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Restaurant China, Hon?
By Linda Nelson
Restaurant china is as familiar to many of us as a waitress's friendly, "More coffee, hon?" Made for durability, restaurant china is generally thick, rounded, and heavy.
 The shape of typical cups and mugs mimics the fat, white-gloved fingers of old-time cartoon characters. Plates and platters are designed to withstand heavy daily use, and their smooth, shiny surface has a tactile appeal. With the variety of restaurant china available, fanciers can tailor their collections to match their interests whether the attraction is based on design, a specific manufacturer, or a restaurant theme. Restaurants weren't the only establishments to use this durable china, so collectors have even more choices. Railroads, ships, hospitals, company cafeterias, military branches, schools, and many others required the long-lasting toughness of restaurant china.
Going Back to the Beginning
The American restaurant china industry has its roots in the early manufacturing of chinaware for hotel use. As the 19th century turned into the 20th, hotel customers began to have more choices for meals than just the hotel dining room. Restaurants and cafés were being built nearby. The dinnerware industry expanded to meet the need for high-quality china for commercial use. Originally, restaurant and hotel china was imported from Europe, but soon American makers took over. Throughout the 20th century as many as 60 companies made vitreous china for commercial use, including these productive American companies:
- Buffalo Pottery, Buffalo, New York
- H.F. Coors Pottery, Inglewood, California (not connected with Coors Porcelain of Golden, Colorado)
- Hall China Company, East Liverpool, Ohio
- Homer Laughlin China Company, Newell, West Virginia
- Iroquois China Company, Syracuse, New York
- Lenox, Inc., Trenton, New Jersey
- Mayer China Company, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
- Syracuse China, Syracuse, New York ( formerly Onondaga Pottery Company, which manufactured Syracuse China and later was renamed)
- Shenango Pottery Company, New Castle, Pennsylvania
- Sterling China Company, East Liverpool, Ohio
- Wallace China Company, Vernon, California
- Warwick China Company, Wheeling, West Virginia
Interestingly, although many American manufacturers of dinnerware for home use went out of business because they were unable to compete with cheaper imported products, a number of the companies making china for commercial use continue in business today. Syracuse China, one of the earliest and most prolific producers of restaurant china, continues to manufacture commercial china as a part of Libbey Inc.
Focusing on Syracuse China
Restaurant china collectors prize Syracuse China for its high quality and the beautiful colors in its designs. Syracuse decorators created designs by air brushing over templates and stencils with color glazes. Sometimes a dimensional effect was
 created by using multiple colors in an overlaid fashion. Syracuse China called the airbrushed technique Shadowtone. Although other companies used these techniques, some collectors feel that Syracuse China's work is the most attractive. The gray border on this little seven-inch Shenango platter is an example of a stenciled design.
Other decorating methods include transfer printing, hand painting, under-glaze decals, and embossed designs. Transfer printed designs are applied in one color. The design is printed on special paper, which is applied to the dish before it is fired in the kiln. Sometimes an outlined design is transfer printed then colors are applied by hand to fill in flowers or other design elements. Stripes around the edge of a piece are generally applied by hand painting.
Complicated or multicolored company logos are frequently applied as under-glaze decals. The harsh treatment that restaurant china receives can quickly wear away designs applied on top of the glaze, known as overglaze decals. As a result, collectors are wary of pieces bearing an overglaze logo decal because it may have been added to deceive the buyer. Because of the great interesting in railroad china, collectors need to be particularly alert for fakes and reproductions in this collecting field.
Collectors designate a restaurant logo applied to the face of a dish as a top mark. The top mark may be near the edge, interrupt the border design, or be incorporated in the border design. It may also be applied in the center of the dish. Top marks on cups often appear inside the cup near the rim or on the sides. However, some railroad china only included the railroad's name on the backstamp.
Built to Last
Flatware pieces, such as plates and platters, are designed to withstand heavy use. Many manufacturers use a shape with a rolled edge to give added strength to the rims. A rim with a rolled edge looks flat on top but underneath the edge appears to have been rolled under like the edge of a metal pie pan.
In the 1930s when roadside diners were coming into popularity, Syracuse China introduced a line scaled for smaller tables known as Econo-Rim. The line features a truncated rim with a distinctive embossed orb and dart edge design. As a testament to the popularity of this patented design, Syracuse China still offers the Econo-Rim shape, as well as a version without embossing. Embossed designs were popular with all restaurant china manufacturers. Collectors can find many variations of scalloped designs on plates, platters, cups, saucers, and bowls made by Syracuse and other manufacturers.
Restaurant china comes in a large number of different items. Some collectors choose to select an item to concentrate on, such as individual teapots, creamers, teacups, or even ashtrays. Collectors make a distinction between creamers, which  do not have handles, and cream pitchers, which do. Bowls have a number of designations. A soup cup is called a bouillon. Fruit bowls are small flat bowls. Oval bowls are called bakers. Manufacturers' other designations for bowls include nappy, soup bowl, oatmeal, cereal, shirred egg, Welsh rarebit, and ramekin, among others.
Plates are always round and are designated by diameter rather than function--a seven-inch plate, not a bread plate. Platters are either oval or rectangular and are also designated by size. Collectors, such as Barbara J. Conroy, author of Restaurant China, Vols. 1 and 2, encourage collectors and china sellers to learn and use the standard names of the trade so that they can discuss these items using the same terms.
Lasting Appeal
Restaurant china has many interesting characteristics, and collectors can focus on any number of them when seeking out the next piece for their collection. A
 collector may be looking for items with a Mexican, floral, or ocean motif or only items used by Southern Railway or Union Pacific. It may be only teacups or even more specific, stacking teacups. Some collectors may want to limit themselves to the items made by one manufacturer. Others seek out airbrushed designs or items in a certain color. Some may collect pieces from a favorite restaurant from childhood. Some just enjoy the substantial beauty of this high-quality china. But whether the appeal is nostalgic, aesthetic, or something else, plenty of collectors are savoring restaurant china.
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Linda Nelson writes for Suite101.com and provides freelance writing and editing services remotely, thanks to email and the Internet. Her other interests include drawing, painting, reading, genealogy, antiques, and searching the Internet to learn more about it all.
This article previously appeared on the Suite101.com site and is reprinted with permission.
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