Gaiety by Joan Luntz Brookpark Arrowhead

Gaiety Colors and Pieces...unmarked for International Molding by Joan Luntz.

Unmarked and lovely is the Gaiety line from International Molding. A budget line , this was often featured in dime stores and grocery stores. It is unmarked but surely designed by Joan Luntz, who designed almost every melmac line the company made including Brookpark and Arrowhead.

Key colors include white with grey speckles, turquoise with white speckles, orange with white speckles and yellow with white speckles.

Gravy boats and funky in design courtesy, Retro Chalet. The same boat mold were used for Brookpark and Arrowhead lines.

It is still easy to find these pieces and assemble a set, though I think the gravy boats, tab handled cereal bowls, butter dishes and lids to the sugar bowls are getting harder and harder to find! Although the divided casserole dish is common, the open-smaller style is not.

Works of art.

These are still somewhat easy to find, but slightly smaller and open bowls are not.

Though I have seen black with white speckles and pink with white speckles in same molds, (as well as solid pale pastels like pink and blue), surely this was not named "Gaiety" and quite possibly named something else. Companies back then had a good way of marketing like products made from same molds but changing the colors, just look at Colorflyte and Royale lines by Branchell!!

Pink and black bliss, is this called Gaiety too? Courtesy: RetroChalet

Imperial Ware Melmac and Wee Little Butter Pats did Texas Ware Make This...

Imperial Ware...

The Pretend Den has some for sale, and shows how lovely this can be.

Look at the butter pats at Delectable Accents!

This really great set of Imperial Ware melmac is up for grabs on Etsy, at DelectableAccents .  The really cool thing about it is the what-I-think-are butter pats to the lower left. Note how they are tiny coaster-sized items, often used FOR coasters or candy dishes, but back in the day certainly meant for butter! I've only ever seen them in a few vintage melmac lines, as most have been lost or misplaced over time.  (Let's not forget melmac was a bit pricy back then, so the optional "butter pats" weren't always a heavily bought item. They usually measure around 3" or under.)

Yes, just close your eyes and imagine how it must have been. A pat of fresh churned butter was just waiting on your lovely melmac butter pat to be spread lovingly on Granny's fresh baked buns. Of course those would have had their own place on the bread plate.

See the speckles, these $18 at RetroChalet!

Imperial Ware was speckled in pastel colors of blue, white, pink and yellow. It's fun to collect a whole set and still easy to assemble. Mr. Melmac had suggested that it was made by the makers of Texas Ware (PMC Manufacturing Company).  Not much in the way of original boxes or paperwork has been found. I did see an old store ad, once, showing it but not naming the maker.

Courtesy:  Ira Mency

I've seen two totally different backstamps for the line.  One says "Imperial Ware" in cursive, (above--I think this is an older mark) and the second showing "Imperial" in cursive but "melmac" in blog letters as this (below) is the second...
 

"The Pretend Den" took this photo of one of the backstamps."

As with any melmac, I'm often suprised if you look hard enough you will find the needle in the haystack. Let me just say this is an oddity and so lovely if I do say so myself. They are very modern design saucers backstamped Imperial Ware, but I have no earthly idea why. So lovely!  Get them while you can!

Imperial Ware Oddity, so lovely, Available at Vintage Goodies.



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!