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Swing Time – The Pinnacle of a Series

The opening title for Swing Time (1936)

Swing Time Main Title

 

On August 27, 1936, swarms of people lined up outside the Radio City Music Hall. They stood patiently to see the latest film of the greatest dance team the movies had created, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Swing Time, would be their sixth pairing in less than three years.

 

Herald-Tribune newspaper ad for Swing Time

Opening day advertisement for Swing Time. The New York Herald-Tribune 8/27/36

 

Swing Time is musical film perfection. The terrific score by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields has left us with two lasting standards A Fine Romance and  The Way You Look Tonight, the 1936 Academy Award winner for best song. The supporting cast included past Astaire-Rogers’ series regulars Eric Blore, as a fussy dance studio owner and Helen Broderick as Ginger Roger’s wise cracking friend. Musical stage veteran Victor Moore, new to the series, played Fred Astaire’s bumbling magician side kick buddy. Also in the cast, George Metaxa as the band leader who rivals for Ginger Rogers affection. Betty Furness, as Fred Astaire’s fiancée and Landers Stevens the father of the jilted fiancée and off-screen the father of the film’s director, George Stevens.

 

 

Then there is the dancing.  Pick Yourself Up,  is the hot duet.  This was a  feature of their films starting with The Gay Divorcee. Where as the previous hot duets had several changes of tempo, Pick Yourself Up, has only one. A very driving, exciting tempo. The dance culminates in the pair lifting each other back and forth over the dance floor’s low railing.

 

 

Waltz in Swing Time is the dance that is up next and like Pick Yourself Up, it too is in one tempo. Arlene Croce wrote in The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book (1972) about Waltz in Swing Time:  “. . . the Waltz has no special story to tell. It is pure white: pure vision and sound. Nevertheless, it is one of those grand, impassioned moonlit dances, and it just flies – it’s the brio of romance. Two minutes  and 45 seconds of unspeakable delight.” As Fred Astaire says just before this number – “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!” And so has the audience.

 

 

Fred Astaire’s big solo dance number is Bojangles of Harlem, a tribute to the famous dancer, Bill Robinson (1878-1949). Hermes Pan, Astaire’s dance assistant since Flying Down to Rio in 1933 created this Academy Award nominated number. In a career spanning 77 years it is his only appearance in black face. Not to condone the use of black face, at least this number attempts to rise above the stereotypical caricatures of the time. The number tries to be a respectful homage of one artist to another. But it makes it difficult for present day audiences to appreciate.  Astaire gives an interpretation of not Bill Robinson but rather of John W. Bubbles (real name John William Sublett). Astaire considered Sublett the greatest tap dancer of the time. Sublett even gave tap lesson to Astaire in the 1920’s. For Bojangles of Harlem Astaire dresses and dances in the style of Sublett’s character of Sportin’ Life from Porgy and BessBojangles of Harlem is a number in three sections. First the chorus girls dance out from behind sliding doors. Another set of doors open to reveal a pair of gigantic legs, the chorus girls part the legs and we see Astaire sitting on top of a miniature “Harlem”. Astaire and the girls dance. The first section ends with the girls dancing off into the wings.

 

 

The second section starts with the last set of doors opening up to a movie screen. Onto the screen three giant silhouettes of Astaire fade into view. Astaire, in front of the screen dances in and out of synch with the silhouettes. With Bojangles of Harlem, Astaire-Pan employed trick photography for the first time in a dance routine. The shadow idea came to Pan one day on the sound stage while waiting for Astaire to arrive. Three lights at the top of stage cast three shadows on the wall. When Astaire entered the stage Pan showed him the shadows and said it would be fun to add that to the number. Astaire wondered how they could accomplish the effect. Vernon  L. Walker, RKO special effects specialist explained “All you do is get Astaire in front of a screen and photograph his shadows first. Then we take those shadows and make a split screen, and then we photograph Astaire doing the same routine in front of them.”  According to the American Film Institute Catalog entry for Swing Time: “Astaire first danced in front of a blank white screen onto which a strong Sun Arc lamp projected a single shadow. Then he performed the “foreground” dance under normal lighting and in front of another blank screen. This dance was combined optically with the shadow dance, which had been tripled optically in the lab. Simultaneity was achieved by having Astaire watch a projected version of the shadow dance while he performed the foreground dance.” Knowing the Bojangles of Harlem special effects process would require extra time, the number was shot after regular shooting wrapped.  It took three long days to film.

