Manufacturer: Sterling China
User: Conrad Hilton – Chicago
Date of plate: 1992
Notes: From Wikipedia "The [Conrad] Hilton Chicago (also known as Chicago Hilton and Towers) is a centrally-located luxury hotel in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The hotel is a Chicago landmark that overlooks Grant Park, Lake Michigan, and the Museum Campus. It is the third-largest hotel in Chicago by number of guest rooms; however, it has the largest total meeting and event space of any Chicago hotel.
"The hotel, designed in the Beaux-Arts architecture style, opened on May 2, 1927, as the Stevens Hotel. At the time, the Stevens was the largest hotel in the world … the hotel continues its track record of having hosted every U.S. president since it opened in 1927."
The Great Depression ruined the Stevens family and eventually they lost the hotel amid a scandal of trying to find ways to keep it open. The Federal Government ultimately took control of the Stevens Hotel, and it was sold to the U.S. Army during World War II. The Army used the building as barracks and training facilities for its servicemen. Overall, around 10,000 air cadets were housed there, with the Grand Ballroom serving as a mess hall.
Again from Wikipedia "Conrad Hilton purchased the hotel from Healy in February 1945. The board of directors changed the name of the hotel, naming it after Conrad Hilton himself on November 19, 1951. The Conrad Hilton hotel was aging and in the 1970s, its demolition was considered. However, in 1984, the hotel closed for over a year for what was then the most expensive hotel renovation ever undertaken, at $185 million. The hotel's 3,000 guest rooms were rebuilt into 1,544 larger and more elegant rooms; 600 were converted to double-sized rooms with two adjoining bathrooms.
"The reborn hotel glittered and helped to sustain a revival period in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood. The newly renamed Chicago Hilton and Towers reopened on October 1, 1985. In 1998, under a new initiative by Hilton Hotels Corporation, the Hilton name was placed first in branding, and the Chicago Hilton and Towers became simply "Hilton Chicago."
To take a tour of the hotel, hosted by the Historic Hotels of America, click here.
Plate is backstamped Lamberton Sterling and has a thin black line around the outer border edge. In the center of the well is drawing in black of a woman's head the somewhat resembles the figurehead of a sailing ship or vaguely like the Starbucks Coffee logo.
Sources:
Wikipedia
Historic Hotels of America
Cardcow.com
For additional info:
Hilton Hotel 01 by Corning
Hilton Hotel 02 -Tel Aviv, Israel by Rosenthal China
Hilton Hotel 03 by Chinacraft Contracts Assignee
Hilton Hotel 04 -Virgin Isle, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands by Caribe China
Hilton Hotel 05 by Walker China
Hilton Hotel 06 by Corning
Hilton Hotel 07 – Oahu, Hawaii by Bauscher Brothers
Hilton Hotel 08 by Corning
Hilton Hotel 09 – Tokyo, Japan by Noritake
Hilton Hotel 10 by Corning
Hilton Hotel 11 – Curacaco, Netherlands Antilles by Noritake
Hilton Hotel 12 – Rotterdam by Mosa & Royal Sphinx
Hilton Hotel 13 – Pittsburgh by Shenango China
Minimax by Buffalo China and Syracuse China
Shamrock Hilton – Houston, Texas by Shenango China
Statler Hilton Hotel by Sterling China
Contributors:
Plate photos: Marilyn Remack Matuszak
ID: Larry Paul