Manufacturer: Syracuse China
User: Union Pacific Railroad
Pattern: Portland Rose
Date of bowl: 1930 – 1941
Notes: This pattern saw dining car service aboard the famous UP Railroad passenger train / Streamliner, the Portland Rose, that ran between Chicago and Portland, Oregon, and later (in 1941) between Denver and Portland. By 1954, the Portland Rose had been extended to Kansas City. The Portland Rose officially started operating on September 12, 1930 and was advertised by Union Pacific as "A Triumph in Train Comfort." Throughout the train, the Portland Rose was the primary theme.
The rose depicted is a Madame Caroline Testout, Portland, Oregon's official flower. Books about railroad china indicate that the pattern was always backstamped, at least by the UPRR, so it is not known if the plate pictured above saw railroad use or if the pattern was used by Syracuse as a stock pattern after 1941.