Stetson Marcrest Melmac Plastic Dinnerware

This set, for sale has all the pieces from Etsy seller EddyEtcetera

In the 1940's every housewife wanted a new China dinnerware set, for her family or for entertaining, ceramic was pricey and often kept in the corner china closet for special dinners.  By the 1950's, melmac was the rage.  At first, companies selling plastic had to do some hefty marketing to compete with china, can you imagine the fact that their claim to fame was that it was "unbreakable" or would be replaced if broken or stained (coming from the person who worked at Meladur, she was in the replacement division, and had so many coffee cups weekly that were stained by coffee to replace.)  

Now, keep in mind melmac wasn't exactly cheaper than china dinnerware in a fancy department store, in fact, some lines were downright pricey at the time and would be on display at Macy's or Hecht's and a set for four or six would be just as costly as a high end ceramic set. Some housewives had to save for weeks just to afford a set of dinnerware.  

I have to give kudos to the marketing alliance that would make plastic dishes as expensive as ceramic, and make the housewives want them.  This however wasn't so easy on the china dinnerware manufacturers. It was direct competition to them and at first there was a whole ceramic dinnerware manufacturer alliance that plotted and planned on how to boycott the melmac and reinforce the fact their dishes were better. 

Note the tabbed sugar bowl in the Marcrest line is almost identical to the Stetson line. 

This set from Baxters Collectibles on Etsy.

By the mid to late 1960's the smart manufacturers like Stetson decided to have melmac dinnerware molded for them (by a plastics molder) and add their name to it. It was an appendage of their regular lines, so in fact if you opened a department store catalog, you would see their ceramic dinnerware plus their plastic lines too.   Smart companies like Oneida, Stetson, Russel Wright's designs, will be found both in ceramic and melamine.  Others simply refused to jump on the plastic bandwagon, and this was their loss of profits in my opinion.  At first in the 1980's when I was collecting plastic, most dinnerware collectors scoffed at collecting the plastic lines, because they thought they were junk in comparison to ceramic.  However, over time, it was realized that even the designers who designed the plastic lines put great effort into making them.  From the details and designs on the dishes to the box, marketing and promotional material. 

Stetson stems from it's owners Louis B. Stetson who started the china company in 1919 and was located in Lincoln Illinois.  It was a family business and his nephew worked there too.   It is said that early production included other companies "blanks" along the way, and an article on Worthpoint indicates Stetson manufactured both melmac dinneware and pottery dinnerware.  Now, no discredit to the author but I am unsure if this was true.  If Stetson manufactured their own plastic line (they would have had to have a moulding facility just for plastics)  in their factory, but perhaps they were like many companies who contracted another moulding company to do so . Either way, the history on it is minimal and one day I will delve through my plastics encyclopedias's and debunk this one way of the other, but today I do not have the time. 

History indicates that Marcrest products would buy them out, and this makes a lot of sense because later examples of Stetson melmac and Marcrest Melmac look similar in design.  Marcrest had a great marketing mindset, and would sell a lot of melmac premiums from grocery stores to magazine mail order and relatively affordable at that.   You can see the similarities in the covered tabbed sugar bowls and the funky S design divided round serving bowls. 

Even after Stetson was "out of business" Marcrest continued the solicitations and selling of the Stetson melmac products.  By 1963 the classic 1950's patterns were reworked into a new "Contour Line" which was super cool and hard this day to find.  Melmac collectors may scoff at the 1960's wheat and brown leafy designs but what's truly exquisite is the shape of the coffee cups.  They look like something out of the Jetson's. I personally call them cat eye cups. How fun it would be to have a set of just the cups and saucers in a 1950's kitchen! 

I have several sets of Marcrest and Stetson tucked away.  I always thought they were the perfect weight and design.  The 1950's pink Stetson sets will hold the most value if you are collecting them.  Everyone loves 1950's pink, and if you decided to collect only Marcrest or Stetson, you would be surprised just how many designs there are, many will remain unidentified unless you are lucky enough to search old magazines and find their official names. 

Collecting is fun, and keeps the items out of the landfill and at use in the home. 

