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The Taylor, Smith & Taylor Co. produced the Conversation shape for roughly five years from 1950 until 1954. The distinctive square shape and its patterns were designed by Walter Dorwin Teague.
Montgomery Wards sold at least three Conversation lines. "Coffee Tree" and "Prairie Pheasant" (both shown below) along with Conversation in the Lu-Ray Pastel glazes were offered in Wards catalogs in the early 1950s. Interestingly, when Wards initially sold Conversation in pastel glazes, the colors chosen were blue, gray, yellow, and pink. When gray was discontinued from Lu-Ray in 1953, Wards changed the color lineup in Conversation to blue, green, yellow, and pink. Shortly thereafter, the Conversation shape itself was discontinued. As a result, green Conversation is harder to find than the other four glazes. (This is not true for the Lu-Ray Pastels line where gray is the rarer color.)
Most Conversation patterns have flatware with colored rims and hollowware with exterior glazes that coordinate with the decals. For example, "King O' Dell", "Day Lily", and "Petunia" all use the same green coloring on the rims of flatware and exteriors of hollowware. Other colors were used such as a mahogany brown, several different shades of green, and gray.
Conversation was discontinued in 1954. Designer John Gilkes had joined TS&T by then and had shelved not only the Conversation shape, but almost all of the treatments developed for the line as well.
Most pieces are marked with a TS&T Conversation backstamp with Teague's name and a date code. Compared to other TS&T shapes, Conversation had a rather limited assortment:
- 10" plate
- 8" plate
- 6" plate
- Fruit cup
- Oatmeal bowl
- Rim Soup
- Teacup
- Saucer
- Nappy
- Baker
- Medium platter
- Large platter
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- Covered sugar
- Creamer
- Covered casserole
- Sauceboat
- Sauceboat stand
- Salt shaker
- Pepper shaker
- A.D. cup
- A.D. saucer
- Coffeepot
- Water pitcher
- Chop plate
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Conversation in Lu-Ray glazes
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| Covers of Conversation brochures |
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