An Outing to Imlay City, MI

I was supposed to have some ladies for tea today, but due to an illness we had to reschedule.  

Last night while looking through estate sale notifications and pictures, I came across a sale in Imlay City with items that piqued my interest.  The ad read, 'A Beautiful Victorian Sale!' with 570 pictures to scroll through.  What caught my eye was a long dining room table filled from end to end with Crinoline Lady china, and on china cabinet shelves too.  I have never seen a collection this large before.  

Imlay City is just 39 miles north of my home, and an easy drive.   The sale began at 10:00 a.m. so my hubby and I left home at 7:45 to make sure we got there early enough to be among the first shoppers to enter the house.  The 14 room, 2 story Queen Anne house, built in 1890, was full of antiques - a lifetime of collecting.

Being a history lover, I researched the provenance of the house.  It's known as the Charles Palmer House.  Mr. Palmer was the founder of Imlay City and a big part of its development. The house was formerly the Imlay City Museum and went on the market in 2016, and is currently on the market again.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and is also a Michigan State Historic Site.

 ~ Front Door ~

All the interior light fixtures and wood trim in the home are original.  I loved all the pocket doors.

I knew the dishes I wanted to see were in the dining room, so I went there immediately when we were admitted.  To my surprise and amazement, no one was looking at them so I was able to take my time examining everything for chips, cracks, and crazing, and decide which pieces I wanted.  Some were dish sets that couldn't be separated, but most were individually priced, and manufactured by several different potteries in England.

So what did I purchase?  A teapot, creamer, two cups and saucers [I already had two at home that were gifted to me] and four dessert plates.  I researched prices online before going and was pleased to get everything for $100.

The handle on the teapot is a gold key - very unique.  The manufacturer is Lingard Webster Potteries [Daniel Lingard and James Webster] Stoke-on-Trent, England - former partners with James Colclough.  The company dissolved in 1975.

The teacups, saucers, and dessert plates are by Trentham Royal Crown Pottery, Stoke-on-Trent, England.  The company went bankrupt in 1957.   The hallmark indicates they were manufactured from 1952-1957.

The cream pitcher is by Empire Porcelain Co., Stoke-on-Trent, England.  They were in business from 1895 - 1967.

My limited research revealed the Crinoline Lady china was made in the 1930's thru the 1950's.

With my treasures paid for and in hand, we left without checking out any of the other rooms in the house.

I first became acquainted with Crinoline Ladies while planning the 2018 Southern Tea Time Getaway [which was originally called Southern Belle Tea Tour, cancelled in 2017 when hurricane Irma went through all the states on our itinerary].  I used the Crinoline Lady as a logo and had her printed on the tins of tea that were given out to the group members, as well as on the front of the gift bags, and she was also on the cover of the booklet that a lady in our group made for everyone.

Finding these dishes today brought back many pleasurable memories, and I look forward to using my 'new to me' tea set in the future.  I've decided I'll pair them with my Madrid light blue Depression Glass dishes since there's light blue in the background.  I'll be sure to post when I use them.

This has been a fun week visiting the Detroit Historical Museum, Frankenmuth, and Imlay City.  There's no plans to go anywhere on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.