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Steri-Lite Plastic STERILITE COMPANY Connections to Tupperware

Sterilite Box with full picnic set For sale at RetroChalet

The Sterilite Corporation

Kudos to Sterilite who is one of the few plastic factories who has withstood the test of time.  The Sterilite Corporation is still in business and started in 1939.  You may or may not realize originally the company started in partnership with Earl Tupper.  (One of the creators of Tupperware.) Imagine that!  All good things come from plastic.   According to the website at the time of today's post, I took this little snippet, . " Sterilite is the largest plastic houseware manufacturing company in North America with seven plants totaling over 12 million square feet'  

I'm glad as a small bbq business owner myself, that a family business has lasted so long. You may not even realize when you are walking through the Wallyworld just how many products they make.  From pull out plastic cabinets to totes and bins,(of which I'm looking at some now that hold my Etsy stock),  their presence in our daily lives is prominent.  For vintage collectors, you may find pieces marked Sterli-Lite or Sterilite.  For the sake of this post, I'm only talking about the picnic sets. They weren't made of melmac, but most likely a Polystyrene plastic.

Inside of an Original Sterilite Picnic Set  at RetroChalet

The picnic sets were quite popular in the 40's and 50's and are a hit with people who had campers. For the working families of the 1950's, having a travel trailer would be the ultimate family vacation.  Picnics were also a huge thing, whether it be in a park for the day or not, these sets were very popular.  Grandparents also enjoyed them, due to the fact they were light weight and pretty and easy to deal with making a quick snack for the grandkids. 

In collecting, some of Sterilite Picnic Sets you will find:  (often unmarked)  Steri-Lite 

1.  RARE TO FIND:  Actual Wicker Wooden Baskets full of Sterilite Picnic Sets - with dishes strapped in and places for plastic sterilite utensils.  Finding a set with all pieces and still mint is rare, but it happens.  I assume utensils would have been easier to break or lose. 

2. RARE TO FIND:  Boxed sets like mine, often called Picnic Sets , rare but out there.  Especially in primary or pastel colors will be most collectible. 

This item sold at LSVintageDesign but shows the snakpak, more common and what I often find in the thrift stores. Note the original silverware will be hardest to find.  The box is a rare gem.

STILL COMMON:  SNAK PAKS -(ABOVE) These pieces are more common and popular, and easy to find.  Often these were four rounded picnic plates with indents in the center to hold the cup.  A big hit with moms with kids.   Finding the original box is not as common and considered rare. I have not seen one in years. 

UNCOMMON:  The picnic sets still sealed in plastic bag sets.  Most often I think these were found in the dime stores of the 1970's and maybe into the 1980's, they came in a bag with graphics.  If you are lucky enough to find one unopened, that's impressive.  Often they were opened, and used, and floating around in flea markets. 

Other manufacturers of simliar vintage picnic sets: 

INGRID - Big for their party balls. 

TUCKER - Often looks much like Sterilite

JERYWIL - Often rectangular 

REGALINE - Simliar to the SnakPaks

This STERILITE set from HipFindsCo, is most likely a 70's-80's set, shaped much like INGRID party balls. This a prime examle of Sterilite staying on top their game!

Back to my set, the funky bright colors make this set a rare find and a real gem. You can see how the original set was packaged by the manufacturer, carefully thought out. In this original box, there is a premade slot for display and actually thin kraft like paper in between the pieces.  This would have displayed nicely in a retail store. 

Rare original stickers say this can withstand scalding water! Pic: RetroChalet

The rarest of rare, is the original stickers still on these little cups.  It says they can withstand scalding water but does say to avoid ovens and any surfaces with open flames.  As you know, tea was quite popular as was coffee back in those days and one of the problems in melmac collecting is often the unsightly coffee stains.  Additionally, when I looked closely at the yellow plate in my set, I could see swirling which is a super cool part of the molding process. 

This set is a rare find in the original box. I picked it up years ago at an antique mall in Pennsylvania. The dealer had cleaned out an old hardware store, and I assume these would have been sold in the picnic or camper section. It stood in a dusty attic of the store for years, and thanks to the strength of the plastic, it withstood the test of time.  I hate to part with it, but I'm making a huge move cleaning out some of my precious plastics. 

It's currently offered for $125.00 and free shipping but to my readers you can use code RETRO10 at checkout to take 10% off.  Find it here:  RetroChalet.etsy.com

Do you own any Sterilite? Let me know!

If you like this post, Read about INGRID's party balls here. 

