Smith & Gerhart Ad – March 3, 1955

Seventy years ago, the well-remembered Smith & Gerhart department store in Lorain was offering this handsome 16-piece dinner set for merely $2.98 (about $35 bucks in today's inflated greenbacks, according to one of those online inflation calculators).

The "Wayne County" name of the attractive dinner set caught my eye. There's a set of dishes on eBay right now.

What company produced this uniquely Ohio pattern?

It turns out it was the Royal China Company, headquartered right in Sebring, Ohio.

According to the Sebring Ohio Historical Society website, "The Royal China Company was formerly The Oliver China Company, then the E. H. Sebring China Company. It was located on South 15th Street in Sebring, Ohio. The original founders were Beatrice L. Miller, William H. Habenstreit and John Bert Briggs. 

"Miss Miller and Mr. Habenstreit had been employed at National Publicity Bureau as 'middlemen' buying dinnerware from the potteries for resale as advertising premiums for Quaker Oats and Proctor and Gamble in Omaha, Nebraska. The three began the company with $500, six months free rent and employees working without pay.  Miss Miller went to the bank with the proposal to purchase the building, but was turned away, as a woman in manufacturing was practically unheard of at that time.  Mr. Habenstreit went to the same bank with the same proposal and had a warm reception.  They hired John 'Bert' Briggs who had a knowledge of pottery manufacture and lived in Sebring where he worked as a potter.  

"They offered employment to anyone who was willing to work without pay until their pottery got on its feet.  As most of the potters in Sebring were out of work anyway, they had nothing to lose. Six months later, they had 125 people on their payroll.  During the first year of operation, Royal China produced 7,800,000 pieces of pottery. 

"In 1948, Kennith Doyle, a former printer, invented an under glaze stamping machine that revolutionized the pottery industry. They were, after many years of research, able to apply under-glaze colors in intricate decorations, automatically and directly onto the unglazed ware rather than on paper transfers.  It was put to use in 1948 on the centuries old Blue Willow Pattern. Royal China became the world's largest manufacturer in Willow Ware. 

 

"By 1965, Royal was the largest in the U.S., among union plants, and had $6,000,000 in sales.  

"On February 15, 1970, a fire completely destroyed the buildings. Rebuilt, and at its peak in the 1970's, it employed over 700 people, with the most modern equipment and buildings available. They had sales of around $16 million and had two different lines with a total of 81 semi-vitreous dinnerware patterns. They were able to produce 30,000,000 pieces, making it the largest dinnerware plant in Sebring, as well as the third largest in the United States.  

"Operations ceased in 1986.

 

"In 2010, the remaining structure burned, and the buildings were demolished."

Here's the link to the Royal China Company page on the Sebring Ohio Historical Society's website.