The hotel jug.. a total classic

When I was at boarding school in the 1960s, we had Crown Lynn hotel jugs on the tables - the biggest size, a lovely creamy colour and a classic shape. I didn't appreciate them at the time; they were generally full of lumpy custard or icky lukewarm milk, but now I love them.  Crown Lynn hotel ware jugs range from huge - about 30 cm tall - to tiny, only 4.5 cm. 

This would have been used for a single serving of milk at a hotel or restaurant. Interestingly, it is numbered 1621. All the others have the number 715 followed by a dash and a size number, for example the other two in this pic are 715-00 (centre) and 715-01 (the blue jug on the right).

 The jug in the centre was made for the new Intercontinental Hotel in 1968. It is 5.5 cm tall, and the blue one is 7.5 cm. Underneath, the three jugs look like this. You can see the numbers on the larger two:

Crown Lynn made seven different sizes in these jugs, six standard sizes and the tiny one with the number 1621. Here is a pic of a new range of hotel ware in July 1968, from a Crown Lynn newsletter.



Hotel jugs were scarcely new when this new range was released. Here is one decorated in an ivy leaf transfer, almost certainly from the late 1940s or early 1950s. It is trimmed in gold and was obviously meant for household rather than institutional use.

These jugs also turn up with Frank Carpay's hand-painted decorations - now THAT would be a find! This one is much more prosaic - made for the NZ Army, with a special 'NZG' backstamp.

Every decoration on this jug was hand-applied. The green line around the top and the dash of colour on the handle were brushed on; the army monogram was also put on by hand, and the backstamp was literally stamped on using a rubber stamp. 

Here are some of my hotel jugs. The plain one at the back is the largest. The jug with the red lines is an older style hospital jug. This red-lined ware was phased out and replaced by ware with the beige decoration introduced in 1978 - see the jug bottom right.

Well. That's probably more about hotel jugs than anyone really cares about, so I'll go now! More next week.
Take care till then.
ValM