Manufacturers: Maddock Pottery, Syracuse China
User: Black's Restaurant – Pittsburgh, Penn.
Date of examples: circa 1903 – 1923
Charles S. Black
Notes: Charles S. Black (1857 – 1945) was born in Pittsburgh, worked for the Assessor's Office, then the Postal Service, before being elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1897.
Around 1903, Black opened Black's Restaurant at 610 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, specializing in freshly shelled oysters; between 1910 and 1918, they also advertised as "Black's Oyster House."
A story in the July 24, 1907, issue of the Pittsburgh Post had news of "plans for an eight-story building at Liberty and Oliver avenues for the Oliver estate. The structure will be located on the site now occupied by Black's restaurant." That necessitated a move for the restaurant, and by June 1908, Black was "pushing forward the work of remodeling his new place of business on Wood street, between Fifth avenue and Diamond street," according to a story in the June 9, 1908, issue of the Pittsburgh Press. And by June 28, the Press ran an ad for Black's Restaurant: "Now Open at 438 Wood St. Everything New and Up-to-Date." A postcard for the Wood Street location, shown above, called itself Wood's New Restaurant.
Black's had a separate dining room for ladies, and Black operated a farm that produced some of the items served in his restaurant.
But an ad in the Aug. 26, 1920, edition of the Pittsburgh Press signaled an end to the restaurant: "FOR SALE – Restaurant doing good business; account of poor health will sell cheap for quick sale. Phone 9381 Monessen. Black's Restaurant. Monessen."
An ad in the July 24, 1921, issue of the Press, however, sought "EXPERIENCED food checker, cashier, coffee and pantry girls for Black's new restaurant. Apply between 10 a.m. and 1 m 136 Sixth st," so it is possible that after the health issue resolved, Black started over with yet another "new restaurant." An ad in the July 31, 1921, issue of the Pittsburgh Press announced the opening on Aug. 3 to "Dine and Dance at Black's." That November, in announcing a "BROADWAY REVUE" of 25 people with Two Shows Nightly in the Devil's Cave from 6 to 8, it appears that the new Black's had moved into the space next door as well. But by the next spring, just the 136 Sixth Street location was being used in print ads with a reference in one story to the restaurant's "second floor dining room."
It is not known for sure if this was indeed Charles S. Black's business, because in September 1921, he was ordered by pay $11,000 to the widow of a man who receive a drink of bar polish – rather than whiskey – and died an hour later, and Black was referred to in the story as "a former café proprietor."
Once again, however, Black's was in the news on April 22, 1923, when a notice in the Pittsburgh Press announced "BANKRUPT AUCTION SALE BLACK'S RESTAURANT at 136 Sixth St., to be sold starting Monday Morning, April 23, 1923 at 10 a.m.," including the dishes and silverware.
The china that Maddock produced for Black's is crested with a two-headed imperial eagle that has a "B" on its chest. The black and brown decal border contains stylized illustrations of beef steak, chicken, beer steins and cake within the outlined sections. Maddock shows this as "#5050 Beefsteak Border" in their pattern sample book.
The Syracuse pattern sample book lists it as "Underglaze 62401 Black's." The black outer line is part of the decal. The two red rim lines were added by hand by a decorating department liner. A crested fragment of this china was found in the Maddock Pottery dump site in use from 1906 to 1912.
Sources:
Pittsburgh Post, Oct. 13, 1906
Pittsburgh Press, July 31, 1921
Contributor:
Larry Paul, author