 

 

After the silhouettes leave the screen, Astaire begins the final section of Bojangles of Harlem. For this section Astaire taps and claps his hands in two different rhythms that are off rhythm with the music. Before the audience has a chance to grasp the complexity of all of it, Astaire wraps it up and exits the stage. It is an amazing routine.

 

 

The ultimate number in the film also became the ultimate number of the entire Astaire-Rogers series.  Never Gonna Dance is the most complex dance routine of all their films. The song itself cannot exist outside the context of the film, but it sets the mood for the dance. To quote again from Croce: “In the film it is the end of the affair, in life it is the end of Astaire and Rogers’ Golden Age. On two stage levels linked by glistening staircases there now takes place the supreme dramatic event of the series, a duet moving through a succession of darkening emotions and abrupt rhythmic changes in which we see unfold in dance the story of the film.” Because of the complexity of the dance, Never Gonna Dance became the last sequence shot for Swing Time, in the regular shooting schedule. In previous dances Astaire and Rogers had danced over furniture or up and down a few steps. With this dance they danced up two long flights of stairs on opposite sides of the set. Filming went on all day and then into the early hours of the next morning. Half way through the filming, Rogers’ feet began to bleed. All wanted to call it quits, but Rogers insisted that they finish that night so they could rest the next day. The 47th take was the charm.

 

 

At the helm of Swing Time was George Stevens. At the time Stevens was the top director on the RKO lot. The year before he successfully directed Katharine Hepburn in Alice Adams. Up to this time Mark Sandrich directed most of the Astaire-Rogers films. Pandro S. Berman, RKO production head, originally intended that Sandrich and Stevens would alternately direct these films. Berman’s plan did not come to fruition and Swing Time became the only one directed by Stevens. Stevens’ began his career as a cinematography and later a director at the Hal Roach Studio. He learned his craft well and this training served him in a career that would last over forty years and include such classics as Gunga Din (1939), Woman of the Year (1942), A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956).

 

 

The floor of the remodeled Silver Sandal.

The stylized city on the floor in front of the orchestra stand in the remodeled Silver Sandal.

 

Van Nest Polglase head of the art department at RKO and his assistant Carroll Clark designed the sets of all the Astaire-Rogers film up to 1938’s Carefree. And all the films through 1937 had one huge set piece. Affectionately known as the “big white set”, this always served as the background for the big dance number. “Big white set” examples are seaside hotel of The Gay Divorcee, the fashion salon in Roberta and the Venice set of Top Hat. The big set pieces in Swing Time are loose adaptations of some actual night clubs. The Silver Sandal in the film derives its name from the Manhattan prohibition era club, The Silver Slipper. A remodeling of the club, midway through the film gives it an even more sleek, moderne appearance.

 

The first Silver Sandal set.

The Silver Sandal set as it appears in the earlier part of Swing Time.

 

On screen credit for the second Silver Sandal set and the Bojangles of Harlem costumes went to John Harkrider. That credit is only somewhat true. Harkrider only “designed” the part of the set seen in the Bojangles of Harlem number. A number photographed on a different stage from the Silver Sandal set. Credit for the Silver Sandal sets goes to Polglase and Carroll.

 

 

Club Raymond is an amalgam of two actual night clubs The Clover Club and The Rainbow Room. The Clover Club on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood did offer its patrons illegal gambling, like Club Raymond. But the obvious inspiration was The Rainbow Room, the very swank restaurant on the 65th floor of the RCA Building. Even the view from Club Raymond was the view from the Rainbow Room.

