Mar-crest Daisy & Dot Stoneware

Hull and McCoy are probably the best remembered vintage 1950s - 60s kitchenware. But there was also a line of dinnerware that many of us still fondly remember and now collect called Mar-crest. That deep dark chocolate colored warm Colorado brown glazed pottery that graced kitchen and picnic tables several decades ago. Memories of mom's and grandma's homemade potato, macaroni or green bean salad, baked beans, peas and carrots, mashed potatoes and corn ... all baked and served in Old Fashioned Marcrest Oven Proof Stoneware. Can you think of anything better to drink hot chocolate or Ovaltine from on those chilly fall and winter days than a large Marcrest stein?

Quiz #1. What are the correct names of the daisy and dot items below? Answers are at the bottom of the page. This is the easier of the 2 quizzes in this guide.  :-)

Collectors refer to the pattern as daisy and dot (not daisy and button, which is a glassware pattern). The motif (style) is known as Pennsylvania Dutch. (Many non-Mar-crest items also have a Pennsylvania motif: aprons, tablecloths, cross stitch designs, cooking style, etc.) Mar-crest is often described as having wavy, scalloped lines, dots and flowery or starfish designs. There were stacking mixing bowls, cups, saucers, plates, dutch ovens, casseroles and divided vegetable dishes. Cereal bowls, berry bowls and French handled soup bowls. Carafes, pitchers, lazy susans, mini bean pots, grease pots, salt and pepper shakers, cream and sugar bowls, pie plates, cookie jars, snack plates, chop plates, oval platters, etc. Many were produced in different sizes, styles and colors. Pictured below are some of my Marcrest cookie jars.

Recently, we're seeing more rare Marcrest pieces surface on eBay and in collections pictured online. Relish trays, square or frosted items, 2 piece or 5 piece snack sets, round barrel shaped pitchers, batter bowls, pastel items and pieces with pastel interiors. Original boxes turn up from time to time, also.

Quiz #2. This one is tougher. What are the correct names of the daisy dot items below? Answers are at the bottom of this page. Good luck!  :-)

Mar-crest auctions are sometimes mistakenly put in the Hull category or are listed as being produced by Hull. I believe the vast majority of Marcrest was produced by Western Stoneware in Monmouth, Illinois, and that only a small percentage of Marcrest pieces were actually produced by Hull: the banded ball pitcher, tea pot, pastel mugs, pastel tumblers, pastel cups, apricot and cream chip and dip (pictured below) and it's matching ashtray, plus 2 other ashtrays.

The best place on eBay to list or find Marcrest collectibles is in the Monmouth / Marcrest / Western SW category. That's where you'll find me most of the time. Lurking and hoping to add to my own Marcrest collection. Btw, whether you spell it Mar-crest or Marcrest, both are correct. The original boxes and pottery bottoms are incised Mar-crest though. ;-)

Quiz #1 answers:

• Row 1: Party mug aka German beer stein (18 oz) * Jumbo cookie jar
• Row 2: Lazy susan (2 piece) * Divided vegetable dish, large (54 oz)

Quiz #2 answers:

• Row 1: Grease pot (20 oz) with cover * Bean pot (half gallon) with cover
• Row 2: Dutch oven (72 ounce) with cover * Casserole (48 ounce) with cover
• Row 3: Individual size French handled soup aka casserole bowl (10 oz) * French handled casserole dishes with covers in both sizes (40 and 54 ounce)

Mar-crest mixing bowls have finished rims like the individual French handled casserole. When you see a piece with an unglazed rim, you'll know a lid belongs with that piece, and that it's not a mixing bowl. See my About Me page to read more about Mar-crest. Happy collecting!

(Hull Mar-crest pastel teapots, cups and matching ball pitchers above.)

OutOfTheBluegrass

Copyright 2006 - 2008 Rita Beavin Pence

... and Murphy, too.  :-)