Russel Wright Flair by Northern

Ming Lace, real leaves in the melmac!

I've transferred the basic information on Flair over from my old site to the FLAIR PAGE, now I'm working on great new photos being added.   If you have FLAIR in your collection and have a super picture and want it displayed, let me know!

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.

Help keep my Site Free and Clean by reporting broken links or pictures that no longer work by texting me at 4109089241 or shooting me an email right here. Let me know what article you're on and I'll fix it in a jiffy . This article last checked for quality assurance on 10/28/16 and dead links removed.

Branchell Melmac History and Factory Tour: Kaye Lamoyne, Colorflyte, Royale and Aztec

What a steal!  This trio of Kaye Lamoyne designed ashtrays are only $15 at The Weathered Bungalow on Etsy.    

Kaye Lamoyne was the designer for The Branchell Company--you may know them from the wonderful lines such as  Colorflyte and Royale Melmac Dinnerware!

Colorflyte:

Lovely Colorflyte set by AERetroRescue on Etsy, $58.

Royale:

Branchell Royale Colors!  This available at EnergyForTheSoul on Etsy!

Aztec:

Not much is said about Aztec dinneware, but Branchell did produce this.  More often than not, found in salad sets in browns/confetti melamine though actual dinnerware was produced.

This large salad bowl is available at Funkomavintage on Etsy.

Facts and Factory Information:
In 1958 it was written in a Chilton Jeweler's circular that Branchell was one of the largest dinnerware producers of it's day, having been officially founded in 1946** (by Ernest E. Hellmich).   The "Hellmich Manufacturing Company" was listed at 1610 Hampton Street St. Louis, Missouri in the November 1956 Life Magazine. **According to this very reputable Branchell website, this is not the date that the Branchell Company (4 partners) was actually incorporated.

There were two factory sites that may have produced the dinnerware. In Modern Plastics, 1955, there is talk of Hellmich Manufacturing company at Bayamon in Puerto Rico making melamine tableware. In the USA, Edna Campos Gravenhorst wrote in her book, "Southwest Garden" that the factory at 3176 Brannon Avenue aka the CD Midland Building had been where the Mundet Cork Company and Branchell Company was located.  She has photographs in her book.

The defunct site that Ms. Gravenhorst talks about is here:

From Google Maps.

By 1958 Lenox had taken over the Branchell company that according to Chemical Week had a "combined sales volume of over $14 million per year. "

By 1961 the company was still labeling products "Branchell -Aztec" with a mailing address of 4417 Oleatha Avenue in St. Louis.

Further Reading:
For more information on Branchell or Kaye Lamoyne, visit this great site here by Dennis Teepe.