Manufacturer: Scammell China
User: Shelburne Hotel – Atlantic City, New Jersey
Distributor: John Wanamaker – Philadelphia
Date of service plate: 1928 – circa 1930
Notes: From Wikipedia: "The Shelburne Hotel was a resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, located at Michigan Avenue and the Boardwalk. Built and opened in 1869, the hotel was originally a wood-frame cottage. Following several expansions, under the direction of hotel manager Jacob Weikel, a modern, brick-faced, steel frame, multistory structure was constructed along Michigan Avenue at the corner with the Boardwalk. This portion of the hotel opened in 1926. The hotel was an example of Georgian Revival architecture and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978."
From HistoricStructures.com: "During this period [the mid-1920s], Atlantic City was still primarily a health resort, catering to the demand for the regenerative effects of sun and saltwater bathing. As saltwater baths were considered healthy, the Shelburne's rooms had hot and cold running salt as well as fresh water. The interiors were opulent and eclectic, and the hotel continued to receive such notables as Lillian Russell, Irving Berlin, 'Diamond Jim' Brady, George M. Cohen, Lillie Langtry, Ethel Barrymore, John Philip Sousa, and Al Jolson."
Again, from Wikipedia: "Despite its tower addition in 1926, the Shelburne was a relatively small hotel in comparison to Atlantic City's much bigger resorts such as the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel, Traymore, and Claridge. This coupled with the Great Depression bankrupted the hotel in 1931. It would pass through a series of owners until being taken over by the United States Army during World War II, then passing into ownership of the Malamut family who briefly revived the hotel's success in the 1950s with several renovation and motel expansions.
"After the legalization of casino gambling in 1975, the Shelburne once again became a hot property, as with most hotels in Atlantic City at the time. The Malamut family closed the resort in 1978 after leasing it to Japanese investors Rocky Aoki and Takashi Sasakawa, owners of the Benihana restaurant chain, who planned to keep the existing hotel as well as add a 31-story tower and casino calling it the Benihana Casino-Hotel. In 1983, work crews began to renovate the hotel; however, disagreements between the Malamut family, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, and outside investors led Aoki and Sasakawa to abandon the project after investing over $25 million in construction and renovations. Sasakawa was the son of noted Japanese philanthropist Ryoichi Sasakawa, who had links with the Yakuza [organized crime syndicates in Japan]. Aoki and Sasakawa had also faced charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading in the stock of Hardwicke Companies, which had planned to manage the hotel/casino.
"In 1984, the site was acquired by Blumenfeld Development Corp., and the hotel was demolished."
This ID was made based on an eBay listing for the same plate but with a paper label (shown above) for a production sample by Scammell China for the Shelburne Hotel.
Lamberton body service plate with a metallic gold band around the rim. The rest of the rim is covered with a series of cameos containing peacocks along with stylized green acanthus scroll work and small reddish orange flowers. In the center of the well is a circular design of five stylized navy and reddish orange flowers around a single stylized reddish orange flower.
After years of trying to associate this pattern with a non-existent "Peacock Inn" or "Peacock Room," for example – as a way to make sense of the peacocks in the border – it is interesting to note that a different color version of this peacock and scroll border was used by Scammell for the Mark Twain Hotel.
Sources:
Wikipedia – history of the hotel
HistoricStructures.com – additional facts about the hotel
For additional info:
Shelburne Hotel by Maddock Pottery and Buffalo China
Shelburne Hotel 2 by Maddock Pottery and Scammell China
For information on an unrelated different color border pattern:
Mark Twain Hotel 2 by Scammell China
Contributors:
Service plate photos: Susan Phillips
ID and research: Larry Paul
Author: Ed Phillips