Melmac Dinnerware 1962 Christmas Department Stores

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We know the fun melamine of the fifties is never ending, but what about the 1960's? Yes, indeedy, it was still going strong.  Just imagine, living back then and nearing the holidays. Not having Amazon or Ebay , or Etsy to search on, you would have quite possibly enjoyed a coffee or tea and then having opened a Reader's Digest.   

This look screams 1962*. Set of 5 plates $8 @ RiversideTradingCo on Etsy.

An old marketing book refers me to this:   "The Melmac® Dinnerware spread in the Reader's Digest's 1962 gift insert was a huge success".  This was reported by a gentleman by the name of Ernest K Hunt, who was the Merchandising Manager in the Plastics and Resins Division of American Cyanamid in 1962.  He was indicating that inside brochures are often ripped out and taken (with) by smart shoppers. 

Melmac Patterns from 1962: Lots of flowers and wheat, thinner styling.

Melmac Patterns circa 1962

I can only imagine from this, that housewives rushed out to buy (quite possibly for themselves) a new set of superior melmac dishes.  Perhaps they ripped out of the insert and handed it direct to their husband so he would bring home the most perfect gift.   When I see old melamine dinnerware, right away I notice the dishes of the 60's appear in a different color palette and different thickness of the original. Perhaps many manufacturers decided to cut the original bulky designs of the 50's and / or production costs were higher for the materials.  

However, I love the names, and some manufacturers I don't see often: 

• Golden Glory by Royalon
• Floating Leaves by Stetson
• Whispering Pines by Harmony House
• Sunburst by Lenoxware
• Rambling Rose by Brookpark
• Autumn Glory by Newportware
• Windblown by Kenro
• Folklore by Oneida
• Summer Idyll by Miramir
• Enchantment by Metro
• Curry by Durawear
• Dellwood by Prolon
• Mayan by Texasware
• Regal Leaves by Mallory

An insert from 1962 from a Magazine, to show you some 60's designs.  

According to one magazine, The Department Store Economist  already trained their salesman hard in January 1962 store associates were ready in the beginning of the year for that coming holiday.  They write "Of course you have to have a good display of Melmac quality dinnerware on your shelf...where its beauty will catch a woman's eye as she passes by. (Allow about 2 seconds for those attractive patterns to turn her head ...stop her dead.) "   The book goes on to indicate that you have a 58 second sales pitch including answers to popular questions. 

Amazing 60-ish* wheat design by Boonton Molding Company in Somerset Style, find this whole set 41 pcs for $78 at shop FromtheSeller on Etsy.

Note: * The designs  noted with * above are not guaranteed to be 1962, but are reminiscent of the look of 1962 based on ads and brochures available.

Marcrest Melmac of Chicago Royalon and Stetson: Connected by Melamine

One of many Marcrest backstamps, this photo courtesy of oragracevintage on Etsy.

Marcrest Melmac is backstamped Chicago, so I know it was most likely molded there. It has direct relations to Royalon Melmac and Stetson Melmac.  Oddly, all three lines were tired to ceramic dinnerware companies.  A Supermarket Merchandiser for 1962 mentions that Mar-crest was into earthenware, cookware, and plastic dinnerware.  In fact I verified this to be true, and here is a list of MarCrest "earthenware" aka china patterns at Replacements, LTD.  Perhaps you've seen their ceramic dishes, such as this one: 

There is a very informative site on Marcrest China here (Daisy and Dot) and a bonus is looking at the old vintage ads there that shows the dinnerware being sold in so many different grocery stores like Kroeger and IGA.  Perhaps you could buy out right or collect coupons....

Marcrest divided bowl, in melmac by AtHomeInNapa.

So it seems in the 1960's china companies didn't want to miss out on melamine sales, however odd that they would sell it in competition with their own china lines.  There used to be huge debates in the 1950's and 1960's between china manufacturers and melmac manufacturers about which was better. I think it was more of a war if you read some of the old archives. I do want to add that I've seen Marcrest with several different backstamps and many different cup handles and versatile style. From squarish handles to triangular, from pastels to brights, it was a great line.

OraGraceVintage features this great Marcrest Pattern, melamine is rarely seen with such a lovely design!  Love the handles!

Marcrest then was tied into Royalon Inc. as you can tell by the markings on the box below.  This ties into Royal China, who had potters such as Don Schreckengost (yes this is Vicktor's brother) who were hired to create lovely patterns for them. It was announced in 1963 that Don was hired to create and coordinate new product development for Royal China, Inc., and Royalon, Inc. via the American Ceramics Bulletin. It is uncertain if Don designed any of the actual melmac patterns, and perhaps we'll never know. 

Royalon backstamp by QuinlanQ on Etsy .

Marcrest Melmac "Styled by Royalon" box at RetroChalet.

The "Royalon" melmac guarantee indicates that the Royalon company was out of Sebring, Ohio. George L. Traner was President and put his warrantly in with the boxes which also had the care and cleaning tips. One can surmise that Marcrest produced melmac for Royal China Company, and although returns went to the Ohio Main Office , one wonders if replacements would have come from Chicago. Many patterns and solids exist in Royalon, but albeit my favorite was the Corsage which was violets on a white background. The completer pieces and parts of the set were in lilac.

Original Paperwork, Courtesy: RetroChalet

Corsage Melmac Plates Marked Royalon by QuinlanQ on Etsy.

Come to think of it not many melmac lines used the color purple, perhaps just Texas Ware and Royalon to name a few.....To further complicate the Marcrest melmac saga, Stetson China Company also had melmac again somehow tied into Marcrest .  To understand the melmac history we have to understand what was going on with the company itselt. Hill Housewares indicates that Marshall Burns Company in Chicago, Illinois had Marcrest produced by many manufacturers, with Stetson being one of them due to pattern likenesses (as confusing as it all is.) 

Lovely Stetson melmac set was offered by ExtreamEcclectics on Etsy.

Applying that same theory to the Stetson and Marcrest melamine patterns, we can say that although many shapes were unique to Stetson melmac, some shapes are the same as Marcrest--down to the same creamers, sugars, squarish platters and divided "S" serving bowls (and sometimes the same cups). This indicates the same molds were often used by the same factory.  

CityFleas offers this Stetson.  Note how the bowl is identical to Marcrest!

Originally I had evidence that Stetson melamine was produced by the Lapcor Factory in Manitowoc Wisconsin (who made the late end Meladur...) However, I do not know which came first, the chicken or the egg. We do know however that all of these wonderful lines are still out there waiting to be collected.

Our Vintage House offers this Stetson melamine set.

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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!