Swiss Chalet or Swiss Alpine – Dinnerware From The Past

Home Sweet Home, that’s what the Swiss Alpine or Swiss Chalet pattern reminds of.  It is one of those patterns that just make you feel at home - just says ‘family’ and makes you feel all comfy and warm inside.  The blue, olive green and turquoise blend so well together.  My mother’s favorite color combination was blue and green – maybe that is why she kept these dishes for all those years.  This dinnerware was made in the late 1950s or early 1960s and marketed through gas stations and grocery stores as premiums. 

Bread & Butter Plate

  

Besides the china dinnerware, there was the milk glass baking dishes and kitchenware and also, glass tumblers. And, I just discovered today that there is also kitchen tinware with this pattern called Decoware (Continental Can Co.?)

Set of 3 Tumblers

Some pieces are marked and some are not.  The dinnerware was made by the Stetson Pottery Co aka Stetson China Co (closed in 1966) for Marshall Burns, a distributor and division of Technicolor and marketed as Mar-crest.  You will find that some people advertise the milk glass baking ware as Pyrex, but most agree now that milk glass baking and kitchenware was made by Anchor Hocking Fire-King and these items are mostly called Swiss Alpine instead of Swiss Chalet.  Not only bakeware, but there are also mugs and bowls.  Then we have the glass tumblers.  I have no idea who made them as there is no mark and I could not find anything in books or the internet with any definitive answers.  If Anchor Hocking made the ovenware, would they have made the glassware, too?  I don't know.  But maybe.  I understand that Stetson also made glassware to match patterns of dinnerware that they produced, so maybe Stetson made the glassware.  Who knows?  I’ve seen standard tumbler size and old-fashioned size glasses in this pattern.  

Dinner Plate

My mother loved collecting dinnerware and grocery stores sure made it easy for her.  I have to admit that I love dinnerware, too and have several different patterns that I use depending on my mood.  I think the first set of dinnerware I bought was through a grocery store.  Imagine that!  For me dinnerware is fun and why settle on just one pattern?  I love mix-matching dinnerware - blending patterns with solid colors, using pastels for the spring and summer and bold colors for fall and winter.  With the Swiss Chalet / Alpine, you could use blue, turquoise or olive green solid colors or a mix of those colors.  I also find it interesting how the pattern varies a little depending on the piece.

Cup & Saucer

It would really be interesting to know the real story behind this pattern.  I found a blog that goes into so much more detail than I have and also sharing a lot of information on the many pieces associated with this pattern.  You might want to check her blog article out – really interesting:  CULVER CITY P.O.

I had written a blog back in 2010 but after reading hers, thought I’d better update my blog on the Swiss Chalet pattern.  However, there are still so many unanswered questions about the Swiss Chalet or Swiss Alpine pattern. 

I do have some Swiss Chalet or Swiss Alpine pieces for sale at: 

CAROLINABLUELADY Vintage Collectibles

Round Chop Platter

Wild Plum Tea On A Hot Summer Day!

The theme this week for Scavenger Hunters at ESN is:  Hot Weather.  After a rather cool June, we are finally getting some hot, hot weather.  100 degrees + that I think is going to last most of the week.  Love it!
My favorite drink in the summer is Wild Plum Tea.  I guess it was about 20 years ago, my mother, son and I went to visit my daughter in Tennessee down around the Smoky Mountains.  One day, we took a side trip to Gatlinburg and visited the Arts and Crafts Community.  Pottery shops, candle stores, leather shop, woodcarving shops - just all sorts of great places to browse and even watch some demonstrate their craft.  We came upon a small tea shop called The Wild Plum Tea Room.  We ate lunch and had the most wonderful miniture banana muffins and wild plum tea.  I bought Cindy Freeman Black's cookbook called "All My Best Recipes", but it did not have the recipe for The Wild Plum Tea.  Cindy so graciously gave me her recipe (see recipe at end of blog).  Lots of sugar - I keep trying to cut back on that, though.  It is just to die for and so refreshing on a hot summer day.  A perfect tumbler to serve Wild Plum Tea.

Visit the Arts and Crafts Community of Gatlinburg.    
Visit CAROLINABLUELADY Vintage Collectibles for other great vintage glassware.

Wild Plum Tea
1 quart boiling water
4 family size tea bags
2 cups sugar (I don't use the full 2 cups anymore)
2 cups water 
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups cold water
orange slices if desired

Steep tea bags in boiling water 5 minutes. Combine sugar and water and boil for 5 minutes. Add to tea mixture. Stir in orange juice and lemon juice along with cold water.

Makes 3 quarts
Nothing better on a hot summer day, than to sit in a rocker on the front porch with a tall cold glass of wild plum tea and remember all the wonderful memories of the past. Enjoy!!!!!!!!