Blue plates at the Blue Plate Cafe

During the 1950s, dinnerware manufactured by the Royal China Company of Sebring, Ohio and decorated with transfer printed scenes taken from prints by Currier & Ives was offered as promotional premiums by A&P grocery stores. Although also produced in pink, green, and brown, blue was was most popular and most-produced color. The dinnerware is now very collectable, and is seen here displayed on the wall of Memphis, Tennesee’s Blue Plate Cafe.

The expression “blue-plate special,” referring to a low-priced meal, was named after a different kind of blue plate featuring dividers.