Manufacturers: Maddock Pottery, Union Porcelain, Bauscher
User: McTague's Shell Fish House and Grill Room, St. Louis, Missouri
Distributor (Union Porcelain): Burley & Co.
Date of Union Porcelain drainer bowl, tankard: 1896 to 1918
Date of Maddock plate: pre-1910
Date of Bauscher match stand: early 1920s

McTague's matchstand

Maddock Lamberton plate

McTague's drainer bowl - Union Porcelain

Union Porcelain tankard

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Notes: McTague's Shell Fish House and Grill Room opened in St. Louis in September 1896. It was located at 114 N 4th Street, opposite Planters Hotel.

McTague

In August 1897, the McTague Catering Company of St. Louis was incorporated by Catherine B. and James H. McTague, and Edward W. Dunn.

On Nov. 11, 1897, The McTague Catering Co. opened Shell Fish House and Grill Room in the basement of the new Century Building on the corner of 9th and Olive Streets. J. H. McTague was the manager.

In September 1898, Dave Lauber bought out McTague's interest in the old McTague Grill Room on 4th Street.

In May 1902, four of the leading St. Louis restaurants combined into a trust named the St. Louis Catering Co., which operated restaurants managed by J. H. McTague, A. E. Faust, and Frank A. Nagel. The combined restaurants served between 6,000 and 8,000 meals per day. By December of that year, all three restaurant managers had different opinions on how the catering company should be operated. As a result, on Dec. 2, they agreed that each manager should run their place as they thought best.

On Feb. 13, 1903, the directors of the St. Louis Catering Co., which owned the restaurants, put the former owners – now the managers – in complete charge of each restaurant they managed.  McTague was paid $16,00 per year, but was to only have authority over his restaurant.

Despite the change, things still did not run smoothly with St. Louis Catering, and in April 1904, McTague was asked by the board of directors to resign, even though he was one of the largest stockholders. McTague refused to resign. In June 1904, McTague surrendered $300,000 of his stock in St. Louis Catering, and in return he got back his restaurant.

In July 1904, McTague announced that he was no longer associated with St. Louis Catering and would take over operation of McTague's in the basement of the Century building. The McTague Catering Co. was still in operation, and in 1907 it announced plans to lease the new Maryland Hotel, while still operating McTague's restaurant. At that time the restaurant employed about 25 waiters. In 1914, the lease was renewed for another five years. Extensive alterations were made that included the addition of oval and square mirrors set in ivory-white panels, with silver leaf trim. The main room and the annex seated about 500 diners. The grill room was finished in mahogany panels.  In 1915, live entertainment was introduced as a cabaret program format.

On May 31, 1918, McTague's closed after 21 years of operation. It was announced that McTague's would soon be moving to the Maryland Hotel. In  February 1919, a cafeteria opened in the Maryland Hotel. McTague was president of the hotel, and his name appears in the cafeteria advertisement, but the cafeteria was not named McTague's. A September 1919 newspaper article stated that a department store basement shop had recently taken over the former McTague's restaurant space in the Century Building.

The Lamberton China that Maddock Pottery produced is crested with a red lobster that appears to be attempting to escape from being boiled alive in a kettle hanging over a fire. "McTague's" is below the illustration. This logo appears on trade cards for McTague Catering Co. Union Porcelain Works made drainer bowls with this same crest, that were supplied by Burley. The crests on the match holder/ashtrays made by Bauscher have a bit more dramatic look to them.

Multiple versions of this lobster-pot illustration have been used on topmarks by other restaurants, some with a name added below, such as Morrison Hotel's Terrace Garden Restaurant (Carr China) and Boston Oyster House (Maddock Pottery), and many with the stock illustration standing on its own.

Sources:
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Sept. 15, 1896 – opening
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, Aug. 26, 1897 – incorporation
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, Nov. 10, 1897 – Century Building opening
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, Sept. 26, 1898 – 4^th Street location sold
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, May 26, 1902 – cafe trust formed
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, Dec. 2, 1902 – truce
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, Feb. 13, 1903 – McTague salary
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, April 30, 1904 – McTague asked to resign
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, June 10, 1904 – restaurant back
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, July 3, 1904 – no longer part of St. Louis Catering
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, Aug. 22, 1907 – Maryland Hotel lease
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, July 1, 1913 – strike threat
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, April 25, 1914 – five-year lease renewal
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, Nov. 21, 1915 – entertainment added
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, April 14, 1918 – closing
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, Feb. 17, 1919 – cafeteria ad
St. Louis-Globe-Democrat, Sept. 19, 1919 – Scruggs in former McTague's space
LostTables.com – history and trade card

Contributors:
Charles H. Sovine, Bauscher match stand photos
Larry Paul, author