Manufacturer: Mayer China
User: Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF)
Distributor: Ohio China Company, Monroe, Michigan
Date of plate: 1930s – early 1940s
Notes: "The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) is a fraternal organization derived from English Oddfellows orders of the mid-1700s.
The Patriotic Order in England was followed by the Union of United Orders and the Loyal Order. In 1813, various lodges of the Union Order organized the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows. Several unofficial lodges existed in New York City, but American Odd Fellowship is regarded as being founded in Baltimore in 1819, by Thomas Wildey, and the following year affiliated with the Manchester Unity. Within a few years the new American Lodges separated from the English Orders and formed the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Its ladies' auxiliary is known as the Rebekahs. Both the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs have higher branches known as Encampments and Patriarchs Militant. Today, some branches of the order (i.e. some countries) allow women to join the Odd Fellows itself, leading the Rebekahs to have declined in importance…The most widely encountered symbol of the Odd Fellows – on signage and gravemarkers – is the three-link chain ("the Chain With Three Links", "Triple Links") with three initials, 'F', 'L' and 'T', one each inside each link, signifying Friendship, Love and Truth." (Source: Wikipedia)
Plate with tan body and rust and brown pin stripes interrupted on the rim by the three links of the chain with an R in the middle link. This might be a reference to the Rebekahs.
For related info:
Independent Order of Odd Fellows by Jackson China
Photos contributed by Linda Way Whitney