 

 

Aside from the art direction the sets featured some of the best designs in moderne style furnishings. Fred Astaire’s character’s dressing room among all the other Art Deco items has a terrific chrome tube chair. The chair made by the Lloyd Loom Manufacturing Company was a creation of the industrial designer KEM Weber.

 

Silver Sandal dressing room.

A dressing room in the Silver Sandal. Betty Furness sitting in a KEM Weber designed chair.

 

The desk lamp, prominently featured in this scene is a product of the Markel Corporation of Buffalo, New York. This lamp today sells between $500.00 – $1,000.00.

 

Markel Desk Lamp

Sitting on the desk is a rare Markel Corporation lamp.

 

Other wonderful sets and furnishings include, George Metaxa’s suite. A very sleek bachelor apartment.

 

 

And the dance studio, the obvious place for the romance to start in an Astaire-Rogers film.

 

 

Swing Time marked the artistic high of the RKO musicals of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.  But the financial high had already been hit with Top Hat the year before. Swing Time would be the last film to use the formula that had started with The Gay Divorcee (1934) and repeated in Top Hat. Roberta (1935) and Follow the Fleet  (1936) shared a different plot formula. Starting with 1937’s Shall We Dance the writers looked for inspiration outside of the insular world of the previous Astaire-Rogers films. While all the RKO Astaire-Rogers films are good at worst and near sublime at best, Swing Time marks the end of the Golden Age for the series.

 

 

The final clinch.

Swing Time – The final clinch.

 

 

End Credit

Swing Time End Credit

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)

 

If you liked this post, you might enjoy these earlier posts:

Art Deco meets Italian Futurism

Modernistic Background for Zaniness

 

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Vanished New York City Art Deco: The Airlines Terminal

Today with ultra tight airline security such a building couldn’t exist. But back when flying was for the wealthy and the most glamorous form of travel, a building in the middle of Manhattan matched that glamour. The Airlines Terminal made getting to the brand new New York Municipal Airport-La Guardia Field in the borough of Queens easier.

 

Post Card view of the Arilines Terminal.

Airlines Terminal Vintage Postcard. Circa 1941

 

Located at the southwest corner of Park Avenue and 42nd Street, the Airlines Terminal stood on the site of the Hotel Belmont (1906). The Belmont closed its doors in 1930. Torn down in 1931, a beer garden occupied the site for a short time in 1933. Other than that for most of the decade the site remained vacant.

 

The Belmont Hotel on 42nd Street.

A postcard of The Hotel Belmont.

 

Demolition of the Hotel Belmont.

The demolition of the Hotel Belmont in the summer of 1931. Photo: Digital Collection

 

Plans for the Airlines Terminal building at 80 East 42nd Street became public in September of 1939. Architect John B. Peterkin’s (1886 – 1969) design for the five-story building is best described as modern classical. The terminal consolidated the reservations, ticketing and baggage handling for the five major American airlines (American, Eastern, TWA, United and PamAm). Other facilities planned for Airlines Terminal were a restaurant, stores on the ground level and a 600 seat newsreel theatre.

 

 

Construction of the terminal began in the fall of 1939, with May, 1940 scheduled for the opening. The New York Herald-Tribune reported on September 12, 1939:

 

           The building will be of limestone on all street frontages and will incorporate many new devices, including automatic elevators for the airline buses, inclosed and separate from the rest of the building. The building will have mechanical ventilation throughout. Two street levels, one on Forty-second Street and the other on Forty-first Street, will permit the terminal to be on the grade floor on Forty-first Street, where the buses will take passengers to and from the flying fields. The terminal will be reached by two large escalators from the entrance on Forty-second Street.

 

Airlines Terminal construction site.

42nd Street construction site of the future Airlines Terminal. November, 1939. Photo: NYPL Digital Collection

 

The Airlines Terminal steel frame construction was noteworthy for its use of welding instead of riveting.  Shortly before it went up,  the Herald-Tribune reported on January 19, 1940:

 

               The steel frame of the new Airlines Terminal  to be erected on the site of the old Belmont Hotel at Park Avenue and Forty-second Street will be welded. John B. Peterkin, architect announced yesterday. No riveting will be used, either in the shop or on the site, to assemble the frame. The structure, which will rise five stories about the street level and extend four stories below, will require about 1,300 tons of welded steel. If riveting had been adopted, Mr. Peterkin said, 150 additional tons of steel would have been required. Work will be started in a few days.

