New Russel Wright Residential Melamine Review Melmac Dinnerware

Go to see this here at Dwell Store.

I ordered some of the new Bob's Your Uncle Russel Wright Dinnerware. I have to say I was curious to see if I could tell the difference and being a Russel Wright melmac collector I was forced to break down and get some.  This is my review. I wasn't paid for it nor did I get any free melmac, and of course this is just my opinion. Now, the line was remade in four colors what they call:

White

Black

Aqua

Lemon

I spent about $100 and ordered the creamers and sugars in each line, large and small tumblers. Not bad really, for pristine melamine. The packing came and I was surprised. It was packed very well.  The label indicates the items shipped from Martin Yeeles, the owner of Bob's Your Uncle.

 A+ on Packing

At first glance I was in shock because it's exactly if I was looking at brand new off the line Russel Wright Residential from 1950!  The black is a dead ringer for the original Black Velvet without the flecks in it. I actually have some of the original 50's Black Velvet that is missing the flecks, apparently the factory was getting lazy or not mixing in the "real aluminum dust" correctly.  So if you are comparing some old Black Velvet that barely has the flecks visible and new Black it's almost as if you are seeing double.  Your only noticeable difference would be the backstamp.

Backstamp on New Russel Wright Residential (URGH that does say Made in China)

The new Russel Wright says it's dishwasher safe. I would not put this in the dishwasher but I know plenty of people who do put new and old melamine in their dishwasher. he scuffs you see on the base came that way, probably from the factory polishing the base.  Most people would not pick up on the subtle differences but for sake of comparison I got out the fine tooth comb.  The noticeable differences are the thickness of some mold lines.  Overall a great job in molding!

My big pet peeve, is I hate the words "Made in China" under Russel's name. For me, to see a great American designer's name with the words "Made in China" underneath doesn't feel quite right. It's degrading, in my opinion.  The sugar bowl was $26, and I think if it's made in China it's worth about $2. Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful they are remaking the line, but I would pay more to see it made in the USA. The Prolon factory is still making melamine here in the USA, so there are places. Sure, the profit margin may be less for stores, but you could boast "made in USA" and charge $40 for the sugar bowl to cover higher production costs.

This is the base of the Russel Wright Tall Tumblers

This is a comparison of the tall tumblers. New on left and old on right. The new's baseline is a bit more protruding and curvy. The thickness of the tumblers themselves and sizing is pretty dead on.

Aside from the base mold lines, these tumblers are pretty similar.

Let's talk about the colors. As I mentioned the Black is very pleasing to the eye, but this White was a huge disappointment. It is truly a light shade of beige. Some of the photographs on the online stores you can buy from shows it as an off white, but most of the pictures I saw looked WHITE.  So I don't understand why the White is actually off white aka beige or cream. You can see the colorization issues here against the white paper.

The White is not White, it's beige or cream.

Now since I'm a lover of all things Russel Wright Melmac, I am not going to "dwell" on the fact this is not white, but it was upsetting as I'm not a big beige fan. So I worked it into the house somehow...and in some shots due to my camera's glare it does look more white. Only when you set it against a true white surface can you tell it's really cream. My walls are cream. It blends in nicely.

White or Cream? You decide.

Very nice modern design, but this thanks is owed to Russel Wright. 

Recap on Colorization New versus Old: 

The Black is solid black and pleasing to the eye. The original Black in the 50's was called Black Velvet and it had flecks in it.  I always heard stories of people in the West getting great noticeable flecks in their Black Velvet, but here on the East Coast a lot of my Black Velvet was missing the flecks. I started thinking I was getting seconds?

The White is not white and in my opinion should not have been called  Cream.  In the original 50's line there was Granite White which was mottled and short lived due to staining. It's been one of the hardest sets for me to acquire in full. Solid white was found in limited quantities in the Home Decorators line, I wondered if that was a special order or a fluke, but I do have some pieces. 

The Aqua seems to be very close to the 50's Home Decorator's Teal, though I am only looking at photographs and do not have examples in front of me. The original 50's Residential Turquoise would have been mottled and a shade off. 

The Yellow seems to be very closet to the Home Decorator's Yellow/Lemon, though again I'm only looking at photographs and do not have examples in front of me. The original 50's Residential Lemon Ice was mottled and muted. 

Here's my objective opinion and official review: 

PROS:

For $100 the selection I obtained was not a bad deal. 

The items were shipped and packaged very well. 

The designs are reproduced as close to the original Russel Wright molds as they can be. 

It is a plus that the colors are not exact to the originals which gives them their own character. 

Being a new line with all pieces produced, it would be easy for someone to to assemble a set.

They are dishwasher safe.

CONS:

I was upset the white was not at all white but beige/cream.

There are no stores near me who carry it so I had to mail order and pay shipping. 