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Melmac Dinnerware Podcast

Finally, I'm doing a podcast on vintage living and in my first episode I touch on Melmac and melamine dinnerware by American Cyanamid.  It's a short segment but one I hope to talk to you about.  I haven't had much time to actually write here on my melamine dinnerware blog so I figured I would talk to you instead.  If you want to listen, you can click to listen to episodes right here on the blog, or go to 

BuzzSprout 

or Spotify here to listen.  

amazon music here

In the meantime happy collecting. 

Boonton Boontonware Melmac Rare Orange Bowl

Orange Melmac Bowl for sale @RetroChalet

Information Wanted. Have you seen this? 

Sometimes I see things and wonder how they are what they are, or why they are what they are.   Even I, after collecting so many years have no idea how this can be possible. 

It's no secret that this Boontonware melmac bowl's shape and thickness should actually date it to the 40's or 50's to the earlier lines of plain BOONTON (marked as such) used in restaurants and institutions, yet the design is slightly different. 

However, there is a hallmark was used for a short number of years "for industry standards" giving it an even smaller window of production.

The problem? The color.  This color technically should be later, perhaps even 60's.  There is evidence of this orange in some lines, mainly SOMERSET, but the items are not molded as thick, with as much melmac.  They are thin and not as bulky.

So it's a mystery, for sure.

Very odd coloring for such a thick Boontonware bowl.

So I ask you, why is the orange on this bowl?

It could be several reasons and perhaps we will never know why. 

1. An employee could have made the bowl for himself or herself. 
2. A customer wanted some bowls made and asked for test of the color. 
3. Perhaps a line was made with this exact bowl, but if so where is it? 
4. The factory was testing various colors to debut in a new "fall line". 
5. It was something molded for samples to customers or employees. 
6. It is a part of a short lived melmac set by Boonton we have not yet found.

What do you think? 

Stop by and let me know facebook.com/MelmacDinnerware

Brookpark Melmac Fantasy Line Joan Luntz Five Facts You Should Know

Old Brookpark Melmac Ad.

Today I was fully prepared to write a post on Russian melmac when I became sidetracked by a listing for Fantasy Brookpark by Joan Luntz.

Let me explain to you that when I write this post I write with full respect and awe, that Joan Luntz accomplished so much in her day and have written much on her before.

She was a working mother of six (yes six) children, and married to George Goulder,  (so she really was Joan Luntz Goulder).  After WW2 George purchased a plastics company, being President of the International Molding Company he would partner with Joan who designed Brookpark melmac dinnerware.

I cannot say enough about what a contribution Joan made to design, or the melamine history!  I think she was amazing in that she did so much as a woman in her day.  If you recollect the era, circa 1950's  women were still fighting to find adequate places in a predominantly male workforce.  And doing that while raising six children?  A huge accomplishment.

Lastly, but more importantly as it relates to this blog, her contribution to melmac dinnerware and her deigns were timeless, chic, and pretty. She won  many awards, received much publicity,  and many museums inducted her creations such as the Modern Museum of Art.

Photo of Fantasy Melmac Line is actually shown in her Obituary ! 

Refer to article / Obituary on Joan here in the Cleveland Jewish News. 

I recently came across her obituary, which I encourage you to click on the photo or link above to be taken to the Cleveland Jewish News and read.  I am a little bit sad to know she passed on Christmas day.  I for one learned some interesting things reading it.

Fantasy Pattern : Five Facts You Should Know

So with this post I write respectfully about Brookpark and in particular the line called Fantasy.

1. It's Rare.

In my years of collecting Fantasy has been somewhat hard to find and I consider it rare.  I can only tell you from being a plastics collector and researcher since the 90's I have been unable to ever see or find a complete set.  There may be several reasons for this, but if you collect it, covet it! I am not for sure if this is because it was a low production run or the fact that the plates seem to be white with design (and perhaps over time this white became stained and ended up not surviving.)

2. It's hard to identify as the Backstamps Are Most Likely Washed Away. 

Another plausible possibility is maybe no one knows what to call it if they do find it, since it's usually unmarked (and unless they really do their research. )The plates themselves were white with outlines designs reminiscent of leaves, herbs, apothecary.  The accompanying pieces were blue, solid turquoise. Most of these pieces maybe have been umarked or ink-stamped.

This picture proves my theory as shown in Thifty Doodads Etsy Shop.

