Sometime in the late 1930's, the American Cyanamid Company began using a raw material called Melamine to produce kitchenware. This was a prewar time and a lot of resources were being diverted towards the war effort. A push was in place to find alternate materials for kitchenware.
Suddenly, plastic became the wave of the future! The Melamine product was extremely cheap to obtain thus the birth of "Melmac" kitchenware. They were very picky about who could use the name "Melmac" and who could not; it all had to do with the molds that were used. At any rate, we benefited greatly from all their effort! We had dinnerware that could withstand heat and would not break easily. Aside from the practical side of things, there is the aesthetic value that still excites us today. They made these dishes in a full range of beautiful colors from the 1930's through the 1970's. I think my favorite era for these dishes was the 1940's - 1950's. Those great mid century colors were
prevalent and they show up everywhere in these dishes. Yellows, coral, turquoise, pink and white. Not only did they produce beautiful colors but they created dishes with real style. Check out this lowly divided vegetable dish. Way too cute! Because they made so much of this stuff, it can easily be found today. Times have changed though! Don't put one of these little gems in the microwave as it will shatter. Enjoy collecting and using them daily. One of the big manufacturers of this dinnerware was TexasWare. You still see a lot of this around and they are still very collectible. Choose a color or manufacturer and collect their full line. You will find slight shade difference in colors between different manufacturers so be careful if you are focused on a particular shade. I found examples of solid color pieces, but there is a huge variety of printed patterns as well. You can set a really cute breakfast or lunch table with a variety of these colors. Use vintage linens to tie the theme together!
prevalent and they show up everywhere in these dishes. Yellows, coral, turquoise, pink and white. Not only did they produce beautiful colors but they created dishes with real style. Check out this lowly divided vegetable dish. Way too cute! Because they made so much of this stuff, it can easily be found today. Times have changed though! Don't put one of these little gems in the microwave as it will shatter. Enjoy collecting and using them daily. One of the big manufacturers of this dinnerware was TexasWare. You still see a lot of this around and they are still very collectible. Choose a color or manufacturer and collect their full line. You will find slight shade difference in colors between different manufacturers so be careful if you are focused on a particular shade. I found examples of solid color pieces, but there is a huge variety of printed patterns as well. You can set a really cute breakfast or lunch table with a variety of these colors. Use vintage linens to tie the theme together!
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