Manufacturer: Mayer China
User: La Grande Hotel – La Grande, Oregon
Date of plate: circa 1927 – 1930s

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Notes: A blurb in the Medford Mail Tribune from November 9, 1927, announced simply: "the new six story La Grande Hotel to be completed by November 15." The original proprietors of the hotel were W.G. Clinger and a Mr. Becktell. The hotel had 106 rooms and was on the corner of Fourth and Adams in La Grande, Oregon. The La Grande Evening Observer's Nov. 17, 1927, edition ran an ad announcing the formal grand opening of the hotel on Friday, Nov. 18, 1927 (shown above).

Only seven years later, however, and possibly because of the Great Depression, an article in the Oregan Daily Journal dated Dec. 17, 1934, states that the owners of the hotel offered to give the building – fully furnished – to the Board of Education for the Eastern Oregan Normal School to be used as a dormitory. However, the offer was "courteously refused" on recommendation of the building committee which had inspected the building. A couple of articles in the La Grande Evening Observer in September 1936 talk about the hotel being vacant and not in operation for several years. And finally, there is another blurb in the La Grande Evening Observer dated Aug. 26, 1940, about "wrecking" the La Grande Hotel and items available for sale.

White body plate with a red stripe around the outer rim and two green pinstripes in the rim's center. The green pinstripes are broken at the top of the rim by the hotel's logo, which consists of a red and green shield with a knight's helmet at the top. The shield contains the stacked words "La Grande Hotel" at the top and the words "La Grande Oregon" at the bottom. Under the shield is a ribbon with the words "Your Home While Here." With the green lettering (shown above) on the back of the plate, it is possible that this plate was a sample.

Sources:
Medford Mail Tribune Nov. 9, 1927 – story about the completion of the hotel
Oregan Daily Journal Dec. 17, 1934 – story about offer to give the building away
LaGrande Evening Observer Nov. 17, 1917 – advertisement about the grand opening

Contributors:
Matthew Richter: ID and plate photos
Susan Fitzgerald: postcard
Ed Phillips: author