The Dish Patch, Collectible Bowls, Newsletter

The Dish Patch Newsletter on Collectible Bowls written by Jo Cunningham and Darlene Nossaman.

Published by Robbins Nest

Bowls, Bowls and More Bowls - The Homer Laughlin China Company produced a variety of miscellaneous deorated bowls from the turn of the century until the late 1960s.  Sometimes these bowls were referred to as "specialty" bowls, which meant they were not included in dinnerware sets, but sold as single items.  These "specialty/salad" bowls were 8", 9" or 10" in diameter, and many sported a faded airbrush treatment on the outer rim.  In addition to these "specialty/salad" bowls, the company also produced a large bowl, which has been referred to as a "spaghetti bowl".  This article will highlight several bowls from the 1940s and 1950s.

Special bowls were produced in wide variety of shapes.  Some known shapes are New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia Rose, Boston and Empress.  The Empress bowl was the original shape Empress used in the Empress dinnerware from the 1920s.  Most of these bowls were sold by variety stores such as F.  W.  Woolworth, J.  J.  Newberry, and G.  C.  Murphy.  The bowls could also be purchased through the Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogs.  The bowls were also used as premium offers for companies like Colgate, Premium, Associates, Fox-Ware Premiums and Jewel Tea.

January 29, 1941, Colgate ordered 8" Virginia Rose nappies in an assortment of decorations.

In 1942, the Jewel Tea Company ordered 80,000 8" salad bowls in a variety of treatments.