Manufacturers: Shenango China and Scammell China
Name of customer: Cinelli's Country House Restaurant, Cherry Hill, N.J.
Date of examples: Shenango: circa 1951; Scammell: unknown
Notes: In 1934, with the Depression at its worst, Julio Cinelli, a Camden, New Jersey, saloon owner, took a farmhouse that once had been the Maple Lawn Tea Room with seating for 30 customers (a speakeasy during Prohibition) on a large plot near Route 38 in Cherry Hill, and renamed it Cinelli's Maple Tavern, and over the years turned it into what would become Cinelli's Country House Restaurant. As the April 12, 1977, edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer tells it in a story about the legendary restaurant: "Julio Cinelli has gone crazy, the oldtimers around Camden whispered. He will surely go broke."
The Inquirer story, shown above (and reformatted for easier viewing), tells the story of the Cinelli family and, at that time, their "68 years in the business, starting in Camden in 1909," that began with his initial saloon that he closed because of Prohibition.
Cinelli's wife Antonia was the cook. They offered a 25¢ bowl of spaghetti and a 10¢ beer.
In 1942, Julio's son Thomas, Sr. took over for his parents. When the Garden State Racetrack opened across the road, business increased even more. The restaurant was renovated and enlarged until it contained five dining rooms, three bars, and banquet facilities. At that point it was a 1,000-seat restaurant.
But times and food tastes change, and buildings and regular customers age. In 1977, the nearby Garden State Park Race Track burned down. In 1980, Cinelli's closed for a six-week, $250,00 renovation that included spotlights, mirror balls and a computerized lighting system in the bar. But increased competition and the costly renovations led to their demise, and in 1986, Cinelli's filed for bankruptcy, and then closed.
On August 22, 1987, an auction offered 691 lots of furnishings and equipment from the former restaurant. A year later, the vacant property was sold for $2.4 million. On August 18, 1988, the restaurant was torn down and replaced by an office building.
Scammell produced Lamberton china with a blue transfer shield crest for Cinelli. On the one known example found, the crest is blurred, but it matches the crest used by Cinelli's on matchbooks. The decal border flanking the crest is one that was used for a number of Scammell customers. It features a panel with a bowl of fruit. The rest of the dark blue border contains leaves in light blue, and other elements in orange with dark brown outlines and details.
Shenango China produced china with a similar blue transfer shield crest that also matches the crest used by Cinelli's on matchbooks. The decal border flanking the crest features a panel with a bowl of fruit. The rest of the dark blue border contains leaves in light blue, and other elements in orange with dark brown outlines and details. The Shenango decal border has a number of details that differ from the border used on the china that Scammell made for Cinelli's, but china made by both companies could be used side by side on a table without a customer ever noticing the differences.
Sources:
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 12, 1977
Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 14, 1986
Contributor:
Larry Paul: author