The Made in China stamp makes me cringe.

Big and Small Russel Wright Tumblers

With that said, the pros outweigh the cons for people looking for a dinnerware set.  I can't really say that I personally be buying more of it, or acquiring examples of the other two colors for my collection. For me, I just can't get past the Made in China part. I try to buy American as much as possible unless it's a necessity and so, had this been made in USA then I'd probably be buying at least one piece of each for my collection regardless of pricing.    I would even be happier if it was made in neighboring Canada or Mexico. Therefore I think this will appeal more to the design-trenders. Those looking for cool design but not necessarily caring where it's manufactured. Finding that niche may be hard for this line to survive.  

I do think the small tumblers would look lovely holding fresh flowers and the large as well. I can't wait for this winter to be gone to find some fresh violets to put in the cream tumbler. As for the large, I've already tried it out: 

Melmac Tumbler: Make a Vase Just Add Flowers

Speaking of flowers, special thanks to Vancouver Florist, who sponsored me writing this review. Did you know they deliver premium flowers,roses, gift baskets, fruit baskets, Belgian Chocolates, Birthday Cakes and Mylar Balloons across Canada and the USA? Call 604-558-0303 or visit http://www.floristvancouver.com 

Maybe we can get them delivering flowers in Melmac? 

Thanks for reading. You can go here to read all posts on Russel Wright melmac.

ever wonder why we collect certain things? Maybe this podcast will explain:

Russel Wright Residential Pink Deep Candy Pink

This is a deep pink Residential set, photo courtesy of Dust2Den

On the Russel Wright Residential history page, I've talked about how there are solid pink and solid blue issued Residential melmac.  I found examples for you to see at Etsy shop Dust2Den.  The pink is more of a candy pink than it's pale pink Home Decorators counterpart.  I will put two photos together so you can see the comparison:

Left: Dust2Den's Pink residentla and Right, the Home Decorators Pink piece found at  Zen Girl Antiques

The truth is, I never found evidence in Syracuse that these solid pink dishes were authorized by Wright. I've seen examples that they were sold in S and H Greenstamps, only because I have a box that shows the solid teal color and it was shipped to the S and H store.  Oddly, I can't find any catalogs showing these dishes in them.  I can only assume they were packing solid pink as well.

What's even stranger, is the two tone pinks and blues I've found later that match these same colors. Unfortunately, we may never know if Russel Wright authorized this color of melamine or if it was something that Northern did on their own. 

Assembling a full set of deep pink may be a challenge for the melmac collector, and I consider it rare. It was a short lived production run, hence somewhat rare.

Russel Wright Residential Melmac is Out

Russel wright plastic tumblers. Courtesy RetroChalet on Etsy.

You may have read my previous post where I told you designer Michelle Yeeles was determined to reintroduce the Russel Wright Residential and it's out. One of the stores carrying it is Black Ink in Cambridge,  Soon you will see Russel Wright melamine reintroduced into your part of the world, but if not,  just sign into facebook and look here on the official Bob's Your Uncle Facebook Post.
I think back to my retail days and wish I was the one playing with that floor display.

Photo courtesy of Michelle Yeeles.

What is Old is New Again

So what happens to the values of the old melmac once the new is introduced?  This is not an uncommon question and if truth be told, I think more curiosity will be involved in the designer himself. People buying a new set may wish to reference the old and read the history on Russel Wright Residential and perhaps a new interest in collecting it altogether may occur. I don't think prices will drop initially on the originals. In fact I think the market may be flooded with people scurrying to pull it out of their grandmother's attic to covet the old for a time, until they decide if the new craze and demand is worth selling it. 

We've seen this same trend happen again and again. Designers will continue to design or reintroduce their new goodies, yet their original styles are held in timeless tradition and soar in pricing.  I wouldn't be so sure we won't see a huge Russel Wright flood into the secondary market. 

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Russel Wright Reintroduced Melmac Is Out Residential

To read this post go here

Russel Wright Unveiled Michele Yeeles

Thanks to Michele for this gorgeous photograph. Looks like the 1950's all over again.

Russel Wright Melamine for 2012 Unveiled 

Okay, enough hype time. Thanks to designer Michele Yeeles for sending over this exclusive image of the NEW Russel Wright melamine line (which will be available in some outlets and at Bob's Your Uncle.)  Imagine my shock when I realize this looks exactly identical to the good old stuff.  How beautiful to see it brand new. It's taken me 28 years to assemble a few pieces with this kind of untouched gloss. I will be so excited to add a brand new set to my collection.

