Manufacturers: Maddock Pottery, Mayer China
User: Cafe Mellone, 35 Center St., New Haven, Conn.
Pattern names: Maddock: Lorraine; Mayer: Carlisle
Date of examples: Maddock: 1910 to 1920s; Mayer: unknown

Maddock

Mayer

1930s Mayer catalog

Order info in Mayer pattern book, property of Fishs Eddy, New York City

{"arrow":"false","pagination":"true","speed":"1000","autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"2000","loop":"true","slide_to_show_3d":"2","slide_show_ipad_3d":"2","slide_show_tablet_3d":"1","slide_show_mobile_3d":"1","slide_to_scroll_3d":"1","auto_stop":"false","centermode_3d":"true","space_between_3d":"0","depth":20,"modifier":20,"img_rotate":0,"img_stretch":0}

{"animation_fancy":"zoom-in-out","transition_fancy":"fade","fancy_box_loop":"true"}

Notes: In 1904, Anthony M. Mellone, Louis Metzger, and John Weisbecker incorporated the Louis Metzger Catering Company, of New Haven, Conn. Mellone was secretary and manager of the company. In 1910, Mellone joined Clarence G. Spaulding and Walter Pond in incorporating the Mellone Company, which planned to conduct a hotel, cafe and general catering business. Mellone was company president. By December of that year, their Cafe Mellone was open for business at 35 Center Street.

On June 23, 1912, Mellone died at age 41, but the Cafe Mellone continued in operation. In 1915, it advertised that it seated 200 for banquets, with Monday lunch going for 50¢. A fire that started in the grill of the cafe on Sept. 29, 1917, did about $50,000 damage to the three-story brick and stone building. The entire dining room and cafe were destroyed.

By April 1919, the Cafe Mellone was back in business at the same address under the supervision of James Ceriani, and generally known then as Ceriani's Cafe Mellone. Lunch was now 60¢ and dinner $1.

Prohibition ended the Cafe Mellone, but a regular restaurant by the same name was in operation at 204 Crown Street by 1939. James Ceriani died in September, 1953, at age 74.

Maddock made china for Cafe Mellone that is crested in the center-of-the-well with a shield containing an interlocking "CM" monogram. "CAFE MELLONE." The border has Lorraine pattern ornaments connected by double pin lines. There is a pin line at the verge.

Mayer China made the same china for the café, using its nearly identical Carlisle pattern. A version with its backstamp has not been found, so a date for it is not known.

Sources:
Morning Journal-Courier, Aug. 10, 1904 – Metzger Catering incorporation
Hartford Courant, Aug. 24, 1910 – Mellone Co. incorporated
The Journal, Dec. 7, 1910 – dinner in Café Mellon college room
Hartford Courant, Jan. 14, 1911 – 35 Center St. address
Hartford Courant, June 24, 1912 – Anthony Mellone obituary
Naugatuck News, Nov. 27, 1915 – ad with logo
Record-Journal, Sept. 29, 1917 – fire
The Journal, April 29, 1919 – ad
Record-Journal, Dec. 6, 1919 – meal prices
Connecticut Post, Feb. 13, 1949 – new restaurant, same name
Connecticut Post, Sept. 6, 1953 – James Ceriani obit, info on closing, new restaurant
Growing Up in New Haven Facebook post, Marc Friedland, May 21, 2023, collection of Joseph Taylor – photos, trade card, menu

Contributors:
Larry Paul: author
Ed Babcock: Mayer version photos, ephemera