 The first piece crated for the Swing shape was described as: Plain Plate, 7" No Modeling, Rolled Ball. This was noted on March 1937. The second piece was another plain plate and the sketches for both of these are very similar to the Swing that would eventually be used. A third plate was modeled, but then development was put on hold for several months as attention shifted primarily to Kitchen Kraft.
Work resumed on Swing in late September 1937 and the next plate modeled was described as : Plate, Plain But With Raised Band on Rim. The next fifteen plates created had variations of rings, beads, and lugs - both rounded and square. Next was the teacup. Eight different styles as diverse as the plates were considered.
Plate model 905 shown to the right is just one of the many trail pieces for the Swing shape. Also shown are seven styles of teacups modeled during the early development of the line.
The covered casserole was the next item. In all, six very similar casseroles were modeled by October 1937 as was the saucer, oatmeal, and nappy.
Before development continued, it was finally decided that the fist plate modeled would be the style for all the flatware. The plain teacup was also chosen. What stared out as a very plain round shape which evolved into one with beaded, ringed, and embossed rims eventually became what it started out as: a plain round shape. The name given to this new shape was "Convex."
By early November 1937, the name Convex was changed to "Swing" and more items followed; bakers, demitasse cup and saucer, cream soup cup, lug soup, and a creamer. It was also during November that the line was officially put into production. In December, more items were modeled such as the gravy boat, soups, celery tray, two shapes of shakers, and a 26-oz demitasse coffeepot.
In early 1938, more items were added to Swing; the 16-oz. individual coffeepot, individual creamer, and teapot. The last major items added to Swing were the individual sugar and muffin cover in June 1938.
Swing Eggshell trade magazine advertisement from January 1938 |
Official treatment number for Swing start off with and "S" but sometimes end in either a "P", "C", or "G". The suffixes were used to denote the colors of the handles and finials for some lines. The "P" was for pink bodied handles and finials and the "C" were for blue, and the "G" for green. If a treatment number is found in the form: S-105C, then the hollowware for that treatment is going to have blue handles and finials. The pink, blue, and green colors are in the body of the clay and not applied colors.
See also Andover Eggshell.
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