 

In early 1940, while still under construction, the Airlines Terminal size was enlarged. The March 3, 1940 New York Times reported:

 

              The space to be occupied as a terminal has been doubled under a new arrangement without increasing the size of the building. Originally, the terminal itself was to be only on the street level on Forty-first Street and reached by an escalator from Forty-second Street. Now a lower floor will be taken by the terminal, giving it one floor for incoming passengers an another for outgoing. The airlines decided to enlarge their ticket and reservations facilities because of the great increase in flying by the American public and because of the success of the trans-oceanic clippers. When the terminal first was conceived in the early part of 1938 it was believed that a single floor of facilities would take care of all the requirements for many years. Developments since then have proved otherwise.

 

The steel frame of the Airlines Terminal the day the cornerstone was laid.

April 22, 1940. The cornerstone ceremony. Photo from the New York Times, 4/23/40

 

 

Newspaper construction photo of the Airlines Terminal.

The Airlines Terminal under construction. July, 1940. Photo from the New York Times.

 

Mayor Fiorello La Guardia laid the Airlines Terminal cornerstone on April 22, 1940. But the enlargement of the building delayed it’s opening. The New York Times reported the following day that the new planned opening would be in September. Then September came and went. A gala dedication dinner announced for December 17th got pushed back into the new year. On December 28, 1940 a jurisdictional dispute between two unions over telephone wiring threatened to further delay the opening. Members of the United Telephone Organization went on strike, halting work on the installation of telephones and switchboards. Due to the hard work of mediators the strike came to a quick end on December 30th. Finally on January 8, 1941 the gala dedication dinner was held, even though the terminal still needed its finishing touches completed. Speakers at the dinner included Mayor La Guardia and Juan Trippe, founder of Pam American Airways.

 

 

Almost three weeks following the gala dinner at 12:01 A.M., January 26, 1941 the doors opened for business. Twelve hours later Mayor La Guardia made an official visit to the terminal. Accompanied by his two children and a friend the mayor inspected the air line buses and the huge elevators that lifted them to the second floor. According to the New York Hearld-Tribune, January 27, 1941:

 

           “The mayor stopped to admire the mural in the rotunda. Made of cast aluminum it showed an eagle in flight beside a man. The symbolism of the mural as explained to the mayor is the eagle must have wings to fly, but man soars through his intellect. What Mayor La Guardia saw during his visit evidently pleased him, for he told John B. Peterkin, terminal architect: ‘You’ve done a fine job.'”

 

Airlines Terminal 1941

Airlines Terminal Park Avenue and 42nd Street. View looking Southwest, 1941. Photo NYPL Digital Collection

 

The symmetrical facade, devoid of almost all decoration, stood in modern contrast to the Beaux-Arts architecture of Grand Central Terminal directly opposite on 42nd Street. Otto Bach created the polychromatic stainless steel mural of the world set above the concave main entrance. This provided not only a grand gateway to the building itself but also symbolically to the airport and the world beyond.

 

Entrance Detail of the Airlines Terminal

Detail of the Airlines Terminal showing the entrance and Otto Bach’s mural. Vintage Post card.

 

Main Entrance of the Airlines Terminal

Detail: Airlines Terminal main entrance. Wurts Bros. Image – Museum of the City of New York.

 

Equally important in the exterior design was Rene Chambellan’s (1893-1955) decorative carvings and eagles sculpture and light fixture. The out stretched wings of the eagles supported the lantern and the 80 foot flag pole made of Oregon pine. The lantern originally flashed alternating green and amber light through filters, illuminating and dimming every 10 seconds.

 

Rene Chambellan's eagle sculpture and lantern.

Detail of the Eagle Sculpture and Lantern, by Rene Chambellan.

