Bowled over again.

My prized utensils

Just when I thought I was safe from the eBay collecting bug, it seems I may have been bit again.  I recently discovered (have I been living in a cave????) that Homer Laughlin Company made not only Fiesta, Riviera, Harlequin and Kitchen Kraft, but they launched a line of Kitchen Kraft called "Oven Serve" back in the late '30s.

Actually that part I already knew - one of my Kitchen Kraft bowls along with my serving spoon, salad fork and cake server are part of this line (whether they are Kitchen Kraft or Oven Serve, I'm not sure.)  But what I didn't know was that this line featured so many pieces with raised embossed designs.

Designs like apple trees.

On mixing bowls.

In five graduated sizes, from 5 inches to 9 inches.

Each with gorgeous glazing and texture.

In yummy hues of turquoise and creamy ivory and green and melon yellow.

Original advertisement - wish I could get them for $2.50 now!

Do you see where this is going?

If you guessed it's going to result in a quest for another set of bowls, that's my guess, too.  I just need to figure out where I can lay my hands on some without paying a king's ransom for them.  They are occasionally offered on eBay and Etsy.com, but not nearly as plentifully as my Kitchen Kraft and Fiesta bowls.  But I will wait and watch, until I snag a set, all at once, or one-at-a-time.

When I was researching these, I found the official name for this design is/was "Appletree."  Somewhere along the line, collectors began referring to them as "orange tree" or "orangetree" as well as Appletree.  To further confuse things, a very similar pattern from Japan was also available during the time period when these were sold new.  But who copied whom is apparently up for debate.

We ARE going to need a bigger house, just so I'll have enough cabinet space to show off all my bowls.  Not that that's a reason to move or anything.
Happy bowl-ing,

P.S., My fondness for Homer Laughlin and violets converged recently.  I specifically sought out violet-strewn pieces of their "Debutante," "French (or Pink) Violets," and "American Beauty" dishes to include in my new violet-themed dish collection...which continues to grow, although at a sedate pace, now that the initial efforts are over. Now to find some of their "Eggshell Georgian" violet pieces...a few teacups or a serving bowl; that would be the bees' knees.

Given the number of violet china patterns they produced, apparently the fine folks and HLCO love violets almost as much as I do - another reason I ♥ them.