Melmac Color-Flyte by Branchell

Recent spring cleaning brought this forth
from the back of the pantry cupboard.

"Melmac!" rang through my head.

Melmac is hard, lightweight, and smooth.
It is molded thermosetting plastic, melamine formaldehyde.
When you put your finger through the hole in the handle,
the inside edge feels like machined metal,
except that it is warm.

The underside has this imprint,
as did every piece in the set
in Gene and Clara's postwar kitchen.

"Designers Dinnerware;" "Fashioned of Melmac K"
"ColorFlyte by Branchell"
"St. Louis, MO"
And that's a jet with three vapor trails,
with clouds and the sun or moon
as a backdrop.
Wonderful.

Chuck Yaeger broke the sound barrier in 1947, so yes.

From "Plastiquarian Reprints No.32": "The basic chemical, melamine was first isolated by Liebig in 1834. It lay dormant for almost exactly 100 years until Henkel & Co in Germany took out a major patent for MF. Between 1935 and 1940 similar work was being carried out in the US and American Cyanamid brought out its Melmac moulding material. Henkel's first MF moulding powder was produced in 1941 and called Ultraplas."

"During the war MF was used for several military applications in the USA including liners for helmets and various catering items for the navy."

So Marty, have I messsed up your head?

"Eat your cereal!  The bus will be coming soon!"

 

That single gray teacup is the only item left
from the set we knew in the Marilla house,
and which they must have bought in their
first apartment, or in the Bowmansville house.

Sorry, I can't find a photo of the orange butter dish we had.

There were good times at Gene and Clara's.