Manufacturer: Sterling China
Name of user: A Bit of Sweden
Date of plate: 1969

White Plains' Reporter Dispatch ad dated March 20, 1970, that advertised A Bit of Sweden as a "Restaurant and Motel

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Notes: The first mention found of A Bit of Sweden (formerly Del Bello Inn), located on Route 9-W in Stony Point, New York, was in a series of ads that began on Jan. 19, 1950, in the White Plains, N.Y., Journal News, touting the Smörgasbord, dinner and dancing – square and modern – and a recommendation by Duncan Hines.

By that December, a wishing well feature had been added near the restaurant's entrance with patrons encouraged to toss in coins. Collected weekly, the money – some $30 to $40 – was donated to a local rehabilitation hospital "to purchase necessary equipment for patients who cannot buy their own," according to a story in the Dec. 11, 1950, Journal News.

The restaurant was opened by Nils Johnson, a Swedish native who trained in hotel management there. He retired from the restaurant business in 1962. It is not known who followed him as owner at A Bit of Sweden.

At some point in its history, the restaurant also served as a motel, as seen in an ad in White Plains' Reporter Dispatch dated March 20, 1970, that advertised A Bit of Sweden as a "Restaurant and Motel," as does the postcard (shown above).

By June 25, 1972, A Bit of Sweden had closed, as the Journal News reviewed a new restaurant – The Beef Baron – with the unceremonious news that it was located on the "site of the former Bit of Sweden Restaurant."

The white-bodied plate has a Carolina blue airbrushed border and in the center in black is the image of a Viking boat with striped flag.

Source:
The Reporter Dispatch, White Plains, N.Y., March 20, 1970

Contributor:
ID and photos: Marianne, owner of Cedar Brook Farm on Etsy