(* Brookpark was known to ink stamp in black ink some of their pieces, which made it difficult when trying to identify lines thirty to sixty years later.  I actually washed a set of Pink Hyacinth by Brookpark (from the same timeframe) and washed the backstamps clean off!)   I confirmed this by actually finding a lot of Fantasy, and checking out the backstamps above.  They were definitely inked!

The leafy saucers of Fantasy by Brookpark Pic/Buy them at ThriftyDoodads

3. It's Quite Possibly A Very Small Production Run.

I found it in May 1956 Magazine, up until 1959.  I have not been able to find out the exact dates of production, but this gives a three year run.  That's not a whole heck of a lot of pieces.   Additionally, it was up against other lines being introduced around the same time. For instance,  Pink Hycianth, which was in my opinion more popular and more desirable (it was pink and white and if you look in the ad on top this post you'll see how pretty, oh so pretty....)   I have found much of this pink and white in my travels and it is still easy to put together a complete set to this day.

Top Right: Bloodgood Japenese Maple leaf vs "Pot" leaf below right. Note that the leaves on the Fantasy line are freeform ferny style plant leaves.

4.  Some collectors mistook the leaves for pot leaves. ( ouch!) 

I hope if the family of Joan reads this they won't think I mean anything disrespectful to her, but I have gotten a lot of inquiries over the years "Hey, what's the pot leaf design on melmac name?" and wondered just what the reader was talking about. Now I see that that leaf structure on the plates does resemble a bit of Cannabis Sativa leaf.

If you note that the pattern of the largest leaf has a five top leaf spread and then two tiny bottom leaf patterns. This is exactly that of some photographs of hemp/Marijuana leaves.   Although I am unsure just what the leave was, I myself thought that it represented a tree that I grew up with, a cousin of the Japanese Maple---more in referred to as BLOODGOOD JAPANESE MAPLE.    I am unsure and if anyone from Joan's family reads this blog, maybe they can shed light on the leaf itself.  However, all look ferny and fantasy like with the mod dots behind them.

5. It comes in more than one color palette- look for brown hues and the blue hues. 

Although all my above talk above shows the blue on white design accompanied with solid blue pieces, I have posted an article before where the pieces were actually brown hues, with brown or tan solid pieces. Look for both in your travels.  To me, both are elusive.

See the brown pieces in my earlier post on Joan, Arrowhead, Brookpark and Fantasy here.

If you enjoy my blog, follow my Living Vintage podcasts! I'm listed in various podcasts under RetroChalet: Living a Vintage Life!  You can connect with me via Instagram or TikTok! Have a great day ! This post last updated 7.10.21

Melmac Dinnerware 1962 Christmas Department Stores

Find out how to get these great items below!

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.

Lapcor General American Meladur Custard Cups Melmac Samples Part One

Lapcor and General American Meladur Custard Cups

Recently I acquired a very rare set of Melmac Color chips. These most likely came on a ring and were shown to customers to choose common colors for their melmac.  Here is the set of 50. I love them so much!

There are 50 chips most likely color samples of popular blends on keyrings back in the day.

I spoke with fellow Plastics Researcher Christopher McPherson who runs the awesome Plastic Living website, who suggested I try to date the chips based on the color matching.  So , I pulled out some of my melmac (which now lays boxed up thanks to a multi-state move) and found these custard Cups.

Meladur Color Cups , Color Matching

More on Meladur Custard Cups

First let me indicate the custard cups are hard to find, and I have collected some with backstamps of General American circa 40's and later Lapcor. They are the line of Meladur, first created by Russel Wright for General American under the GATX Meladur Russel Wright label. However, I can never prove or disprove they were or weren't a Wright design. I saw some similar indication in Syracuse that may indicate this custard cup was thought of by Wright, yet the feet were designed differently.   It is my opinion the item was in the works but in the middle of contractual disputes and non-renewal, so the company nixed the feet and produced it anyhow.

1940's Blue Color is a Perfect Match to early 1940s Meladur color!

Not one I have NEVER found any signed Russel Wright and I feel they are an after-Wright creation. Why? The feet are not ribbed as his were. He created feet that were ridged for easier drying and stacking, which the design of the feet was later dropped when the line was sold without his name (after contract). After GATX finished contractual disputes, they sold the entire line with molds to Lapcor who continued to produce the line in many colors, some vibrant and lovely.

