Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center
321 Montgomery St.
Syracuse, NY 13202
(315) 428-1864
For More Information Contact:
Dennis J. Connors
Curator of History
(315) 428-1864, ext. 310
Illustrated Lecture
Syracuse China Rides The Rails!
Dennis Connors, Curator of History at the Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center (OHA) will present an illustrated lecture on December 10, 2006 at 2 p.m. Held at the OHA Museum, Connors’ lecture will explore the rich legacy of a local corporate institution, Syracuse China, as represented in its production of numerous patterns and designs for America’s railroads.
In the decades before jet airplanes and super highways, the primary mode of long distance travel for Americans was the nation’s vast rail system, operated by numerous railroad lines. As these lines expanded, dining car service became essential. And as rivalry became fierce among the different railroads, elegant surroundings and memorable meals also became selling points for rail travel and a method for companies to create an image that was distinct from their competition.
The china place settings in the dining car were part of that distinctive image, especially in the hey-day of train travel from the 1920s through the 1940s. The Onondaga Pottery Company, the predecessor name for Syracuse China, was a major supplier to American rail lines. Their talented designers worked to create special space-saving shapes for dining car tables as well as distinctive patterns that conveyed the various lifestyles and regions associated with America’s most famous trains. Connors will discuss many of these special streamlined trains such as the New York Central’s Mercury and the Milwaukee Road’s Hiawatha. He will also explain how these various trains and their dining car service reflected changing social patterns in the country.
This lecture is offered in conjunction with the ongoing permanent exhibit at the OHA Museum entitled, Syracuse China: Fired Forms of the American Experience. This exhibit traces the history of Central New York’s premier producer of dinnerware and how the design of that ware showcases much of America’s social and economic movements over the last 130 years.
Admission to the OHA Museum is free, but there is a fee to attend the lecture of $5 for non-members and $3 for OHA members.
The Onondaga Historical Association is a private, non-profit organization that operates both a public museum and research center on Montgomery Street in downtown Syracuse. The museum features two floors with seven different exhibition galleries focusing on Onondaga County and Syracuse history. For more information, call 428-1864 or visit the OHA web site at CNYhistory.org.