 

Very few images of the interior exist of the Airlines Terminal. Because of the lack of photographs the best description of the inside of the building comes from the New York Times – January 5, 1941:

 

    New Airlines Depot
    Gay Decorations and Modern Mechanisms Give It an Arabian Nights Atmosphere
                             Walls of Gold. At the head of the escalator the traveler or sightseer will gaze south through a great oval salon. The ceiling is an elongated dome, sky blue and richly beautiful. One-eighth of an acre of stainless steel colored with pure gold makes up the first thirty perpendicular feet of wall all around the rotunda below the azure dome. Giant figures of a symbolic man and bird in flight (in aluminum) dominate the upper wall ends. Ticket offices of the various airlines occupy wall spaces below the upper golden sidewall.
                                 The circular information booth is located in the center of the rotunda floor. But in this one the four-faced clock is mounted at the intersection of right-angled wings of light-transmitting plastic eleven feet high. They are the largest sheets of this magic material ever produced. Edges of the wings are feathered to emit the inner light.

 

 

Airlines Terminal Rotunda.

Airlines Terminal Rotunda. Showing circular information booth with illuminated plastic wings before the installation of the clock. Photo from the New York Times.

 

Photo postcard of the interior of the Airlines Terminal.

Vintage postcard of the Airlines Terminal rotunda. Photo by William Hoff.

 

 

Escalator to the rotunda.

Escalators just inside the Airlines Terminal main entrance on 42nd Street. Wurts Bros. Image – Museum of the City of New York.

 

The Airlines Terminal was an immediate success. Service to Newark Airport began shortly after its opening. After the end of the Second World War traveling by air started to gain in popularity. By the end of 1946 the terminal was serving between 11,000 and 12,000 people each day. As a result a small adjunct office opened on 42nd Street under the Park Avenue viaduct in Pershing Square. Approximately 235 12 passenger buses were leaving from the 41st Street ramps at the back of the terminal, with another 60 leaving from the smaller Pershing Square station per day. Then to make matters worse New York International Airport (better known as Idlewild and since 1963, JFK) in Queens opened in 1948.

 

 

Vintage photo postcard of the Airlines Terminal rotunda.

Vintage William Hoff Postcard – Airlines Terminal interior detail showing rotunda entrance to the airport limousines. Rene Chambellan’s aluminum sculpture above the door.

 

 

Airlines Terminal limousine ramps.

Limousine ramps and airport limousines in the basement of the Airlines Terminal. 1/22/41. Photo from Getty Images.

 

The increase of passengers of course resulted in an equal increase of airport buses on midtown streets. To reach the two Queens airports buses leaving the terminal had to travel a few blocks southeast to get into the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. If the traffic to Queens was bad, getting to Newark Airport was even worse. New Jersey bound buses would drive  on congested crosstown streets before entering the Lincoln Tunnel. Unfortunately the solution to the problem would eventually doom the 42nd Street building.

 

 

Airlines Terminal, 1951.

Airlines Terminal March 8, 1951. Wurts Bros. image – Museum of the City New York.

 

In July, 1951 an announcement came that a new Airlines Terminal at First Avenue between 37th and 38th streets would open by 1953. The new location was directly across 37th Street from the entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. When the new terminal opened on November 30, 1953 all bus service transferred to the new east side facility. Even buses to Newark would leave from the East Side, at least temporarily. As a result the original Airlines Terminal on 42nd Street  became to a reservation service center only.

 

Vintage postcard of the East Side Airlines Terminal.

Vintage postcard of the East Side Airlines Terminal. Circa 1955. The trees at the bottom left hide the entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.

 

East Side Airlines Terminal

Interior of the East Side Airlines Terminal.

 

 

Before the east side terminal even opened to the public construction started on the West Side Airlines Terminal. The new facility would serve Newark Airport exclusively. At 42nd Street and Tenth Avenue, the new terminal had easy access to the Lincoln Tunnel. With the opening of the terminal on September 15, 1955, travel time to Newark reduced to only 21 minutes.

