Manufacturer: Shenango China
User: V's Cafe, Corsicana, Texas
Date(s): 1956, 1959
Notes: This plate has been one of those enduring mysteries whose ID has led to numerous dead ends. By chance, a closed auction has been found that included cups with a handprinted note (photo above) that said, "3 historic Corsicana Tx coffee cups from the old V's Cafe on Hwy 75." And this plate was found in Texas. Even with that information, little has been found about the restaurant, and these are the only pieces of topmarked china seen at this time.
The Lawrence County Historical Society does have a record of an order of china in 1956, including the following:
10" Fleetwood plates
5 ½" Fleetwood plates
Fleetwood ovide cups
Fleetwood tea saucers
7 ½" Fleetwood plates
4 5/8" Fleetwood fruits
Fleetwood AD cups
Fleetwood saucers
6 3/8" Fleetwood grapefruits, and
10 ¾" Fleetwood plates.
That sounds like a lot of shapes – especially the demitasse cups – for a place called a cafe, but an Aug. 22, 2009, story in the Corsicana Daily Sun includes a passing mention of "the old V's Cafe," which became the "full-service restaurant R.J. Max's." So it was likely that V's, too, served complete meals three times a day. A church ad in the May 21, 1960, issue of the Corsicana Daily Sun, included an invitation by V's Cafe to come by after church, with the address – S. Highway 75 – and the owners, "Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Humbert." And confirming that ownership, a story on the GenealogyVillage.com website about Humbert's Hickory House closing includes the mention of Lester Humbert, who had a "successful … restaurant with V's Cafe."
Other owners included Vernon V. Flanagan, who died in 1993. Also from the GenealogyVillage.com website is Flanagan's obituary: "For many years, he owned and operated V's Cafe with his wife, Louise Holloway Flanagan. During the 1950s, many celebrities and dignitaries stopped and ate at V's when traveling between Dallas and Houston when Highway 75 was the main highway."
It is not known when V's opened or when it permanently closed. The restaurant shut down for more than three weeks in 1964 after a fire, giving the owners at that time, listed as Brantley and W. L. Humbert, a chance to remodel the dining room and enlarge the kitchen.
There is so little to be found online about Vic's Cafe that it's a shame that this bit of racism, common in the largely segregated early 1950s, is one of the few mentions of the place that survives, chronicled in "The Game Changers – Abner Haynes, Leon King, and the Fall of Major College Football's Color Barrier in Texas," by Jeff Miller, published in 2006. It includes the attempt by the North Texas State Teachers College freshman football team – including two black players – to eat in the dining room at V's Cafe prior to their 8 p.m. game with Navarro Junior College:
"The advance story in the Corsicana Daily Sun didn't mention North Texas bringing any black players, simply that the freshman team from North Texas State Teachers College was highly regarded.
"Bahnsen's players loaded onto the bus that was affectionately known as the "green goose" around noon. For the 8 p.m. kickoff, Bahnsen's routine was to find someplace in town to have a pregame meal. Upon reaching Corsicana, he spotted V's Cafe, just off the main road into town. The North Texas party disembarked, ready to eat. The food apparently wasn't ready, King said, and players killed some time by walking around. King said he walked with Joe Mack Pryor and Eugene Haecker, the latter a tackle from the central Texas town of Seguin, and they drew some stares from the white townspeople. When the team prepared to enter the restaurant a short time later, an employee noticed at least one of the black players. Bahnsen was informed that blacks couldn't eat in the main dining area with the rest of the team; they would have to eat back in the kitchen. At least three of the white players – Pryor, Cole, and George Herring- emphatically informed the eatery staff that the North Texas freshman football team would not be staying. The group was able to pick up food that was suddenly 'to go.' As the players left, Haecker kicked over his chair."
As the story continued, it was not surprising, that ostensibly having been tipped off after the incident at V's Cafe, more bigotry followed when the team arrived to play their game.
The china includes cups with the design placed inside near the rim; and a plate with the design located at the top of the well, inside the verge. The design is made up of what is likely a fantasy crest with ribbons in gray and orange encircling a large white V, with three crowns and two additional V's making up the crest. Each element, whether white, gray, or orange, is set off by a black stroke.
Sources:
Lawrence County Historical Society
Corsicana Daily Sun
GenealogyVillage.com
"The Game Changers – Abner Haynes, Leon King, and the Fall of Major College Football's Color Barrier in Texas," by Jeff Miller –
Contributors:
Plate photos: Ed Babcock
Fire clipping: Steve Koska
Author: Susan Phillips