The Molds

It has been my theory for such a long time that the molds were hidden in storage somewhere, but Michele indicates these are brand new molds! She also agrees with others I've spoken to that those original molds must have been melted down for scrap by now. (I would be saying boo hoo, but from the looks of  the above you don't need them anyways.)  Michele indicated that molds like the ones to use these need to be cleaned and used or they will rust as they are made of metal.  Can you imagine if they are still alive and sitting since the 1960's how much rust they would have on them?  If someone had found them they may be unidentifiable and in the scrapyard indeed.

Exclusive RetroChalet Interview with Michele Yeeles

Designer Michele Yeeles (formerly of Reebok, now owner of Bob'sYour Uncle) has decided it's time to bring Russel Wright Melamine back to the table. Working closely with Annie Wright and the Russel Wright Estate, samples were debuted at the Gift Show a few weeks back.  Here is what I wanted to know and here is what she had to say!

 

1. What made you decide to bring Russel Wright's designs back to the table?

I've been an admirer of Russel Wright's for a long time, friends of ours introduced us to the American Modern and Iroquois collections when I was at Reebok (we gave them a vintage Russel Wright teapot as a wedding gift). After we had been producing our other melamine lines, we were looking to add another collection so we looked into the history of melamine dinnerware and Residential seemed like a natural choice. The pieces are beautiful not just to look at, but also to hold. Russel's attention to how something feels in your hand and the balance of weight in each piece is wonderful.

2. Was it a painstaking production process, or did things go smoothly?

I'd have to say both! Working with Annie and the Russel Wright Studio has been great and delving into the Russel Wright archives was fantastic, but trying to collect enough vintage pieces to reference all the shapes and colors took a long time. Luckily I found you for the black and copper penny colors! We are still working on color formulas to try to achieve the cloudy effects of some of the original colors, so I'm still not sure how long it will be before we can re-create them.

3. Do you think now, this will bring a whole new collect-ability among collectors of Russel Wright's work?

I think it will, it's 60 years since the first production of Residential and it seems to be quite difficult to build up complete sets of the collection in the vintage market. The new release will make it available to a new generation of collectors as well as those who already collect vintage. Russel's estate is also open to introducing new colors of Residential and other designs in melamine too, so there will be previously unreleased Russel Wright designs to look forward to.

4. Where can this be found, and for how long do you plan on offering it?  Note: At the time of this interview there were only show samples available.

There are two places I know it will be available; our own shop and the Russel Wright Design Center, but I think it will be a hit with other retailers at the show too. I hope we will offer it for many years to come, it's such a classic collection, the designs have already stood the test of time. We expect the first color (black) to be in stock in November and new spring colors early next year. 

A big thank you to Michele for giving her time and information to me. I really hope this line is a success. 

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Russel Wright Residential Rarity : Two Tone Melmac

Pic: Retro Chalet Shop.

I've seen some oddities along the way in my Russel Wright collecting and research. The two tone sets have to be the strangest and the most exciting.  Needless to say, they do exist, and are quite rate. What they are is actually different than anything I've seen.  There are blues/whites, yellow/whites, and pinks/whites that I've seen. All are marked Residential. 

The issue here is that some pieces are solid, but the plates, saucers, and platters actually have one color molded on the bottom, and another color molded onto the top. You have to do a double take to look very closely to make sure this is not a factory mishap. Looking on the edge you will see that indeed, care was taken to form a color on top, and color on the bottom!  More proof that Wright, if experimenting with this sort of theme, was ahead of his time !

Two colors, chalk on top blue on base. Amazing!

Of course the colors I have found haven't really matched that of the existing Residential or Home Decorator lines, so they must have been their own creation.  There are some solid blue and pink pieces that are a hue off of the Home Decorators colors that these DO match, however oddly those blues and pinks were produced in solids also. So I assume, you could get your blue straight up, or on the rocks, with the chalky impact above.  Honestly, I am unsure if they were a test run of created as a special order for someone. Examples I own look mint and first runs, no imperfections which mean the factory must have perfected this process. 

There is no proof in Syracuse that Wright was experimenting with such colors, nor that such colors were approved at Northern Industrial Chemical Company, who molded this line for him.  There is evidence however, of Wright's ongoing experimentation with the plastics in general. Early examples housed there show him putting metallic pieces into the melmac, experimentating with mottled colors , and actually baking melmac (probably in his own oven) and putting notes on the plates to see at what temperature they would burn or melt.  Given that, I think Wright was experimenting with the two tone, but perhaps such a pain for the factory to make, that he didn't put it into mass production. In 20 years of collecting, I've only acquired a handful of examples.

Russel Wright Residential Melamine Melmac Dinnerware Piece List

Residential Pieces Produced

Key = * not produced in all colors due to redesign  

#rare or hard to find piece

# # considered very rare piece, not very common anymore,$$ more!


Pony Tail Handled Cup* # # 

 

Loop Coffee Cup 

Saucer 



Photo Courtesy of BaerBaer

Bread Plate

Salad Plate # harder to find 

 
Bread, on top salad, on top dinner plates by Modalabode!