Nevertheless, I have collected them as a go-with and shown above are three original Russel Wright colors.    As you can see, two of the three match the color samples perfectly.  The blue tends to be melmac sample "BB171" and the pale yellow matches exact yet the code is scrubbed off and I will never know but appears to say "XX 103", of course the XX being letters I cannot make out .  The tan, or almond color is a hue off.

The tan sample matches close but not perfectly. 

So now I pull other colors to see if I can match. Here's what I end up with.  The tan above does not match exactly and is one slight hue off. However, with only a 50 chip keyring is it not possible that other colors existed on a master keyring full of hundreds of chips?

The dark green common on Meladur and Boonton does not match exactly but appears to be a hue off all the samples, black being shown in the center. 

My research notes in Syracuse indicate Wright's Meladur colors, he tried many and even put some pieces in the oven to see when they burnt and at what temperature, believe it or not.   Many color codes he copied down and tried to make custom colors.

(((However, some of the same colors on Meladur (dark green and also an earlier maroon) are also common on Early Bootonware. Surely discontinued due to major scratching visibility. )))

See all the greens, n a ring of 50 it's hard to find an exact match.

In conclusion, I cannot for certain date my color sample ring yet can say that it matches the early blue and yellow perfectly. These blues and yellows originally debuted in the 1940's on Meladur, Boonton and many other dishes. 

MY GUESS:  1950-1953

If I had to fathom a guess, based on my research, I would give it 1950-1956 possibly learning towards 1950-1953.  I would deduce this suggestion based on the fact that a) it's a 50 chip ring and not all samples wer included in the ring, because of lack of customer interest. Thereby elimination of the dark green and maroons (color scratching), and tan on it's way out (feedback circa 1946-1949).  Although this could certainly be a 1940s basic starter ring missing some colors, I would guess  by the looks of the pretty vibrant blues and yellows shown above, that the colors are circa 1950-1953, keeping some of the popular older colors but adding some new for the uptown housewife. 

What do you think? Leave a comment +Cindy Fahnestock-Schafer  or tweet me   twitter.com/iramency

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Texas Ware Employee Story by Derrel Lyon

Texas Ware bowl by That Retro Chick on Etsy.

This story was left to me on one of my articles. I share it with you now and have made only minor typographical changes. It's stories like these that give good happy vibes on Texasware history.  Thank you to Derrel Lyon for sharing!

"My Story by Derrel Lyon"

I worked in the molding department at Plastics Mfg. Company (makers of TexasWare) from 1972-1980. My dad Bill Lyon worked there starting in 1946 at the Trunk Avenue  plant and ended up working there as a quality control supervisor until 1980 at the Westmoreland Rd. location. 

It was sometime in the late 1950s when the new plant was built on S. Westmoreland in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas. The compound finishing (melamine raw material) building was added in the 1960s. 

As a quality control supervisor, my dad was the one who looked over the rejected, pre-molded, melamine pills to be ground together to be used for the speckle ware mixing bowls. (like the one above) , 

Some were solid color, but most were whatever he selected of several colors of rejected melamine material put into a grinder and reprocessed into pills to be molded. As a molder, I occasionally was assigned to work the steam heated, compression hydraulic press that molded the mixing bowls. Since the melamine pills for the mixing bowls were made from rejected materials, about a fifth of the bowls that were molded had big bubbled places where the plastic "popcorned" .These bowls were totally rejected on the spot, by knocking out the bottom of the bowl on the corner of the metal work table, and then thrown into a bin.

Editor Note: OMG. Imagine all these imperfect lost melmac bowls !

Dallas Ware was the heavier, more commercial use products ( mixing bowls, lunch trays etc.), while Texas Ware was the lighter weight home dishware.   

Dallas Ware made a whole slew of industrial products for schools and cafeterias. These trays are from MizRed Etsy shop.

The dinner plates with the varied designs were made in two steps. Eight (hockey puck shaped) melamine pills were heated in a (very early version) microwave oven, then each pill was placed in the center of double stacked molds. The press closed with a huge, powerful, hydraulic scissor jack. 

After closed the dishes cured in the mold for about a minute. When it opened, silk screened overlays (with the designs printed on them) were placed on top of each dish plate, and the mold closed again for about 30 seconds.

The dishes were then removed from the mold using compressed air. The excess plastic (flashing) around the edges was knocked off, and at the end of the shift the stacked dishes were carted to the finishing room to grind and buff the edges. My brother worked in that department! 

