Why Did Royal China Become Popular?
Most families have had nice dinnerware (dishes) used at Christmas time or guests for dinner. Long-time popular chinaware was ‘Royal China’. It was manufactured in Sebring, Ohio. They featured quaint patterns with a nostalgic appeal to people in the 1930s well into the 1960s. In the 1930s most families could not afford large purchases of fine chinaware. So this less expense Royal China became very popular.
A pattern of scenes from life on the American prairies was popular. Winter sleigh rides in the snow, ladies dressed in nice clothes and bonnet was also popular. On smaller sets might be A roaring fire in the hearth in one, a spinning wheel on another, and a bellows on smaller pieces were scenes of Americana from this pattern.
The china was sold as sets for an affordable price, but customers could also buy the pieces one at a time in “stock pricing”. The dinnerware was also part of stamp promotions such as S & H Green Stamps. These money-saving prices were appealing during the 1930s but continued to be a cornerstone of their sales in the late 1940s. By the 1950s homemakers flocked to these comforting patterns. And, the prices couldn’t be beaten. In the early 1950s, a 20-piece chinaware set cost less than $6 cash or could be had at a steep discount if used with the stamp coupons.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the trend changed from colonial revival to atomic and the china patterns changed, too. The Blue Heaven, Tweed, and Star Glow dinnerware patterns also proved to be extremely popular while catering to a more modern sense of style. By 1965 Royal China became the largest china manufacturer in the U.S.A. By 1969 the company was sold to the Jeannette Glass Company. Then by early 1980s Jeanette was bought by Coca-Cola and later sold again, only to be decommissioned in 1986.
Check with other relatives, see if anyone has even one example of Royal China, it is marked on the underside.
A special NOTE: Tomorrow is Feb. 22, 2022 – that is 02/22/2022
Photo: Example of Royal China pattern.
Related FamilyTree.com Blogs:
< Return To Blog My mom collected Royal China Blue Willow. Unfortunately, all of the pieces are now broken. The California earthquakes broke a lot of them when Dad was stationed there. I can remember a few of the pieces, though.Sara N Martin 21/02/22
Many families had various Royal China pieces. Shame many of your family china was broken.
Leave a Reply