Dinner Plate


Dinner plates located at Modalabode


Divided Vegetable Server

Fruit Bowl aka Veggie Bowl # #

Cereal Onion Soup Bowl (doubled as early sugar bowl with lid)

Lid to Onion Soup # # often mistaken for a spoon holder!

Casserole Below Consists of Two Pieces:

Open Casserole Cover (not as deep, no signature) # #

Open Casserole Base (deeper, contains signature)



Serving Platter



Courtesy of Flibbawhat



Coupe Sugar Bowl
 Lid # # tends to fall off
Creamer

This is the home decorators color, and photo will be replaced as soon as I get a new one.

Creamer

Small Tumbler (doubled as sugar bowl)
Strange Pinched Lid (unsure if Wright design) # #

Large Tumbler  # 

Strange Dip - a - Trays   

Dip-A-Tray * Unsure if this is a Wright Design, sold by Northern as a go-with, I have found mostly in "end of day" confetti's unmarked. #  Very similiar to ashtrays once made in Brooklyn, NY

FACT: Suprisingly, most pieces in Residential are still easy to find, except certain colors such as Brown (Copper Penny) , Black (Black Velvet) and White Speckled (Granite White) will bring twice to three times the value due to rare color.  Refer to Color Chart.

Other Findings: Redesigned Cereal bowls & Round Plates sold by Northern are not Wright designs but were found in sets of Mottled After-Contract colors. Not shown here. 

Russel Wright Melmac Factory Tour - Northern Chemical of South Boston Residential and Flair Melamine

RESIDENTIAL IS HERE!

Credit: Christies Auction read about it on the Value Page.

Milestone: I've finally finished the "Residential" page of this website.

Thanks to Mr. Ralph Young, whose family owned the King Terminal Property located at Ward 6, South Boston sometime during this period, I was able to fill in the blanks as to where the melmac was made!  That being the Northern Industrial Chemical Company of South Boston, Massachusetts. 



This is a photograph of 11 Elkins Street, from the Co-Star realtor back in '07 when it had been renovated into office buildings.  Most of the spaces remained vacant for 5-10 years which promoted numerous renovations of this industrial area of South Boston.  It is easy to imagine an overpass connecting the buildings.



It took me ten years to fill in all the blanks.  Plastics Society greats like George Sammet, F. Reed Estabrook, and Hans Wanders were just a few "plastic greats" who ran this company way back when.   According to Ralph (whose grandfather and father were directly involved with the property), Northern occupied at 7-11 Elkins Street.  These buildings were circa 1917-1918. (Prior to that, Northern was in a smaller building in South Boston.)  Each building was approximately 60,000 sq. feet with four floors and a basement.  Ralph Young explained to me that there were "wards" or sections of the King Terminal. The buildings were labeled as such but contained building numbers. The 7 through 11 buildings that Northern occupied were actually separate buildings connected by an overhead walkway on the 3rd and 4th floors.  Unfortunately, Ralph's company demolished that walkway in 1985 as he needed to separate the buildings as they were being sold.  No photogaphs are in existance, that we know of.



Note the "#7 King Terminal" as shown on this building, probably the only remains of originality of Ralph's family owning the King Terminal back then. Although the address does not seem to correspond now, I was a bit confused as the whole industrial area is different.



Proof  in my research that they either used Building 22 Elkins Street for a sales office or extra storage, which I have listed below.  In actuality, their boxes had 22 Elkins Street printed on them!  So , imagine how large this company must have been back then to take up all this space.

  



#22 Elkins Avenue , What did Northern use this for?



Although minor renovations this building at #22 Elkins, Northern's headquarters may resemble how it once looked. I wonder how it originally looked in the 1920's?

 Northern was a huge producer of plastic dinnerware and this should be noted. They were one of the first early airline ware manufacturers, dabbled in picnic and RV trailer plates, by the 1950's Russel Wright's Flair, Residential and Home Decorator lines, and later took over molding of Watertown's Lifetime Ware. However, this was only a small portion of the plant's business.  Knobs,electrical components and housings, plugs, parts, and components were other parts of their business. Their contract with Warren Telechron Clock Company in Massachusetts (now General Electric) was just a few of the things they did. Here's an example of what may go unnoticed and I'm proud to report I actually told a few clock collectors about this discovery!!!

This Warren Telechron clock was sold by HappyDashery of Maine.

1946 Modern Plastics Encyclopedia Ad for Northern proves they designed the housing on the Warren Telechron Clock.

So, To read the full history on Northern, and see information as it pertains to Residential and Russel Wright's sordid history with them, make sure to visit that page of my site.

It will be updated regularly and new information added.

Do you know anyone who worked there? I must talk to you so please contact me.