 

 

West Side Airlines Terminal

West Side Airlines Terminal – 42nd Street & 10th Avenue. View looking South East across 10th Avenue. Photo: Getty Images.

 

 

West Side Airlines Terminal

Interior of the West Side Terminal on its closing day, August 27, 1972. Photo: Getty Images

 

 

Comparing the two new terminals to the original one shows how much changed in less than 15 years. By the mid-1950’s air travel had become more commonplace than it was before the Second World War. While still thrilling, it lost some of its glamour and the architecture of the new terminals reflected that change. Gone were the symbolic murals and decorative metal work. Utilitarian is the best adjective to describe the interior decoration of the new facilities.

 

As a result of the two new terminals, the name of the original needed to change. In 1954 the Airlines Terminal on 42nd Street became the Airlines Building.

 

Airlines Terminal.

Pre – 1954 Facade Engraving.

 

Airlines Terminal Building.

1954  from terminal to building and reduced importance.

 

And there were other changes too. Because of loss of patronage at newsreel theatres in general, the Airlines Terminal theatre became a first run art house for British and foreign films in May, 1949. But the change in programming was not enough to save  it from closing. By October, 1955 the space once occupied by the theatre was converted into a Horn & Hardart’s Automat.

 

Newsreel Theatre, Airlines Terminal

Airlines Terminal Newsreel Theatre, Circa 1941.

 

 

The Airlines Building Automat

Detail: An Automat in the space once occupied by the newsreel theatre. 1955.

 

Automat in the Airlines Building.

The interior of the Airlines Building Automat, where once the news of the day was served now it is pot pies and coffee. Circa, 1955. NYPL Digital Collection

 

 

October, 1955 Airlines Building

Airlines Building, October 20, 1955. Wurts Bros. Image – Museum of the City of New York.

 

 

Beginning in the early 1970’s the Airlines Building, and the city itself went into decline. Then the airlines moved out. Manhattan Air Terminal, Inc., told The New York Times:

                     That a more spacious and modern terminal would open at 8:00 A.M. tomorrow (6/12/72) in the Pershing Square Building, just across Park Avenue from the old terminal, at 100 East 42nd Street. The company said it had taken a 20-year lease on the mezzanine of the building, which has direct access to the IRT subway.

 

 

The Airlines Building, 1970's.

Snapshot of the Airlines Building in the mid-1970’s.

 

In the photo above, the Airlines Building’s elegance shines through the grime, but its days were numbered. As is the case with so much Manhattan real estate the land value is far greater than the value of the building. And in a building so small, the rental income could not possibly cover its operating costs and taxes. Then the inevitable news came on August 2, 1978 (as reported in the New York Times):

 

                    The Airlines Terminal Building, once a thriving ticket and terminal headquarters for leading world airlines at 80 East 42nd Street, will be demolished beginning later this week, Philip Morris Inc. announced yesterday.
                  In its place the company, which manufactures cigarettes, beer and other products, is planning to build an office building of approximately 25 stories that will serve as an addition to its corporate headquarters, which are in an adjacent building.
                      Robert L. Ryan, a spokesman for the company, said that a demolition permit had been obtained and that safety scaffolding would be erected in the next few days, with demolition work on the three story Art Deco building expected to last two to three months.
                  The building has an imposing exterior, but it is not considered one of the better examples of the Art Deco style of architecture. Kent Barwick, chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, said: “It is an interesting building, but certainly not among the most important architectural treasures of this city.”

 

 

The Philip Morris Building

The 26 story, 360 foot Philip Morris Building. Completed in 1983. View southwest across 42nd Street.

 

Although gone from New York for nearly 40 years a bit of the Airlines Terminal survives. 350 miles south of Manhattan in Richmond, Virginia the eagles that once looked over 42nd street, stand in front the former Best Products headquarters building on Parham Road. So if you find yourself in Richmond and you want to see a bit of Art Deco New York check them out.

