Manufacturer: Shenango China
Name of user: The Cranbury Inn
Date of creamer: 1927-1954

Cranbury Inn exterior 1937

1954 ad

1936 ad

1921 ad

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Notes: Founded in 1780 and still operating (2025), The Cranbury Inn in Cranbury, N.J., has been feeding the public, off and on, for what may be a record amount of time. The original tavern was built in 1750; then another tavern was built next to it in 1765. In 1800, newly married Hannah and Peter Perrine built their house across the front of the two taverns. At some unknown point, their house became a restaurant.

In 1919, Joseph T. Wincklhofer and his wife Mary purchased Cranbury Inn. They reopened the inn in the fall of 1920.  A 1921 want ad for "100 chickens or roosters" gives an indication of how much food was being served.  In 1922, an electric player piano was purchased to entertain diners.

A 6,000 sq. ft. dance pavilion was opened in July 1926.

In 1930, the Wincklofers sold the inn to Adrian and Marge Van Ravesteyn. Bedrooms on the second floor were opened as guest rooms for the inn. The 1765 tavern section was renovated with paneling from a former hotel in Cape May, N.J., and a mural was painted as a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project. The main dining room was built around 1930.

The Van Ravesteyns sold Cranbury Inn around 1952. In 1982, the second-floor bedrooms were converted into private dining rooms. And in that year, The Cranbury Inn was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

In 2005, the space in the backyard where a barn had stood until it burned in 1902 became the site of a new, large dining room.

Shenango produced tan Inca Ware crested "The Cranbury Inn" in reddish brown Old English-style lettering. The border is composed of urns connected by bead swags to ornaments with torches and ribbons. This border was used by other customers.

Some of the Cranbury crested china is on display in a showcase in one of the dining rooms.

Source:
Cranbury Inn Restaurant & Bar

For more info:
Cranbury Inn, The, by Scammell China

Contributor:
Lary Paul: author