THE REDNESDAY DINER IS OPEN!

Welcome to another wonderful Rednesday! (To see more of the above vintage metal art, click on the picture.) One of my favorite collections is vintage red restaurant ware. Never heard of restaurant ware? It's the heavy dishes and mugs that you see in restaurants and diners, especially from the past. I don't have a huge collection, but pick them up here and there.

Some of the popular brands were Syracuse, Buffalo, Caribe, Shenango, Homer Laughlin, Victor, Sterling, even Fire King! Have you seen the remake movie of Bewitched? In this scene in Samantha's kitchen, you can see the mugs on the shelf above the microwave.

(Photo courtesy of Hooked on Houses blog)

Here is my collection in the kitchen:
The left plate is Buffalo, the right is Sterling, the cup/saucer is Syracuse 'Roxbury'. On the shelf, back row: left is not restaurant ware, made in England, but matches!, middle is Syracuse 'Strawberry Hill', right Syracuse. Middle row: left Syracuse, middle Cathay, right Syracuse. Bottom row: left is Sterling, right bottom is Caribe, right cup in the Caribe is unknown.

A close-up of the serving bowl, which is Caribe.

The napkin peeking out from under the shelf:

These two plates are in my pantry, on the shelf above my computer. They are Syracuse 'Dresden' pattern - hard to find, unfortunately!

Some of the Syracuse floral patterns are so very similar that it's sometimes hard to tell them apart. It seems that Syracuse has the most variety in patterns that I've seen so far.