 Big Pay-Off dinnerware was made by Homer Laughlin for the Specialty China Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mid-1950s. The Specialty China Company would distribute the ware to Kroger's and other supermarkets where the consumer could purchase sets. Before Big Pay-Off dinnerware, HLC and Specialty China had a similar program using the Dura-Print patterns Velvet Magic and Wheat Americana.
Big Pay-Off, treatment number RY-249, used the Rhythm teacup, saucer, 10" plate, 7" plate, coupe soup, fruit cup, nappy, 11" platter, sauceboat, and the Cavalier covered sugar and creamer. The pattern consisted of a pink stylized floral decal with platinum trim. A special gold overglaze backstamp was created specifically for this line.
Big Pay-Off was a game show that ran during the 1950s. Men would have to compete to win prizes for their wives. The marking states the line was designed by Bess Myerson. Meyerson was Miss America in 1945 and a television celebrity. She appeared on the Big Pay-Off game show, sort of the Vanna White of the day. More on Myerson can be found on Wikipedia.
It is unlikely Myerson actually designed the Big Pay-Off dinnerware, especially since the pink decal was previously used on Cavalier Eggshell. It was also used on Liberty and Virginia Rose. What probably happened is the factory put the decal on Rhythm as samples and Myerson approved them before the line went into production.
The backstamp and company records spell Pay-Off with a hyphen, though in vintage advertisement, and the gameshow itself, it is spelled as one word.
The advertisement on the right comes from a June 6, 1956 edition of The Evening Star newspaper of Washington, D.C. Source: newspapers.com
|
