By Apryl Chapman Thomas for Antique Trader

The clink of dishes is one of the most distinctive sounds of a restaurant, and now the source of this distinctive sound is the target of collectors.

Restaurant china, also referred to as hotel ware and commercial china, does not limit it self to restaurants. The category is broad and includes pieces used on airplanes, trains and ships, as well as examples used by hotels, governments and hospitals. Regardless of its origins, this china is thick and designed to withstand heavy daily use.

"This type of china represents a piece of Americana that no longer exists," said Annaliese Whipple of The Bee's Knees (www.thebeesknees.biz). "It's a reminder of the simpler times and also brings back memories of places that we may have traveled to or dined at in our youth."

Restaurant china was originally imported from England; however, this changed in the early 20th century, as hotels began to add meals to their services, and restaurants and cafes were built. Demand increased, and soon American companies were producing restaurant china. About 60 companies made china for commercial use, including Hall China Company, Lenox, and Syracuse China.

"Restaurant ware seems to represent a kinder, gentler era to me. There was tremendous pride on the part of establishments which ordered it an on the part of the companies that produced it," said Bill Welch, a collector from Baltimore, Md. "So much of that is gone now. I suppose that many of us who do collect it are trying, in our own way, to preserve a little bit of all that we've lost."

Nostalgia is not the catalyst for all collectors; some start a collection purely on accident.

"In the early 1980s, my husband, Joe, came across a creamer at a flea market. Because we already had far too many collections, I begged him not to buy it, knowing it would be just the beginning," said Barbara Conroy, author of Restaurant China Identification & Value Guide for Restaurants, Airline, Ship & Railroad Dinnerware, Vol. I & II. "When I couldn't convince him, at least he promised not to buy creamers with handles (cream pitchers). As time passed, we became hooked on collecting restaurant china."

Collecting transferware creamers led Carol Cardona of Mesquite, Texas, to restaurant china.

"As I scanned the offerings of creamers of various auction sites, I noticed some of the beautiful restaurant ware creamers. After a while, I began collecting these creamers and no longer sought out transferware."

"My main interest for years was railroad china and silver which was used on the dining cars," said Helen Cutshaw of Daytona, Tenn. "Whenever we went out 'junking' we were always on the hunt for railroad china. But since I worked in advertising, the restaurant china pieces always appealed to me, and I started to pick up a few here and there."

She found a few pieces with a fouled anchor on them to use in her lake house.

"I later found out they were [United States Navy] plates, which started a whole new collection for me. I ended up with about 200 pieces of china, which I used as my everyday pattern and also collected the silver flatware and hollowware, which I used on occasions," Cutshaw said.

Sean Meredith of Track 16 Vintage in Santa Monica, Calif., only collects pieces with logos.

"Collectors can collect hundreds, even thousands of completely different logoed pieces. Except for a couple of exceptions, I have no duplicate logoed pieces. It is the variety of restaurant china that drives collectors' obsessions," said Meredith.

Meredith finds that while the popularity of certain pieces and styles fluctuate, quality hamburger and tropical items are always popular.

"Vintage hamburger, lunch counter and drive-in mugs are high in demand," said Meredith.

Other items that have become more popular are items from Horn and Hardart, the U.S. Forest Service, Dunkin Donuts, Ford and the Ahwahnee Hotel. Items from New York City restaurants and pre-revolution items from Cuba are also highly desirable.

"Areas that were popular when I first started collecting about eight years ago aren't as popular now," Meredith said. "Back then, a majority of collectors were into butter pats, dairy lunch and lunch counter china. They were also into items from the late 1800s through the late 1950s. Now, many collectors are into 1950s and 1960s items. It's nostalgia for them."

Starting a collection can be relatively easy. With the Internet, collectors are able to sell or trade pieces with each other faster than before.

"Think about what interests you the most," said Whipple. "Some collectors prefer to concentrate on one type of piece, such as creamers, teapots or cups. Others collect the sets for everyday use and will put together various place settings from different business interest areas such as transportation, restaurants, schools and so on."

Conroy said when looking for pieces or sets, remember that restaurant china is made from many materials.

"Collectors sometimes specialize in ware of one or more of these materials. Some of the materials include porcelain, bone china, stoneware and vitrified china," she added.

Since the 1800s, more than 200 manufacturers have produced thousands of commercial patterns.

"Since the patterns were not advertised to the public, many do not have a name, only a number," said Conroy. "But some patterns did have names, such as Blue Willow and Indian Tree that were produced for the household and commercial use."

If a piece is considered part of a stock pattern, meaning it might have been used without acknowledging a specific transportation line that used the china, the value of the piece is low.

With so many pieces out there, new collectors might have trouble spotting fakes or reproductions.

"First, learn the backstamps and date codes of pieces," said Meredith. "Be aware of fakes and know how to spot one. Very few legitimate pieces of restaurant china have logos that are over the glaze, meaning that you can feel the logo with your finger . . . The exceptions are the pieces from the 1970s and 1980s."

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Apryl Chapman Thomas is a free-lance writer from Athens, Ga.

This article previously appeared in the Sept. 4 issue of Antique Trader and is reprinted with permission. For more information about Antique Trader, visit www.collect.com.

Photos are used with permission by Author and Collector Barbara Conroy.