Question: {mosimage}
I have a few Red Wing dishes I picked up at an antique store. Can you tell me what year they were made in. I love Red Wing pottery and was just curious about the history and what their value might be, they are plain but beautiful and make a wonderful addition to my dinnerware. Thanks Jeanie

Answer:
Jeanie,
Your photo shows a white piece from Red Wing’s Hotel or Restaurant China line. This was a line of sturdy dinnerware sold to restaurants, not to the general public. Because it was made for restaurant use rather than for the home, the pieces available are somewhat different than those available in most dinnerware patterns. Pitcher, salt & pepper shakers, casserole, butter dish, gravy boat and vegetable bowl are among the "standard" dinnerware accessories not made in the Hotel or Restaurant line. But the line did include restaurant-oriented pieces such as the lobster dish, pot pie bowl, bouillon cup, ash tray and individual teapot.

Standard colors in Hotel & Restaurant China were white or beige fleck. Colored trim lines around the edges could be added for an additional charge. I’ve seen these in green, yellow, red and blue. A customer could also order custom artwork to be hand painted on their dishes, and at least two restaurants did so. Sweden House plates show a home (probably a Swedish home) along with frills in shades of blue, while Diamond Jim’s plates have old-time automobiles in black, red and pink. A couple of plates made for the Thunderbird Motel have also surfaced; due to the small number these were probably samples rather than production pieces.

Hotel or Restaurant China was introduced in the early to mid-1960s. Dates are uncertain because the line was not sold to the general public and thus is not included in dealer price lists. Values for most of the undecorated white or beige fleck pieces are rather low, in the $5 to $10 range for standard plates and bowls. Unusual pieces such as the lobster dish are more valuable — $25 to $40. The lobster dish is the only piece that was available in orange, and an orange lobster dish would be worth more than white or beige fleck. Teapots ($20-$40), creamers & sugars ($20-$30), and cups & saucers ($15-$25) have some additional value because some collectors seek one from each Red Wing pattern.

Larry

Question:
Hi. I have several pieces of a pattern that is from either 1960 or 1961. It is white, with green and lavender (), and I believe the pattern name is lotus blossom (I could be wrong, I can’t remember). I am considering selling them, and I’m wondering what to ask. I have a very large salad bowl, what looks like a vegetable or relish tray with fitted bowls, dinner plates, etc. Hopefully, this is enough information to get my question answered. Thanks Mary M.

Answer:
Mary,
From your description I believe you have items from the Crocus pattern, one of the patterns in the True China line. Crocus apparently did not sell well and is difficult to find today. True China patterns were introduced in 1960. Crocus appears in the 1961 and 1962 price lists. I don’t have a 1963 price list but I suspect Crocus was not included. I am not aware of any collectors of the Crocus pattern but no doubt they exist. There are also collectors who seek one of a certain item from each Red Wing pattern such as a teapot, a S&P shaker set, a cup & saucer, etc. These collectors are eager to find Crocus pieces in their specialty.

Your description refers to a relish dish with fitted trays. This is the 6-piece relish, a piece made only in the six True China patterns. If yours is complete and in excellent condition, it is worth at least $200 and perhaps considerably more to the right collector. Crocus teapots and beverage servers are also highly prized and worth at least $200. I’m not aware of people who collect large salad bowls but yours would certainly be of interest to anybody building a set of Crocus; the value should be around $50. Dinner plates are sought by dinner plate collectors and are worth $25 to $50. All values assume excellent condition.

Larry

Question:
Why does my Friar cookie jar have a one inch irregular brown border on the bottom? Thanks Phyllis B.

Answer:
Without a photo it’s impossible for me to be sure about brown border on your cookie jar. My best guess is that the "border" is cookie grease that has seeped into the jar. This is a rather common problem with Friar Tuck, Katrina and Chef Pierre cookie jars that have seen a lot of use. As cookies set at the bottom of the jar, the oil in them tends to move through tiny cracks in the glaze (crazing) and into the clay under the glaze. When the clay gets saturated with oil it has a dirty brown appearance.

