Manufacturer: Buffalo China
User: Arctic Club, Seattle
Distributor: J. B. & Sons, Inc., Seattle
Date of creamer: 1918

From Food is Travel website, logo tiles on entryway floor

Terra cotta walrus, one of many on building's third floor facade

Photo courtesy Wikimedia

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Notes: The Arctic Club was formed in 1908 by successful veterans of the Klondike Gold Rush. It was a fraternal men's club, in Seattle, for businessmen with Gold Rush connections. The Seattle Arctic Club was initially located in the Morrison Hotel, on 3rd Avenue and Jefferson Street. This was also known as the Arctic Club Building.

In 1914, after a dispute with the owner, the club decided to relocate to 700 3rd Avenue. In 1916, Seattle architect A. Warren Gould was commissioned to design the new building for the group's headquarters. James Moses was the builder.

From the Wikipedia: "During the move, members surreptitiously removed the bar from the original location by hoisting it out of one of the windows. The 128 ft Arctic Club building is in the Beaux-Arts style; it is known for its terra cotta walrus head sculptures, indicative of the club's name, which adorn the third floor facade. [Also, there is the iconic polar bear in the Polar Bar, the hotel's bar and cocktail lounge.]

"The terra cotta was sourced from nearby Denny-Renton Clay and Coal Company." In 2008, the building was restored and adapted for use as a luxury hotel, The Arctic Club Hotel.

A rooftop garden, used by the social club, was replaced with a penthouse office suite. In 1978 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The building was owned for a time by the City of Seattle and was sold to a Spokane company, which redeveloped the property as a hotel, opening in 2008.

"U.S. Congressman Marion Zioncheck committed suicide on August 7, 1936, by jumping from the window of his campaign office on the Arctic Building's fifth floor. His body struck the pavement directly in front of a car occupied by his wife."

The club's logo on the green-line creamer with Greek key-style border is a cross with two intertwining circles whose meaning seems to be derived from Christian marriage, but that was probably not at all its intent. It is found embedded in red and black tiles on the club's entryway floor.

It is a mystery that not just this 1918 creamer, but also a dinner plate from 1921 whose photos were found online, both have the misspelling of Arctic – as Artic – as part of their backstamps. Back in the day, it can be guessed that spelling probably took a backseat to the economics of paying for a new backstamp.

Sources:
Food is Travel website – logo in club's entryway floor
Wikipedia: Arctic Building – history, photos
The Arctic Club Hotel

Contributor:
Carol Cardona, creamer, matchbook photos; author