The Railroad Commissary

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Mercury Pattern / Gray Variant

The gray version of the Mercury pattern seems to be poorly understood, but all evidence points towards its use on the newly appointed 1948 version of the 20th Century Limited. The color scheme of the new train was "aluminum gray", and the new china design needed to follow suit. The pattern was first produced in 1947 (in preparation for the new train set). It was known to have been produced in 1948 (probably the year most often seen), 1949, 1954, 1955 and 1956. After that, it appears that budgetary concerns caused all passenger trains to standardize on "Mercury Brown" china.

Collector Myron Hayden tells that he and his brother have found three of the four plate sizes (9", 7.25" and 6.5") (ed. What's the fourth?), coffee cup and saucer, bouillon cup and a 7.25" Soup Coupe. The latter item seems to be the only example of such a bowl in either Mercury Brown or Gray.