 

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)

 

If you enjoyed this article then check out these earlier Driving For Deco blog posts:

Happy 85th Birthday, Empire State Building

Downtown Manhattan Art Deco

Chrysler Building Opened 85 Years Ago Today

 

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Reference Library Update

"Wisdom"

“Wisdom”

 

 

Chrysler Building spire

Apex of the Chrysler Building. Photo by Margaret Bourke-White. Photo from the photographersgallery.com

 

Reference Library Update:  The Sixty-First Floor, Please  – House Beautiful – April, 1932. Article by Helen Sprackling about the Chrysler Building apartment of photographer Margaret Bourke-White designed by John Vassos. 5 page article & 2 vintage advertisements. Click on the magazine cover to read the article.

 

 

Sixty-First Floor Please

 

 

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Fiestaware 101: Part Three 1939 The Juice Set.

Fiestaware Dancing Lady Logo

By 1939 Fiestaware was the top-selling solid color dinnerware in the United States. To further stimulate sales, a special promotional juice set was offered at a suggested retail price of $1.00. The set consisted of six tumblers and a 30 oz. pitcher. This new pitcher was identical to the 71 oz. disc water pitcher except for the size.

 

The Fiestaware promotional juice set of 1939. Yellow pitcher and six tumblers in the original colors.

The Fiestaware promotional juice set of 1939. Yellow pitcher and six tumblers in the original colors.

As the  disc water pitcher was being developed in early 1938, several different sizes were modeled. In 1939, the smallest became the juice pitcher with Yellow chosen as the glaze color.  A good number of juice pitchers can be found in Harlequin Yellow (a brighter, more pure yellow than the Fiesta yellow). Harlequin, a sister line to Fiestaware, was sold exclusively through Woolworth stores and there are too many of the Harlequin Yellow pitchers to be an accident.  It must have been a deliberate choice by Homer Laughlin as a way to offer more options for the set. The standard Fiesta yellow pitcher has a book value of $45.00, while Harlequin Yellow juice pitchers are worth around $50.00 – $55.00.

 

Fiestaware juice set and carton.

Fiestaware juice set and carton.

A special order juice set was produced for Old Reliable Coffee a product of the Dayton Mills Spice Company. This was one of many promotional products offered by Dayton Mills and consisted of the same tumblers but with a red pitcher. Today the red juice pitcher is quite hard to find and has a value of over $500.00.

 

The Red Juice Pitcher made for the Old Reliable Coffee special promotion.

The Red Juice Pitcher made for the Old Reliable Coffee special promotion.

 

The juice tumblers had a long and somewhat painful production process. In 1935, Homer Laughlin was approached by Kraft-Phenix Cheese corporation. They were interested in having ceramic crocks made for their processed cheese products.  Creative designer, Frederick Rhead was able (after some trial and error) to mold a crock to Kraft’s satisfaction and 200,00 were produced.  In 1937, Kraft again came to Homer Laughlin for a new container. Rhead knew that there would be a lot of back and forth before an acceptable crock was created. He designed over 20 different models, all rejected, over a 14 month period. In the end, Homer Laughlin was unable to meet Kraft’s needs. As a side note Kraft had glass crocks made by the Hazel Atlas Glass Company. The glass crocks are almost identical to the Fiesta ones. What it boiled down to was economics. A ceramic crock filled with cheese would have to be sold at 35 cents each. Kraft could sell two glass crocks fill with cheese for the same price. The last ceramic crock designed for Kraft would go into production as the juice tumbler the next year.

 

 

 

The juice set tumblers were produced in all six original Fiesta colors.  There was a seventh color available, Rose. Rose was a recent color addition to the Harlequin line. While not as easy to find today as the other tumblers, there are enough out there to suggest that it was either made for a  special order or offered to add more variety to the juice set. Book values for tumblers in the original six colors range from around $45.00 for those in Red, Cobalt and Ivory and $40.00 in Green, Yellow and Turquoise. Rose tumblers have a value of $80.00. But with most Fiestaware since the recession these pieces can often be found for less.

 

Rose Juice Tumbler

Rose Juice Tumbler

The success of the juice set led to an all out special promotional campaign the next year. In our next Fiestaware blog post we will look at the Salad Set and the French Casserole.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)

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