Manufacturer: Bauscher Brothers – Germany
User: Luehrmann's Restaurant – Memphis, Tennessee
Date of pickle dish: 1908
Notes: From the Historic-Memphis website: "The Luehrmann Hotel building was a Memphis landmark on Main Street from 1888-1906. The hotel was the upper 3 floors, with 38 rooms – reserved for men only, although some women in fine clothes might appear at intervals. The fortune it took to build and equip this magnificent establishment came largely from beer, in particular Schlitz Beer. Proprietor Henry Luehrmann was the prominent brewer as well as the owner of this fine hotel-restaurant. His aim was to please, and he was considered the most honest and trusted businessman in Memphis.
After a fire destroyed his first restaurant in 1893, "Lueuhrmann moved across Monroe and rebuilt his hotel. This new location was next door to the old Pantages/Warner Theatre. And this was the grand Leuhrmann's hotel-restaurant that is remembered so well in Memphis.
"Luehrmann's was a splendid place for leisurely dining. There were 135 kinds of wine and the seafood was the freshest in town. Henry Luehrmann bought only live lobsters, crabs, and oysters to be fattened in his basement. In the restaurant, the waiters wore tails. Napkins and tablecloths were made of thick linen, embossed with Luehrmann's crest and logo. This Restaurant and Gaston's Restaurant, around the corner, were the two most popular restaurants for fine dining in Memphis. No finer food had ever been known in the city. And Luehrmann's had the highest prices in town.
"Nothing was too small for Henry's attention. Each day, he thoroughly inspected the bar and personally tested the polished brass with his silk handkerchief. Then he gave the coffee his personal "nose test". If it displeased him, he had it poured out and started from fresh. After all his inspections, he went to the basement to feed the oysters. The restaurant was patronized in particular by the big sportsmen in town for the races at Montgomery Track, and the famous names of the theatre, along with the big businessmen of Memphis. The Hotel-Restaurant was located at 296 Main Street, which became 10 S. Main under the new 1905 numbering system.
"By 1905, the Tennessee Legislature had shut down the Montgomery Racetrack. The big sportsmen no longer came to Memphis. Luehrmann's Hotel-Restaurant building was sold at auction for the sum of $91,000. Afterwards Henry's health failed, and he went to California, but returned several months later and checked into a Knoxville hospital. He had been ill with tuberculosis for about a year and died 18 June 1905. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery. His son attempted to revive the hotel, but without success. In 1909, the hotel, dining room, and bar were officially closed, and a sale was held of all items at a fraction of their value."
White body vitrified china pickle dish with a wide green band around the rim. The green band is highlighted with gold pin stripes on both the top and bottom and is broken at the top of the dish with the insertion of the word "Luehrmann's" in a fancy script which is underlined and placed at a slight angle.
Source:
Historic-Memphis website
Contributors:
ID and photos: Marge Barner
Author: Ed Phillips