Fifty Cents!

TS&T LuRay Pastels U.S.A. 6 48
(the 6 48 is the date of manufacturing June, 1948)

I broke my favorite coffee cup the other day. What a bummer, I knew exactly how much sweetener and how much cream to add to make the perfect cup of coffee.

Any other cup and my proportions were off a little.

So today when I was at Trader Baker's, I found the perfect cup. Little did I know what the find it ended up being.

This little pink cutie is a LuRay Pastel. I paid 54 cents for it - turns out it is worth $15.00!

A few more years, and I can take it on the Antiques Roadshow!

The cup I bought is pink - Sharon Pink to be exact. After doing research on the internet, I found that LuRay Pastels were sold in four colors pink, blue, green and a beautiful yellow called Persian Cream.

I will be going back to Trader Baker's tomorrow and search that particular booth over for more LuRay Pastels. Maybe I will find a Persian Cream piece!

LuRay Pastel History:

Taylor Smith & Taylor Co. (TS&T Co.) began producing a brightly colored dinnerware line called Vistosia in January of 1938 in response to lines like Fiesta Ware from Homer Laughlin and similar lines from other companies. By the fall of 1938, TS&TCo. decided to make their own bold move by introducing a pastel-hued line that was coined "LuRay" after the leading salesman had visited the Lu-Ray Caverns in LuRay, VA. The line continued through 1962. Original marketing materials suggested the paler colors were perfect for the new brides of the day and offered an alternative, more soothing pallette than the brighter colors of the competing lines, including their own Vistosia brand.

The four original LuRay colors were: Windsor Blue, Surf Green, Persian Cream, and Sharon Pink. Persian Cream, a soft yellow color, was the best selling color. For a time in the late 1940's, pieces were most readily available in this color which explains why many pieces still around today are Persian Cream. The only change to the available colors came in 1947 with the addition of Chatham Gray, but poor sales led to its being discontinued in 1952. During its short life span, Chatham Gray pieces were available in a variation with a platinum ring and also with applied flowers. The other colors also have some variations with rings and flowers.