Stetson China / Marcrest "Gay Nineties" Starter Dinner Set. Produced in 1951 as a "Honeymoon Suite" packaged set for Kresge stores. Gay Nineties was sold as a wedding gift in a cardboard suitcase style box with a gold plastic handle. It contained 2 dinner plates, 2 salad/side plates, 2 cups and saucers, 2 napkins, 2 juice glasses and 2 milk glasses, 2 coffee grinder candleholders, 2 gold candles, and a pyrex bowl or bread pan. Other pieces were sold in open stock. This is sold as a set. We do not have the candles, box, or bread pan. See photos. Large box shipping. Please note: Shipping charges estimated. We will verify fees before shipping shops.
The predecessor of the Stetson China Company was the Illinois China Company, which was brought to Lincoln, Illinois, in the spring of 1919. The Illinois China Company was the only manufacturer of decorated semi-porcelain ware in Illinois and one of the very few in the central West. In 1925, the local pottery was supplying 45 Kresge stores with decorated china. The Illinois China Company was sold to the Stetson China Company of Chicago on February 1, 1946. By 1950 Stetson was noted for Marcrest Blue “Snowflake patterns. In 1962, Stetson China was the largest manufacturer of hand decorated dinnerware under one roof in the world. Plagued by foreign competition and the introduction of Melmac (which Stetson's itself produced at Manitowoc, Wisconsin), the factory closed in 1965.
Product code: Dish Set shops Gay Nineties Stetson "Honeymoon Suite"