Manufacturer: Maddock Pottery
User: Adelphia Hotel – Philadelphia
Date of china: 1914
Notes: The 21-story, 400-room, with bath, Adelphia Hotel opened on January 6,1914. It contained a 56' by 56' main dining room, a 56' by 78' grill room, and a 56' by 56' ballroom.
Around 1923, a 500-seat convention hall was added, and between 1934 and 1954 the small buildings on the corner were replaced with a 9-story addition, and the ground floors were "modernized." By 2020, the former hotel had been converted into apartments and renamed Adelphia House.
The Adelphia Hotel's crest was an unusual shape shield with multiple concave indentions within a wreath. Inside of the shield is an upper case, serif "A. This logo, in coin gold, was used on the china that Maddock made for the 400 bedrooms. These items were backstamped "Property of Hotel Adelphia, Philadelphia, PA." This was probably done to remind guests that these items were to remain in the hotel when they departed. They do not contain the Maddock backstamp, but the shapes match the same items shown in the 1917 Maddock Lamberton catalog.
The Adelphia 10 1/4" service plate is crested in the center of the well with a more elaborate multi-color decal version that includes a pair of rampant lions. The rim has a green band flanked by coin gold pin lines, and there is a coin gold pin line on the verge. These plates are backstamped with the M over Lamberton China over L mark. See Adelphia Hotel 2 for photographs of the service plate.
In August of 1917, the Maddock Pottery in Trenton had a fire that destroyed a large order of china that was being completed for the Adelphia Hotel. This was probably a replacement order for items that had been broken.
By 1926. Syracuse China was supplying the Indian Tree pattern to the Adelphia.
Sources: Free Library of Philadelphia, digital collection
Exterior view (ARCMoo063 ) October 2, 1920, banquet photo (75A0211)
Trenton Times, Aug 27, 1917, article about Maddock fire
Additional sources:
Illustration, and crest with "A", 1934 HRB, page 637
1954 HRB, page 786 shows 9-story addition
Feb,1917, Vanity Fair adv
1917 Maddock Lamberton catalog
Hotel World, August 1913
Hotel Monthly, December 1912
New York Hotel Record, Jan. 20, 1914
New York Hotel Record, Feb 3, 1914
For additional info:
Adelphia Hotel 2
Contributor:
Author and photos: Larry Paul