Manufacturer: Maddock Pottery
User: Interstate News Co.
Distributor: Boutell Brothers, Minneapolis
Date of example:  Circa 1912 – 1916

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Notes: The Inter-State News Co. was organized in Portland, Maine, in June 1911. Therein followed more than a decade of name changes. In 1913, its corporate name was changed to The Inter-State Co. It was incorporated in June 1914 as "The Interstate Company."  In July 1914, the name was changed to The Inter-State Co., with the addition of the hyphen. In 1916, its corporate name was changed to Van Noy-Interstate Company after it acquired the assets of the Van Noy-Brown News Company, of Missouri. (Wikipedia and other sources state, however, that Van Noy bought Interstate.) In 1926, the name was changed back to The Interstate Co.

The principal business of the Interstate Co. was the ownership and operation of lunch rooms, restaurants, and newsstands in various locations throughout the United States. By 1940, it was operating about 250 units in 134 cities in 38 states, most of which consisted of lunch rooms at street and highway locations, department stores, railroad stations, and a summer resort hotel, the Feather River Inn. Space for the lunch rooms and restaurants operated in railroad stations was leased from the various railroads.

Although it appears the Interstate Company had no formal connection with any railroad, a newspaper story from 1927 in The Conca City News made the following comparison: "The Inter-State dining service, the same on the Rock Island that Fred Harvey is to the Santa Fe is running the café which the Rock Island has established in its south Ponca City yards. This is for the convenience of the various freight train crews that are working in and out of the city … ."

During the 1920s, though, Interstate did begin to focus on the hotel business, and it later became part of the Marriott Corporation.

Maddock Pottery produced two patterns for Inter-State News Co. The crest that is probably the earliest is this decal featuring a spread-winged eagle with a sun circle background. The eagle is clutching a blue banner containing "Inter" "State." Blue and rust-red pin lines flank the crest, mid-rim. This was placed on Maddock's American China and was supplied by Boutell Brothers, Minneapolis.

For more info:
Inter-State News Co. 2 by Maddock Pottery

Sources:
Memo to the Director of Retirement Claims, 1941 – Detailed history of company, name changes and operations, relating to a legal dispute involving retirement payments
Wikipedia – Company history
Dining on Rails, by Richard Luckin – Pattern information
The Official Guide to Railroad Dining Car China, by Douglas W. McIntyre – Pattern information

Contributors:
Larry Paul: Author
Kathleen Lathom: creamer photos