Manufacturer: Shenango China
User: Herbie K's Restaurant – Alexandria, Louisiana
Date of sample plate: 1958
Date of demi-cup: 1957

Shenango Sample Plate

1942 Photograph of Herbie K's Original Location

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Notes: Herbie K's Restaurant was opened in 1942 by Lucille and Herbie Smith. It was originally located in "Mike Mule's area" in Alexandria, Louisiana, and later moved to a new location at 3515 Lee Street. In a 1986 issue of Louisiana Life Magazine, a Reader's Choice restaurant poll placed Herbie K's among the Top 10 restaurants in the state.

Herbie Smith died in 1970, but his wife and family kept the restaurant operating. In February 1984, it filed for bankruptcy when the IRS claimed that it owed federal withholding taxes. However, even with bankruptcy and foreclosure, the restaurant remained under control of the founding family and after closing for several weeks in June 1989 for some remodeling, it reopened in late July. When the restaurant permanently closed is not known at this time.

White demi-cup with wide dark band around the top. Under the band on the left side of the cup is Herbie K's logo which consists of a drawing of the restaurant's sign mounted on a side pole. The dark sign looks somewhat like a movie theatre with the words "Herbie K's" in white block letters running vertically down the surface. At the bottom, which is wider than the top, there is a rectangular box outlined in white with the slogan "The World's Worst Service" in white block letters.

Sources:
Alexandria Daily – Town Talk – 28 July 1989
Facebook, Kramer Funeral Home

Contributors:
Sample plate photos: David Cantu
Demi-cup photos: Kathleen Lathom
Author: Ed Phillips