I know some machines and molds were already being shipped to Mexico by the early 1980s which was the beginning of the end for Plastic Mfg Company.

Thank you so much Derrel Lyon!

You can find TexasWare on Etsy, see some sellers below who sell TexasWare, search their shop or click on the photo to go to Etsy to find some texasware!

Finding Vintage Melmac Melamine EstateSale.Company For Vintage Plastics

 Old magazines found at estate sales have great ads!

Melamc and Melamine , or Vintage Plastics, Where Is the Best Place to Find Them ?

I've taken a few month hiatus from this RetroChalet blog, as I was busy with events this summer, and life in general. I'm baccckkk and will be writing about melmac, melamine and more. Stay tuned! But first to answer a lot of messages I've received. The number one question seems to be how to find collections of melmac, or how to get started.   The best places to find vintage melmac and melamine, besides flea markets and thrift stores, I'm a big advocate on Estate Sales!

 The Thrift Stores Near Me are Getting Pricey, This One: Joppa Road Baltimore.

There is a new website on the web called Estate Sale Company which pulls estate sales from Facebook, Twitter, and the Web that may be in YOUR AREA. What a better place to look for melmac and melamine than there?  Not to mention find a bunch of other great kitchen or decor items to retro-fy your home. Estate sales are fun and a must-do on my weekends off.  You can sometimes put together a whole pile of plastics for a few bucks!

EstateSale.Company is always adding new estate sales, so never know what you will find.  Generally speaking when the amount of "treasure" left from someone's estate is too overwhelming, an estate sale is had.  Sometimes these are had by professional estate companies or individuals.   You can browse their featured Estate Sales to see if find any "kitchenwares" if you are specifically looking for melmac and melamine. For instance, one sale specifically highlights tools, so that's a must have for the vintage tool collector.

 It is possible to find a whole set of melmac dishes cheap at an estate sale.

Plastic at Estate Sales 

You can find some great plastic fantastic finds, from antique plastic scoops, to Bakelite jewelry, TexasWare bowls and melamine dinnerware, to retro plastic toys.  I've seen old rubber mats and dish drains (nabbed a pink one!) also.  I also find that most estate sales seem to price plastics and melamines lower than the pottery, ceramic, and china.  Maybe they consider it junk, I don't know, but that's lucky for us and unlucky for them!

Top Five Places to Score Melmac or Melamine or Vintage Plastics

1. Yard Sales    Items can be found cheap and inexpensively.

2.  Church Bazaars  Home of the 25 cent deals


3. Estate Sales Get a whole box for a few bucks


4. Thrift Stores  Getting Pricey but Still Finds to Be Had


5. Etsy or Ebay or Online Antique Malls  Last resort- Dealers will charge near book value

Note: This Auction Coming up October 4th is Loaded with Plastics and is in NY. 

Go here to find Estate Sales Near You.

Boonton Melmac Factory Tour Stop One : This Was The Melamine Factory

This is the ariel tour of the Boonton factory as seen in some old memorabilia , an actual black and white brochure from many moons ago, originally I had inherited from Derek Schultz, a fellow collector.   And so I left a festival in New Jersey I was working with my husband selling BBQ to shoot over to Boonton...

Boonton, the makers of Boontonware melmac, in case you don't know what I'm talking about here are some images: 

This vintage set can be had for $96 at ColorMeNew

So Now I present to you: THE BOONTON FACTORY!

Although hard to see, this door  on left with steps is marked 326 above it, and therefore, the exact address of Scribner's Boonton factory!

Boonton Molding Company
326 Myrtle Avenue
Boonton, NJ


First, I must apologize for the graphics on this page. At the time, I was working in Hunterdon, NJ and decided to take a ride to Boonton. This was possibly 2009-2010 or earlier.  I had a crappy flip phone and originally posted this on an old Verizon site, that is long gone. I barely managed to migrate the old photos in time.  I tried to do some updated in 2018 for you from Google. 



Same building as above, but the small door under the red light, was the entrance to Boontonware Factory.  The building is extremely LONG...

This was basically part of the pictures I took, although easier here to see from Google.

At the time of my visit the buildings in question belonged to Dauphin (326 Myrtle) and Carbone (400 Myrtle).  The way in which the buildings were so close made me wonder if they could have both been used by Boonton at one time, however, I later found reference that Carbone resided at 400 Myrtle back in 1957 so that is unlikely, perhaps further investigation though the Boonton Historical Society or old records would confirm or deny if originally in the 40's Boonton had that building. 

