Manufacturer: Scammell China
Name of user: Marine Fountain Room, Steinbach Department Store, Asbury Park, N.J.
Distributor: Steinbach Co.
Date of example: 1935 – 1954
Notes: On May 7, 1935, the Steinbach Department Store in Asbury Park, announced the name for their soon-to-open store restaurant. Miss Julia Clark, of Ocean Grove, won $25 for suggesting "Marine Fountain Room" in the naming contest.
(Steinbach was founded in 1870 as a department store. It had a department that sold Lamberton Works china to commercial customers. Because of that department, Steinbach could order china for the Marine Fountain Room from Scammell at wholesale cost.)
A month later, an article in the Asbury Park Daily Record announced the opening of the fifth floor Marine Fountain Room. It was designed by Julian Holland, who had done the Asbury Park Convention Hall and Casino. The article described it this way: "Attractive ship motifs form the central theme of the decorations, being carried out in a deep Mediterranean blue and silver. The fountain itself is of streamline design, quite different from any other in this section."
By July, a Men's Grill had been added. A corned beef and cabbage dinner, with potatoes and desert, was available for 50¢.
By May 1936, the Marine Fountain Room had been enlarged to double the original capacity, with air conditioning added.
Scammell made Lamberton China for the Marine Fountain Room that has a stylized white sailboat and waves in a cobalt blue rectangle. Four horizontal gray lines, with blue lines above and below, are along the rim. A photograph of the Men's Grill appeared in the December 4, 1954, issue of the Asbury Park Press. The photograph shows plates, cups, saucers, bowls, and the handleless creams as part of this china service.
Sources:
Asbury Park Press, May 7, 1935 – winning name
Asbury Park Press, June 7, 1935 – opening
Asbury Park Press, July 25, 1935 – Men's Grill expansion
Asbury Park Press, Dec. 18, 1835 – ad
Asbury Park Press, May 7, 1936 – expansion
Asbury Park Press, Dec. 4, 1954 – photo of Men's Grill
Contributor:
Larry Paul: author
