Question:
Dinnerware question for Larry and/or Terry – Today we found an 8 piece snack set – 4 cups, 4 trays – dark green in color w/Red Wing on the bottom of the trays. We cannot find anything on these snack trays, and honestly, we unfortunately dozed off when you guys were speaking about snack sets. We currently do not have a photo, but will send it shortly. The sets appear to have no pattern or line association. Can you give us any info on RW dinnerware production that included snack sets,,,,, and values. The antiques dealer said her mother had purchased the sets years ago. They appear unused. Thanks, Kris & Jerry Mounts

Answer: That will teach you not to sleep during our seminar presentations. You snooze, you lose! By "snack tray" I’ll assume you have plates with ridges on the face of the plate that divide the plate into sections. Red Wing called these "supper trays", and used the term "supper service" to refer to the set. Red Wing introduced supper trays and service in 1951 with a line named Informal Supper Service. Informal Supper Service consisted primarily of shapes borrowed from the Town & Country pattern glazed with the four Quartette (Concord line) colors: Mulberry, Copper Glow, Ming Green and Chartreuse. Supper trays and the accompanying cup were available in two styles: Festive and Patio. Festive trays and cups were squarish in shape and match up well with the Concord shape. Patio trays resembled an artist’s palette and the cup was borrowed from Town & Country. Festive and Patio supper trays seem to sell for a rather wide range of prices, but an average price for a tray and cup would be around $25-30. Cups are harder to find than the trays, and the Festive shape is more common than Patio.

At about the same time, Red Wing added supper trays to current patterns in the Concord line. Two types of trays were available for Concord patterns but they were not the Festive or Patio shapes. One style was the same size as the Concord 10.5" dinner plate but with ridges; the other was a larger oblong 12" x 9.5" tray with ridges. The Concord supper trays are not rare but they aren’t common either. Supper trays were also made in the Fancy Free shape (Desert and Caprice patterns) but only in the 10.5" dinner plate size. Festive and Patio supper trays are found more easily than any of the Concord or Fancy Free trays.

Larry