 The first thing I want to explain is that when I originally thought of a big factory, I thought I'd find something like that old plant of the Solvay Factory in upstate New York.  You would assume you'd see big industrial buildings, many stories and chimneys, towers, and industrial looking outsides. Not so, this far all the old sites for melmac factories I've been to have been long warehouses. I was lucky enough to have a paper guide, thanks to the late and great Derek Schultz, who left me a guide to the Boontonware plant, Derek spent many years in Jersey and was privy to many factory tours and behind the scenes time with the people in charge doing research on Boonton. Curiously peaked me to visit, and I did some ride by's of the existing building that compromise now 300 to 400 Myrtle .......

Just to get an idea, (much like the paper brochure) just how large this conglomerate is, you have to see it from the ariel view......
Here is an ariel view of the Boontonware address "326 Myrtle Avenue."
The original factory address says it was at 326 Myrtle Avenue.  I will explain in another post more about the inception of the factory, as George K. Scribner started up the factory in a tiny corner of another factory perhaps "allotment of space" or sharing space.  

From what I've learned, the plastics were an accidental addition and Boontonware dishes date back to 1946 based on my research! By 1955, Boontonware would be turning out 70,000 pieces of dinnerware an hour.  That's a lot of dishes.  Wow!

This would have been the site of the original Boontonware Melmac Factory 

building

At the time of my visit, the Dauphin building, however as of 2018 I see them listed in Montville, so I don't know, I hope to get there again with clearer photos. 

Back shots of the buildings encompassing 326-400 Myrtle.As we know the 400 block was Carbone, and as of 1957 was not part of Boonton Molding , but perhaps I will include them in case someday I find out they were indeed leased by Boonton back in the day............

Back shots.......
  

Unsure if this was part of Boonton factory in the 50's , but could very well have been a loading area.  



Boonton Factory or Not? 

Behind Carbone, you can see where the old glass windows of an old factory type building still stand and I am unsure which is Carbone's and which belonged to .Boonton Molding.  

More pics of Carbone (the neighbor) at the time of my visit:

Carbone is still housing this area as of November 2018.

   Mind you, this is technically marked 400 Myrtle Avenue.  

Further Information: 

Circa 1970's :  Boontonware was now a division of PYAH INDUSTRIES. 

BOONTON MOLDING CO., INC.,BOONTONWARE DIV. OF PYAH INDUSTRIES 301 Myrtle Ave.

Boonton Historical Society had a "tent sale" celebrating Boonton's presence in the neighborhood for 57 years. See the article here:  daily record


You can continue onto 

Continue to : Boonton Melmac Factory Tour Part 2 Here

Three Years Melmac Central Blogversary

Pic: Plastic Three, at Honey and Bear on Etsy

Hey, I'm three!

Thank you to everyone for three lovely years here at Melmac Central. I really didn't know that so many people would think melmac and melamine would be so very cool and fun when I started writing.  But almost a quarter of a million views later (now approaching 250,000 visitors) three years in your lovely comments and letters and calls about melmac keep me writing.

My mom was 21 when she had me. We spent time baking in the kitchen in our melmac bowls.

This just goes to prove you should start a blog and write about something you love. Writing can really be a stress relief.  Some of you may know I started the blog when my mom was diagnosed with colorectal cancer three years ago, which kept my mind busy to focus on something -- even after I lost her.  I would revisit the blog a few times a month, do some research and post some pictures of things I loved.  I would remember the happy times we were cooking in the kitchen, in her big Texasware melmac bowls. I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote....and here I am.

So today I just wanted to say thanks for reading. it means a lot to me.  I've answered some of your questions below. I'm working on some great new things for this site including some great interviews and working on a  sister site called the Melmac Encyclopedia where you can find reference material in one place, and even want to have a Melmac Giveaway soon! So, tell your friends and get me over the quarter million mark, so I can keep writing!

In the meantime, enjoy this rainbow of Melmac love,  and read some of my most popular articles.

RED MELAMINE LOVE:

Pic: Etsy, Evergreen Lane See Details Below

These red hot Dallasware place settings were made by the Plastics Manufacturing aka the makers of Texasware. The seller , Evergreen Lane has three piece sets on Etsy for $18.50. Red seems to be one of the harder colors in melmac to find, and it's super cool.

