Manufacturer: Maddock Pottery
User: Hotel Karldon – Easton, Pennsylvania
Date of examples: circa 1906-1924

Shard from the Hotel Karldon

Dining Room at the Hotel Karldon

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Notes: Around 1885, the five-story United States Hotel opened on the corner of Third and Spring Garden Streets, in Easton, Pennsylvania. Between 1902 and 1904 it was renamed Hotel Karldon. In 1906, it was remodeled with a new two-story column flanked entrance. By 1915, it contained 175 rooms, 73 private baths, and a 500-seat banquet hall. The Karldon closed in 1932 and was torn down April 22, 1935.

The Lamberton china service that Maddock produced for the hotel is crested "KARLDON" in black, upper case, serif letters. Black and red orange pin lines flank the crest on some pieces and are placed above it on others. In 1998, Hunter Research found fragments of this pattern in Maddock's dump site #3, that was used from 1906 to 1912.

Favors that banquet guests could take home after the meal were popular in the early 20th century. The Hotel Karldon had pin trays that they used as banquet favors. The cost was probably built into what the banquet-giver was charged, so it was free advertising for the hotel.

Sources:
Menus.nypl.org. – 1914 menu
Lehighvalley.com – history and photographs from Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society collections
Hunter Research, Trenton, New Jersey website – list of fragments found in dump sites

Contributor:
Author and photos: Larry Paul