Vintage Liberty Blue & White Transfer-ware Dishes

Last weekend I came across the end of a yard sale. Usually the seller just doesn't want to pack it all back up and you can get a good deal. I could see a box of blue & white dishes that looked familiar. I made an offer which the seller happily accepted and I drove off with 2 boxes of blue & white dishes. When I unpacked the boxes, I recognized the Liberty Blue pattern. I remember seeing them displayed at the grocery store when I was a child. I started doing a little research and discovered........  

The Benjamin Franklin Federal Savings & Loan was established in 1925.  To celebrate their 50th anniversary in 1975, they looked for something special to offer their account holders. They also wanted a 1976 promotional item to tie in with the 1776-1976 bicentennial celebration of America’s Declaration of Independence from England. They contacted the Enoch Wedgwood Company, located in the Staffordshire district of England. Enoch Wedgewood was a distant cousin of the famous potter Josiah Wedgwood, of Josiah Wedgwood & Sons. The two businesses were separate, until 1980 when Josiah bought out Enoch and renamed it Unicorn Pottery.  Many of the vintage Avon keepsake dishes were made by this company.  For the Savings & Loan they developed a unique pattern of ironstone dinnerware, the Staffordshire Liberty Blue.  Ironstone is a type of pottery first made in England in late 18th-century.  It is often classed as earthenware, although it's appearance is similar to fine stoneware. The Liberty Blue dinnerware is white and blue transferware. Transfer designs were an attempt to copy the designs of Chinese porcelain. It is most often in one color, such as blue, against a white background. These designs range from dense patterns that cover the piece, to small, delicate floral motifs.  The Liberty Blue pattern consists of fifteen different historic scenes from the American colonial period.  It is some what ironic that this pattern, celebrating Colonial America’s independence from England, was created in England.

HISTORIC SCENES:

• Washington crossing the Delaware from
• Lafayette landing at West Point
• The Boston Tea Party
• Paul Revere on horseback
• Old North Church
• Ben Franklin
• Mt. Vernon – George Washington’s Home
• Monticello – Thomas Jefferson’s Home
• Independence Hall
• Washington leaving Christ Church
• Betsy Ross – the nation’s first flag

Each dish has a historic scene in its center and a border pattern of wild flowers.  Such as this Betsy Ross dessert/berry bowl.

On the backs there is a unique stamp in the center with an eagle holding a flag, shield and a banner with the words "Original copper engravings of historic colonial scenes printed on Staffordshire Ironstone. Detergent and Dishwasher safe". Above the eagle are the words "Liberty Blue". Directly below the shield are the words "Made in England". Finally, at the bottom, is the name of the scene. 

The association launched the promotion in 1975.  When a subscriber made a new deposit of $50, he received a free four place setting.  If a customer deposited $1,000, he could buy a 45-piece set for only $45.   Additional settings could be purchased.  The Liberty Blue dinnerware was made for two years.
In October 1976, the association announced it was After that time, customers could order pieces from the Sigma Marketing Co. of Garden City, N.J.

Sometime after 1976, Liberty Blue dinnerware was offered to grocery stores nationwide for promotional use.  For so many dollars spent on groceries, the customer could buy a different piece.  Each week there would be a different item to purchase.  This must have been the display I remember.  The dinnerware disappeared from the scene by the mid-1980s. 

The arrival of eBay created a market for the dinnerware as original purchasers and those who inherited sets wanted to complete them or add accessory pieces. In 2002, Debbie and Randy Coe authored "Liberty Blue Dinnerware," published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

There are many collectibles available on Ebay  and other online marketplaces. 

So many that they aren't of much value anymore.