Manufacturer: Maddock Pottery and Scammell China Co.
User: Name of pattern/user: Hatchett's Point Casino
Distributor: Brown, Thomson & Co., Hartford, Conn.
Date of examples: Circa 1900 to 1930
Notes: Hatchett's Point, on Long Island Sound, was developed in 1890 by five prominent businessmen as the location for their summer homes. The Casino was actually a clubhouse built as their meeting place. It contained a private dining room where all the families could gather for meals. A photograph of the Casino exterior (shown above) shows chef Charles Y. Anderson and his staff, which appears to be possibly a cook and eight waitresses. It may have been that every family used the casino for all their meals rather than having individual kitchens and staff in each of the houses.
Maddock Pottery made the original china order, and Scammell produced reorders after 1924. The china is crested with a two-color bust of a Native American Chief with feather headdress. Crossed tomahawks are below the head. There are black and reddish brown lines at the rim, with a reddish brown pin line at the verge. Brown, Thomson & Co., of Hartford, Conn., was the supplier. James W. Thomson, part owner of this department store, was one of the five families owning cottages at Hackett's Point, which explains how they became the supplier.
William Scammell's 1925 contact book lists "Mr. Chas. Y. Anderson, Worcester Academy, Worcester, Mass" as the contact person. This suggests that Mr. Anderson worked at the Worcester Academy during the school season, and then operated the casino during the summer. The 1925 order lists 19 different items, including five plate sizes; 72 of each size plate were ordered. The per dozen price included 45¢ for the crest. A sauceboat is among the known pieces of this service, probably part of the original order.
A hurricane in 1938 damaged the casino and it was torn down shortly thereafter. Some of this crested china survived and was still being used in 1972.
Sources:
Old Lyme Historical Society, Facebook – Club history and china information
Contributors:
Larry Paul: author
Steven Koska: 1928 newspaper article and information
Laurie Robinson: platter photos
