Specialty Bowls by Homer Laughlin
LaurelHollowPark.net, an informative website created and
maintained by Mark Gonzalez. Copyright © 2009-.
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The bowls featured here don't belong to any particular line. Most were special order pieces or used with multiple lines of dinnerware. Shown are some of the more readily available specialty bowls made by the Homer Laughlin China Company through the years.
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The Pennsylvania shape swirl bowl was produced as early as the mid-1920s and into the 1950s. Several different decals were applied to these salad bowls, but the one shown is the most common. They can be found with fade away trims in orange, blue, pink, and green. In 1939, Pennsylvania salad samples were made in Harlequin yellow and blue as well as Fiesta's light green. There is no evidence these solid colored bowls ever became standard pieces offered by HLC. |
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The New York shape salad bowl is not as common as the Pennsylvania, The embossing of oak leaves along the rim is brought to life by the blue fade away trim. The decal on this particular example is the same shown on the Pennsylvania bowl. |
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The fluted salad bowl (note it is not swirled) was first made in the early 1920s. The decal and trim combination shown is the most common on this shape, but you will also find examples with pale green trim and no decal at all. |
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Of the specialty salad bowls, the Boston bowl is a little more difficult to find than the Pennsylvania and New York bowls. |
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Betty Crocker bowls were made in 1940. Several versions were modeled, but this is the only one that went into production. They were also made by Red Wing and Gladding McBean with minor differences and similar markings. Homer Laughin's versions will have an opening diameter of 8 1/2" and stand 2 3/4" tall. Expect to find these in turquoise and Harlequin yellow only. Some Betty Crocker bowls can be found with their original collapsible metal frames. In recent years, HLC reintroduced the Betty Crocker bowl and glazed them in reissue Fiesta® glazes. |
Scale Bowl |
Orange Border Bowl |
In March and April 1935, the Art Department at HLC worked on several types of large salad bowls. Four version are listed in the modeling log as Orange Boarder, Orange Boarder and Center, Scale Design, and Scale Design with Modeled Center. Those with modeled centers were not released into production. Instead, the two that were, the orange border and scale design, have pain centers which are decorated with decal treatments. Both versions are rather easy to find. Most were made with light green fade away trims, but examples with blue, yellow, tan, and pink fade away trims have also been found.
Both bowls are identical except for the embossed designs. they are listed in company records as having diameters of 9 3/4", but they're closer to 10 inches exact. |
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Divided bakers in rose and chartreuse |
Divided bakers in turquoise and Harlequin yellow |
Divided bakers have been found in rose, chartreuse, forest green, turquoise, and Harlequin yellow and always unmarked. An entry in modeling log dated April 11, 1956 lists a divided baker, but gives no size or capacity specifications. However, there is a note indicating the bakers were released into production on June 20th, presumably in the same year.
Designer Don Schreckengost revealed the divided bakers were made as a generic shape on the same order as the jumbo salad bowl and spoon rest to be used with multiple lines. The examples shown here were made for Woolworth's. |
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Stencil Bowl, Virginia Rose
The large Virginia Rose nappy was made into a salad bowl with a bold stencil designs with floral decals. The stenciling comes in several different colors with red, blue, and green being the most common. |
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Stencil Bowl, Plain Round
Stencil patterns were also used to create salad bowls using Empress nappies.
See page on Stencil Salad Bowls for more. |
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The Jumbo Salad bowls in dark green were originally sold in a set which included small Rhythm/Charm House shape bowls in chartreuse and yellow plastic fork and spoon. Another version was made around the same time (all in glass with the same shapes and colors) by Pyrex. HLC's jumbo bowls are unmarked and were also used with the buffet line, Kenilworth. They were also picked up with dinnerware lines, namely Duratone. |
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According to the backstamp, this bowl was made in 1984 for FTDA. It has rings on the outside which makes it look as if it was hand thrown, but the interior rings are identical to Fiesta's. The trim used on this particular example is purple, but other colors can be found. All of the FTDA bowls will have the same off-white speckled glaze which has a matte texture and scratches easily. These bowls were made in at least four different sizes. |
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