Manufacturer: Scammell China
Distributor: Barth Equipment Co., New York City
User: Ship Grill Restaurants
Date of examples: circa 1928-54

1941 menu

1943 menu

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Notes: Born Feb. 21, 1901, Olin Chester Potter graduated from Cornell University in 1922 and then studied interior design for two years in New York City. In 1924, Potter began organizing the Ship Grill Corporation.

By 1927, there were two Ship Grills in operation. Hot gingerbread was served when guests were seated. Potter had been so impressed with the food on visits to England that he adapted some English meals to his American grills. Meat pies and tarts were on the menu.

In 1928, Potter, joined by B. Dawson Berry, Jr., opened a Ship Grill at 132 East 58th Street, just off Park Avenue. It had private booths, ships lanterns, old brass, and pewter decorations.

That same year, the Ship Grill Co. was fined $100 for conducting an eating house in the restricted Murray Hill area. Private dining rooms, serving meals to apartment house tenants, were allowed, but opening a dining room to the general public was a no-no, and displaying a sign with a picture of a ship and "Ship Grill" in gold letters was just asking for trouble.

Later that year, there was a Ship Grill in Greenwich, Connecticut.

In 1933, the Ship Grill Corporation was headquartered at 400 East 57th Street, and there were six Ship Grill restaurants in the chain.

A Ship Grill at Sutton Place and 57th Street in New York City opened in 1935.

In March 1942, Potter applied for a liquor license for a Ship Grill in Dover Plains, New York.

In 1943, a dinner menu featured entrees at prices ranging from $1.50 to $2.00.

At the time of Potter's death in a 1953 auto accident, the Ship Grill Corporation was operating seven restaurants in New York City.

Scammell produced Lamberton china for Ship Grill. The transfer border was designed by Emil Schnepf and patented in 1929 (Des 79,269). Plates have a sailing ship illustration in the center of the well. Smaller 5 ¾-inch plates and cups have a modified version of the floral border. Larger pieces of china ordered by Ship Grill are backstamped with their name and the supplier's, Barth Equipment Co. Barth Equipment was founded July 10, 1928.

This patented border was ordered by a number of Scammell customers, so it was not an exclusive pattern for Ship Grill.

Sources:
Birmingham Post-Herald, Feb. 13, 1927 – English food
Lexington Herald, Dec. 9, 1928 – 58^th Street location
Houston Chronicle, July 12, 1928 – Murray Hill location
Finger Lake Times, Sept. 19, 1928 – Greenwich restaurant
Times Union, Nov. 1, 1933 – Six restaurants
St. Louis Argus, Aug. 16, 1935 – Sutton Place location
Poughkeepsie Journal, March 26, 1942 – Dover Plains location
Buffalo News, Feb. 20, 1953 – Olin Potter obit

Contributor:
Larry Paul: author