Old Bay Line China Cup

Coffee cup used on Old Bay Line steamboats in the 1920s and 30s. This particular cup was recovered from the ruins of a shed that was recently destroyed by fire.

Old Bay Line Logo

The Old Bay Line logo appears on the cup. This logo, flag with a B, can be seen on other Old Bay Line material such as the poster and menu also included in our collection. The wording below the flag "service since 1840" indicates the date that the Old Bay Line was established as the Baltimore Steam Packet Company

China Mark on Bottom of Cup

Lamberton China is named for the Lamberton Works, which was founded in Trenton NJ in 1869 and was the name of the factory where the original Trenton China Company operated until 1892 or so. Trenton China made mostly domestic semi-porcelain, some quite beautifully decorated. Thom. Maddock's and Sons (later Tom. Maddock's Son's after the elder Maddock died) bought the plant from the receivers of the original company and in 1892 began producing restaurant ware and some domestic china, as well as bathroom sets (chambertpots and such). They marketed some of their china as Lamberton, and in other cases marked their ware indicating it was made at the Lamberton Works. (By-the-bye, John Maddock of Burslem, England uses a very similar mark to Thom. Maddock - they were first cousins and doubtlessly did so to extend some English cache to the America wares). Maddock sells the Lamberton Works to their head salesman, D. William Scammell, in 1922. Scammell makes restaurant ware until 1938 - when the Lunning Co. engages Scammell to begin making domestic china. Based on this information we feel that the cup we have was made by the Lamberton Scanmmell Works sometime between 1922 and 1938.