them, but I'm not one of them. To me it's all relevant and part of history. If Lapcor was using the same molds, and although they did reproduce some of the original colors, they had a nice soft pastel palette that is definitely worth a place in my collection.

I was sad to read that Marge Miley, whom I had the pleasure of corresponding with and talking to over the years had passed away this February. She was a town historian and had worked for the paper for years in the Manitowoc (WI) Herald Times Reporter.  She helped me greatly in my Russel Wright melmac research when it led me to her town, put me in the paper, and in fact, went above and beyond to solve mysteries for me.  She will be missed. What made me smile was the fact, that she decided to have control of her last words by writing her own obituary as any good journalist would do. 



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For Sale: Lapcor Meladur Melmac Dish Building in Manitowoc, Wisconsin also made Stetson Melamine Too

Old Lakeside Plastics Building as named in 1952, Lapcor circa 1955 plus additions. Photo Credit: Courtesy LoopNet

Now you can own the commercial building originally built in 1945 at 2214 Franklin Street for a mere $295,000.  Too bad I don't live near Manitowoc, I'd probably be living in it with my Meladur dishes! Interviews with Marge Miley (local newspaper historian since 1943) and Jan Burkart (Ruh) led me to realize that Meladur dishes while at Lapcor were very popular circa 1955-1958 (unlike production in earlier years at General American). The factory produced other melamine dinnerware lines for outside companies such as Stetson. Aside from dishes this molder was big into production of industrial components.  I found indication this factory was still being used according to Hardware Age, circa 1966, but later addresses for Lapcor (1983) - give a 2702 Division St., Manitowoc. Wl 54220 (414-682-4666).  So is this picture a factory or storage house back in the day?

Meladur had a new following when at Lapcor, almost 10 years after it's original design.

For years I've done research on Russel Wright and melmac dishes. Originally designed and produced by Russel Wright to do market tests, (on the request of William Bell of American Cyanamid), they later went into production by General American Transportation Company (GATX).  With much contractual issues, the molds were later sold to Lapcor Platics circa 1955 after Wright's much disputed contract was defunct. 

More Meladur Info Needed: 
I'm pretty much finished my MELADUR page here on the blog, so check it out.  I'm really trying now to put together PROPER color names, ephemera, and this will take me many more years of research.   I can't tell you how many letters I've received from the citizens of Manitowoc, about Lapcor plastics, and how it employed someone they knew or loved.  Good town citizens like the late Mary Jane Wachal, who dedicated 19 years of her life to Lapcor Plastics, or the late Dorothy J. Gordon, who had 30 years in! Thank you for all the information!  It's getting harder and harder to find out information due to the fact the employees I'm looking for worked there in the 50s, which (even if they were in their 20s or 30's) puts them at 80 years old now.

Know anything?  Contact me!