C.C. Thompson ware comes home to East Liverpool

For the first time in nearly 100 years, a set of C.C. Thompson ware has come home again.

Recently discovered on eBay under the listing, "rare vintage 1930s C.C. Thompson Pottery Pink Cyclamen Floral Luncheon set", these dishes are now residing in the Thompson House within sight of where the kilns once stood that produced them.

This was made possible by the generous donation of Dale Barrett of Beaver Falls, Pa.

A member of the Facebook group site "The Historical 1876 Thompson House of East Liverpool, Ohio," Barrett saw the post and comments about it, and decided to purchase it for the Thompson House collection.

"My dad was born at the Island Run Coal mine in 1917. It was actually Ohio Township then and later became Ohioville," Barrett said. "I have always loved ancestry and hearing the stories my mother used to tell me about my dad's birth area. The information from the East Liverpool Historical Society has really endeared me to the area that I only had memories of from being there as a lad. This set of plates is a small token of my appreciation."

Barrett is a retired journeyman electrician, Local Union 712 out of Beaver, PA after 42 years of service.

This set of 16 dishes had traveled from East Liverpool to eventually land in Evergreen, Colorado before being brought home once again. One can only imagine how they got there, or how many tables they have graced with countless meals during this time. It is part of a semi-vitreous tableware line produced from 1927 until the pottery's close in 1938. The "Seville" back stamp appearing on the dishes refers to its square shape with an embossed rim. An advertisement in 1931 describes this tableware as "CCT's Seville Shape, Platinum Line, with a white body, embossed flange, scalloped edge, traced handles, and a pastel color floral spray decoration." Other dinnerware shapes produced by the C.C. Thompson Pottery include the Aberdeen, Aladdin, Clifton, Chatham, Glenwood, Eureka, Francis, Hanover, Melrose, Madison, Mayfair, Old Liverpool and Stafford.

This was the first purchase in a new campaign recently started by "The Historical 1876 Thompson House of East Liverpool, Ohio" Facebook group which is part of the East Liverpool Historical Society.

"We aren't looking for every cup and saucer," said Tim Brookes, president of the historical society. "But if there are some unique pieces out there, or well preserved items especially with older back stamps, we'd like to bring them home again for posterity."

If you'd like to help contribute to this campaign, you may send a check in any amount earmarked "Bring It Home" to the East Liverpool Historical Society at PO Box 476, East Liverpool, Ohio 43920, or to their Venmo account under username @Thompson-House-1876.

You may let them know if you see an interesting piece of C.C. Thompson Pottery by posting to their "The Historical 1876 Thompson House of East Liverpool, Ohio" site on Facebook. Pieces will be on display eventually during tours and open house events.