Texasware Texas Ware Dallasware Melmac Tech Giant of It's Day Plastics Mfg Co

 

A look inside a boxed set of Texasware Melamine Dinnerware from a set I had.

Gary Joy wrote me on February 14, 2015 saying, "My grandfather started Plastics Mfg. Co. in Dallas in the late 40s - my father ran the company until his death in 83. For many years it was the largest manufacturer of melamine dinnerware in the world, as well as the only plastic dinnerware sold at Neiman-Marcus! I worked in the outlet store while in college in the early 70s ..."

As I was reviewing his correspondence I never thought for a minute that they meaning the PMC molding company could have been the largest manufacturer in the world of melamine dinnerware back in their day, but this sure explains why there is so much of it.  If we compared this company to the "Big Tech Giants of Today" the only thing we could say is Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter.  

On one of my first podcasts I talk about the beginning of Melmac brand, and soon that manufacturers like PMC got wise and made their own powders/molding resins and what essentially happened is you had molders selling melamine dishes not having to buy the powders from American Cyanamid. 

Small attentions to detail in the design of packaging, and brochures involved were often overlooked by the unboxing process, but these things took time to design. 

So essentially the giant PMC company had a huge army of employees doing this :

Making Powders

Design Concepts of Dinnerware

(this part would be mold making I wonder if they did?)

Molding Dishes

Designing Boxes and Packaging Materials, Pamphlets and Store Signs

Quality Control

Marketing and Distribution

A start to finish conglomerate if you will.  Even if they did not have a machine shop to make their own molds, then still they cut out so many middlemen by doing the marketing, molding, and distribution themselves.   

Design and placement was key.

Kudos!

Imagine the accomplishment back then of getting your plastic dishes into Neiman Marcus! Competing with mid century modern ceramic and china designers like Eva Ziesal, Bauer's Art Pottery, Homer Laughlin and even the ceramic designs of Russel Wright.  If that high end department store housed only Texas Ware melamine that is saying something. 

Others have written me about their "seconds" factory store which was right down / across the street.  It seems they had so many they had to open a store for it.  Not to mention millions of pieces of Texasware and Dallasware are still in existence today. 

Do you love Texasware or Dallasware? 

See my post on Texas Ware Factory Tour Here. 

listen to my vintage podcast here.

find out more

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. 

Russel Wright Meladur : GATX, Lapcor, Rainboware, and More

I finally finished my Meladur page on this site.  It took a bit to transfer the old information previously published on my old site, and add the new.  I thought you may like this photo of a rare "end of day" mottled confetti Meladur creamer by Lapcor.

 This is in my personal collection and I'd just love to find the sugar bowl to match!  This is the same mold used at General American Transportation Company back when Russel Wrigtht's line of Meladur hit the scene after the test line.  This same mold is also used in Canadian examples of Rainboware and even Sears Warner Melmac.  Sadly, I've never been able to prove Russel Wright himself designed this creamer, I suppose I'll never know who did.

In the meantime, check out the Meladur page HERE.

Melmac Galore

Melmac Dinnerware, piled in boxes, makes for a good retirement plan someday. Back before no one wanted Melmac collectors were stashing it in their storage units and containers. Some of these boxes were given to me by Derek Schultz, a fellow collector I once knew, now deceased. He was attempting to collect it to write a Melmac book, as were several people I know.  These samples were collected from all over North America on outings.  Do you see any Melmac or melamine that you collect in these boxes?

Much older Melmac contains knife marks and needs a good cleaning.  I like to use a blend of comet paste and hot water and a toothbrush for scrubbing the dirt out of knife marks on most light surfaces.  Melmac was labeled as indestructible but over time it did lose it's sheen thanks to washing in hot dishwashers.

Some have yucky sticker residue on them.  Peanut butter helps remove the sticker good.

Rare Watertown Butter dishes in Olive green were found. Was this a mistake or did Watertown Ware come out with this fugly green?  Sorry grandma, I hated the 70's.

So where can you find all this Melmac for sale? RetroChalet.etsy.com look for it soon! I had went through and sorted it on the driveway once. The neighbors looked a bit puzzled. I put it in order by sets, and ended up donating a plethora of badly scratched examples to Goodwill. 

Derek Schultz, owned the collection, and I tried selling some of the best pieces and sending his wife some of the profits.  Unfortunately, sending melmac via the USPS turned out to be not profitable when postal rates soared and much has to be packed well in large oversize boxes. 

So some still remains, sitting in a dark and dusty place, perhaps, until the time is right.  

FURTHER READING:

You may wish to read more about Watertown Ware here on the Watertown Page!

OTHER PROJECTS I AM WORKING ON: 

White Witch Magazine is my new project.  It's for modern day nature lovers, and good witches! Hope you will check it out! 

This page last updated November 16, 2024.