Here is a history of the expansion of America as seen through the giveaway plates of the early 20th century. Although they are not transferware, they are dishes!
Guest Posting by
David Hoexter
Those of you who know me are aware of my passion for
advertising ceramics. Up to three or so years ago, this passion had been
limited to 19
th Century English transfer-printed containers.
Then one day I discovered a plate featuring a
1910 calendar and nice center pattern, offered as a complimentary gift to
customers by a merchant in Berkeley, California.
Berkeley is my home town; a new passion was
created!
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| Charles Hadlen Berkeley, CA plate, 1910 |
These plates are American, produced primarily in East
Liverpool Ohio and nearby towns, were all complimentary from local merchants,
and were primarily distributed between 1906 and 1921, peaking in 1910.
I have documented approximately 1,300 plates
from 1910 to date, mainly from eBay.
The
patterns are printed from decals; I have identified 191 patterns thus far.
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| Ringing Out the Old, Ringing in the New Year |
However, to me the fascinating aspect of these plates is not
their patterns or method of manufacture, but the stories one can elicit by
researching the merchants and the towns where they sold their wares.
I have learned about the settlement of North
Dakota by the railroads, who laid thousands of miles of track across the state
in just a few decades, and then provided free passage and often free land in
exchange for the expectation that the farmers would ship their goods to market
by rail (there was no alternative!).
Hundreds of towns were established along the
rail lines, and not a few no longer exist or at best have managed to maintain
the same minimal population as existed soon after they were founded.
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| 1910 Ludwig Dorr, Gardena, ND plate |
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| North Dakota railroad map |
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| Google Satellite and map views of Gardena, ND |
I learned about the French Arpent system of land surveying,
employed in Louisiana to provide maximum river access to growers so they could
ship their crops by barge.
All of the
rest of the US is surveyed under the Public Land Survey System, based on square
sections and townships.
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| 1910 Adrien Gonsoulin, Loreauville, LA plate |
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| Nearby Mississippi River seen in a Google Satellite view |
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| Loreauville, LA vicinity |
And finally, the Silva Store, Eleele, Kauai, Hawaii, decades before Statehood.
You couldn’t get more remote!
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| J.I. Silva, Eleele, Kauai 1913 plate |
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| Silva store ca. 1900 |
