HIDDEN IN THE HOUSE: RED POPPY DINNERWARE
Vintage China Dinnerware
Highly collectible today, Red Poppy dinnerware was originally made in the 1930s and 1940s by the Hall China Company, of East Liverpool, Ohio. Hall often made china patterns for specific retailers who would award the items as premiums; Red Poppy was a premium for shoppers of the Grand Union Tea Company, a large supermarket chain.

Breadboxes, Metalware
Everything from dinner plates to teapots and salt shakers was made in the Red Poppy pattern. A metalware line, which include such pieces as breadboxes, trays and trash cans, was added in the 1940s as a premium for Montgomery Ward shoppers. 

Art Deco Kitchen Items
“You could outfit your entire kitchen in Red Poppy,” says Linda Carannante, of TLC Antiques, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania (www.tlcantiques.net; email: tonino63@aol.com). Carannante has been collecting Red Poppy for 25 years and, with her husband, Antonio, has been a dealer for nearly that long. “Collectors today like Red Poppy, both the china and metal pieces, because they have a great Deco look,” says Linda.

Reproduction Pieces
Since the 1990s, a company called China Specialties has been producing Red Poppy wares, but Carannante says many devotees only collect the vintage pieces. “It is easy to tell the difference,” says Carannante. “The new pieces are marked “Limited Edition” and the stamp is a squared version of the round mark found on Hall’s old pieces.” In addition, the older pieces are usually marked “Superior Hall Quality Dinnerware.” Prices for vintage pieces of Red Poppy china range from $25 for a bowl to $150 for a hard-to-find dinner plate; prices for Red Poppy metalware range from $90 for a tray to $225 for a pedal-operated waste can.

The Hall China Company is still in business as a supplier of dinnerware items for restaurants and commercial businesses.

Other Collectible Patterns
Carannante says Hall’s “Orange Poppy” and “Autumn Leaf” patterns are highly collectible as well. Good references for all three patterns of Hall china include such books as “Collectors Encyclopedia of Hall China,” by Margaret and Kenn Whitmyer (Collector Books, 2001), “Hall China,” by Jeffrey B. Snyder (Schiffer, 2002); and “Hall China Tea and Coffee Pots: The First 100 Years,” by Gary and Paula Barnebey (Schiffer, 2004)