You can read all about Texas Ware Melamine  on my site, or  take the Texas Ware Factory tour here.

Q: How long do your posts take?  Janet - South Carolina

A: Some posts take over an hour if I'm researching, some take days.  This one took almost two hours because I'm doing a lot of links and want to make sure they are right!



ORANGE MELAMINE LOVE:

Pic: Etsy, Peach Parlor see details below.

Peach Parlor Vintage on Etsy has this great Branchell Color-Flyte orangy melamine set for $28! You get the sugar, creamer, salt and pepepr and bowl. The sugar doesn't have a lid but the value is in the sahkers and party bowl alone! What a fun theme for a party. 

You can read all my posts on Color-Flyte and Branchell here. 

Q: Do the people pay you to be featured on your blog for instance the selections and if not how do you select them?   Charlotte - New York

A: No, I find all the items I like myself and add them in. If someone has sponsored my post it's usually a compmany who may compensate me to add in their link, or which I must telll people in the bottom of my post. I select my content based on pictures and rarity of the item and mostly try to support Etsy sellers. This is the way to keep the crap off my blog!

YELLOW MELAMINE LOVE:

Pic: Etsy RetroChalet see below

I usually go for bright yellows but today it's mellow sixties funky yellow by Oneida Deluxe. The sugar and creamer are $12.95 at RetroChalet on Etsy and of coruse I love it because of the I Dream of Jeannie style sugar bowl. It's so retro.

Read all my posts on Oneida here of which primarily I wrote about Kids Oneida dishes, as they were very common, their history and value. 

Q: If you didn't collect Russel Wright Melamine what line would you collect?  April - California

A: Boonton! I just like the fact it was well made, and Jersey is close to Maryland so, you have to stick with the hometown theme...

GREEN MELAMINE LOVE:

Pic: Etsy KitschyVintage See below

I went with dark green pick since KitschyVintage on Etsyhas found the perfect use for this Boontonware melmac bowl. It's a hard to find divided bowl in dark green. Originally these had lids but often were misplaced and hard to find, and for $18 is well worth it!  This particular bowl is from the Boonton Belle line  (designer Belle Kogan) .

Read all about Boonton here.  See Part 2 of My Boontonware Factory Tour. I'm working on moving Part One over soon!

Q: If you didn't collect Russel Wright Melamine what line would you collect?  April - California

A: Boonton! I just like the fact it was well made, and Jersey is close to Maryland so, you have to stick with the hometown theme...


BLUE MELAMINE LOVE: 

Pic: etsy, Peace Traveler see below

For this I had to pick the creation of Peace Traveler. They took an old Prolon Creamer and put a Mustache on it! I know, how cool is that, giving it a cute and hip new look.  Only $6, what a steal. Their shop is super cool, they put mustaches on lots of things.  As for the creamer, this is part of the Prolon Line.

You can read my posts on Prolon here, or read my post about Prolon Lunch Trays.

Q:  How do I clean my Melmac?  Sue Ellen - Idaho 

A:   I wrote a whole article on Cleaning Melmac here on Squidoo.
PURPLE MELAMINE LOVE:

Pic: Etsy, Miss Ruthies see below

Normally the first thing that comes to mind is Royalon melmac as this was very popular Purple colored melmac sold everywhere, but in this case I went with the underdog. Purple in general is hard to find in melamine, and this set at Miss Ruthies on Etsy is the cat's meow.   It is typical California ware, probably made at Pacific Plastics, as you can tell by the cat eye handles. I love this, and finding a set in all purple in a complete set is SUPER RARE. Miss Ruthies has this set priced at $75 and for a collector that's a great set to acquire.

Read about the tour of California Melamine here, or pick a California molder to read more about:  Laguna, Capac, Miramar .



Q: What is my melmac worth ?  Jane - Wisconsin

A: I can't tell you that. Melmac is subjective based on color, condition and manufacture. Truth is I've seen the market go nuts over the past 20 years. There are so many makers, names, brands, and it all comes down to supply and demand. If you search Etsy and Ebay and see a billion cups and saucers just like yours, chances are you aren't going to get top dollar. However you will get a median starting point based on asking prices.  Sometimes I think the value is in the condition and finding the right person who needs those pieces.   Sounds like great subject material for a new post...

Thanks for three great years.