Manufacturer: Syracuse China
Pattern: Webster
User: Jefferson Hotel – Richmond, Va.
Date of gravy: circa 1940s

 

Notes: The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Va. opened in 1895. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Carrere & Hastings and built by Major Lewis Ginter, a wealthy tobacconist who had been the first successful maker of pre-rolled cigarettes. Severely damaged by fire in 1901, the hotel was rebuilt and continued to operate until it was closed in 1980. The hotel underwent a complete renovation beginning in 1983 and was reopened in 1986. It continues to operate today and is both a Mobil Five Star and AAA Five Diamond property.

According to The Jefferson website: "No less than eleven Presidents. Harrison, McKinley, Wilson, Coolidge, Taft, both Roosevelts (Theodore and Franklin Delano), Truman and Reagan, and both Bushes have stayed at the hotel. Also among the rich and/or famous guests were: Admiral Dewey, Sarah Bernhardt, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Vanderbilts, Whitneys and Barrymores, Gertrude Stein, Sir Edmund Hillary, Charles Chaplin, Nelson Eddy, Robert Mitchum, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley who enjoyed a breakfast of bacon, eggs over easy, milk, no coffee, and home fries, capped off with a scoop of ice cream in cantaloupe. Sergie Rachmaninoff played in The Grand Ballroom and one of the world's most famous dancers, Bill (Bojangles) Robinson, was "discovered" as he waited tables in the dining room."

For many years, the Hotel Jefferson had live alligators in a pond/fountain in the lobby (much like the ducks at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn. – only meaner). The practice ended when the last alligator, "Old Pompey," died in 1948.

The Jefferson used Syracuse "Old Ivory" china in the Webster pattern — stock pieces and customized pieces with the addition of the portrait of Thomas Jefferson as shown below.

For related info:
Webster stock pattern by Syracuse China
Jefferson Hotel – Richmond, VA by Bauscher Brothers
Jefferson Hotel – Richmond, VA 2 by Syracuse China
Jefferson Hotel – Richmond, VA 3 with no manufacturer mark