Manufacturer: Sterling China
User/Pattern name: Unknown
Date of plates: 1977
Notes: After hours of research by many RWCN members, this pattern remains a mystery. What is known follows:
An ebay seller reported that a stack of these plates was found at the Taxco Salcedo Café, 13127 Garvey Ave., Baldwin Park, Calif., when it closed in 2007, after being in operation for 30 years. The plates were in new condition and seemed never to have been used.
Jesus Vizcaino Salcedo, Sr. (June 16, 1921 – March 3, 2011) opened the Taxco Salcedo Café on February 13, 1959 after erecting the building in 1958. Mr. Salcedo retired in 1984 and sold the cafe to A F S Foods, Inc. owned by the Fernandez-Sanchez family, who continued operating Taxco Salcedo from 1984 until it closed in the summer of 2007. The building was razed by October 2008.
Based on information provided by the Salcedo family, we know that the original cafe used unmarked, white bodied restaurant ware, so this pattern was not used at Taxco Salcedo.
A 1974 Los Angeles Times story tied Jesus Salcedo, owner of the original cafe, to the Baldwin Park's Boys' Club when he made a pledge to donate one-day profits from his restaurant to the center. One theory was that these plates were provided to the Boys' Club when it opened its new facility on Baldwin Park Blvd in 1977. Research efforts to confirm such proved fruitless, so our search for a pattern name/number and for venues that used this pattern continues.
White bodied grill plate (likely a stock pattern) is 8 ¼" in diameter, suggesting it was intended for a child"s meal. The design includes images of an astronaut, space ship or rocket and a model of a solar system.
Black/white photo contributed by Susan Phillips
Green/White photo contributed by etsy seller CattleDogModern
Research notes contributed by singhsvgm