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My Own Plates were made by Homer Laughlin in the 1950s and 1960s. They were originally produced by the Salem China Company of Salem, Ohio for Holmes and Edwards Silver Company out of Meriden, Connecticut. The plates were sold in box sets which included silver plated forks and spoons. The initial Salem China versions usually feature a teddy bear in a high chair being feed by two young girls. The second style was made by both Salem and Homer Laughlin. It also has a teddy bear, but there is only one girl in the decal.
The plates themselves measure 8 ⅞" at their widest point. The lugs have gold stamps indicating the left side is for the fork and the right side is for the spoon. Other decals used by Homer Laughlin include the steamboat with animals, the three pets, and the Betsy McCall and Jimmy Weeks patterns.
Sovereign Potters of Canada also made these plates using several different decals, none of which match Salem's or HLC's. Salem China, HLC, and Sovereign plates were usually marked with the potters' name. However, some can be found with a special Georgian China, 22 KT marking.
Each pottery would sell the plates directly to Holmes and Edwards' International Silver Company. It was up to the silver company to put the sets together and then resell to the retail stores, gift shops, and catalog companies. In the early 1950s, boxed sets retailed at $2.50 per set.
In the late 1950s, Homer Laughlin made a special run of My Own Plates with the fork and spoon stamps on the lugs written out in Spanish. The Spanish examples are rather difficult to find today.
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