Day 31: Baldpate China

Nearly anywhere you look in The Baldpate Inn, you can find history that makes you wonder about the past.  The story of our Baldpate china is no exception.

When we first bought the Inn, we found several pieces of the Inn’s oldest Mayer white & green signature china, but certainly not enough to use. I just love the shapes of some of the old pieces we have found in boxes over time. I mean, who uses “bone” plates anymore?!

Back then, we had been told there was a set of brown Baldpate “Key” Syracuse china (circa 1933) that we could purchase, but at the time, we could not afford it. Eventually we received it as a gift, and have since used it for special events when we can.

Fortunately, I received a small inheritance from my mom’s sister, and so with that we bought our silverware and the basic white china which we used for many years.  Several years down the road, when we needed more china, we decided to try to track down the original company, Syracuse, to see if they could reproduce our original Baldpate china. The sad news came back that a fire at the factory had destroyed all the custom records, so it was no longer an option.

Don’t know about you, but I have always loved my coffee in a mug, so we found a source for custom mugs, and many of you will remember the tall Baldpate mugs we used and sold for years. We even did a special blue & gold one for to commemorate our 75^th birthday in 1992.

You may wonder, even today, why we have three colors. We did it to simplify service for our waitstaff, a code for what you are drinking!  Tan (now blue) mugs for regular coffee, green for decaf and burgundy for tea. 

Now what you probably don’t know, is that I seem to have an uncanny ability to choose whatever is going to be discontinued. So in the past 30 years, our china, silverware, mugs, sheets, towels, robes, staff shirts…you name it, were all at one time or another taken off the market!! 

Deneen Pottery saved the day when they stepped in to custom-make our beloved new Baldpate china. What a delightful family-operated company to work with!   

And so we are especially pleased to announce our newest 100^th birthday celebration mug for 2017!  It’s going to be spectacular and available online in our gift shop or at the Inn when we open on May 26^th!

 Written by Lois Smith