Larry

Question: {mosimage}
I am looking for any information regarding the Red Wing dishes
that belonged to my grandmother. I have a complete service for 8 including
casserole and serving dishes. Since I know nothing about the dishes I have
attached a photo.

I also have a complete service for 8 including casserole and serving
dishes in the Lotus Concord 1941 pattern and would like information about
this dish set.

Thank you for you help.

Monica S.

Answer:
Monica,
The pattern in the plate in your photo is Blossom Time. Lotus and Blossom Time are both patterns in the Concord shape, which was first produced in 1941 in the Harvest and Lexington patterns. Lotus was introduced in 1947 and made until 1957. Blossom Time was introduced late 1949 or early 1950 and discontinued in 1955.

"Complete set" does not provide sufficient information to price a set. The term means different things to different people, and does not define which accessory pieces are included in the set. Condition of the pieces is also a critical factor in determining value. Lotus and Blossom Time are comparable in value. Dinner plates are worth $10 to $15, salad and bread plates $5 to $10, teacups & saucers $10 to $15, small bowls $5 to $10. Casseroles are worth around $25. All prices are retail and assume excellent condition.

Larry

Question:
I have a pink chef pierre cookie jar but can’t find the value of it anywhere. Could you please let me know a little about it? I also have a pink pedastel cake dish that matches it. It’s really funny, but the cake dish came from my mother and the cookie jar was my husband’s mother’s. Any idea on the cake dish too? Thanks Donna B.

Answer:
The "Chef" cookie jar was introduced by Red Wing in 1941, along with his friends Katrina the Dutch girl and Friar Tuck. Price lists from 1942, 1943 and 1944 show them as being available in blue, yellow, and tan colors. An undated brochure, probably from the mid to late 1940s adds green as an available color. The early brochures refer to the jar as "Pierre the Chef".

These three cookie jars were great sellers for Red Wing. Many thousands of them were made and production continued into the mid 1950s. By then Katrina and Friar Tuck were dropped from production, but the Chef continued on along with several newly introduced cookie jar shapes. An brochure from 1956 lists fleck pink and fleck blue as the only two available colors. This is probably the last year of production for the Chef as he does not appear in a 1957 dealers price list.

Yellow seems to have been the best seller for colors, followed by blue, tan and green. The later fleck pink and fleck blue are not as common because they were made for a much shorter period, at the very end of production.

You did not mention the condition of your pink chef cookie jar, and of course condition is a major factor in the value of a collectible. While the Chef and his friends are not at all rare, jars in excellent condition are not easy to find in any color. After years of use (often by the small hands of children more interested in the contents than the jar), these jars are usually chipped or cracked and have grease stains. A Chef cookie jar in excellent condition would be worth around $100 to $125 in the yellow or tan colors, with another $25 to $50 for blue. Green would be worth more because the color is less common. The fleck blue and fleck pink colors should be worth still more due to their relative rarity, in the $250 to $300 range and maybe more to a collector who seeks one of each color.

The pink pedestal cake plate does not belong to any dinnerware pattern or line. It’s just a cake plate made to sell on its own. These were made in several colors in the mid-1950s. Value is $25-30 in excellent condition.

Larry

Question:
I recently purchased a large box of Red Wing dishes at a yard sale for $10. Not until I got home had I realized what I had aquired and how collectible they are. They are numbered and labeled Ebb Tide on the bottom and are green with dark brown swirls. However, I am wanting to use these as a functional set of dishes. My question to you is are they dishwasher safe or should they always be hand washed? Thanks! Jennifer

Answer:
To my knowledge the only dinnerware line claimed by Red Wing to be dishwasher safe was Ceramastone, their final line introduced late 1966. Brochures for earlier patterns claimed to be "detergent safe" but did not mention dishwashers. Most likely this is because dishwashers were not commonly found in American households at the time.

Ebb Tide was introduced in 1965, and I expect it will do just fine in a modern dishwasher. To be safe you might want to run a couple of pieces through the dishwasher a few times and inspect them afterwards. Perhaps your box includes a chipped piece or two that could serve as guinea pigs.

Larry