HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER 3-23-13

WHEELOCK CHINA

These items go back to around 1910 and were purchased for a birthday or at Christmas time as a present for someone’s mother, grandmother, aunt, sister or favored significant other. The information I have learned about them presented me with some interesting facts. The company that made them was The Wheelock Co. They had two factories, one in Germany and one in Austria. As you can see by the picture of the underside of the little reticulated 2 ¾” x 2 1/4 “ dish, the stamp clearly states the it was “Germany Made for McCroreys 5 & 10c Store Salisbury Md.” The picture on the front is of the old Wicomico High School and is in color. Everything I have seen from their German facility had the picture in color. Everything from Austria is black on white.

I first became entranced by Wheelock China at a post card show. One of the dealers had brought a plate for sale because it had images of five scenes around Salisbury. I recognized them as the same pictures that were used on post cards, so I bought it. Since most of the post cards of the era were printed in Germany, this intrigued me. The plate was of the Austrian variety and I have since found another like it, the only difference being the gilding around the edge of the plate.

The peanut dish pictured above is from the Austrian factory. It has the Wicomico County Court House pictured on it. The toothpick holder with its color picture of the Masonic Building is from the German factory. I have since found several other items sold by Wheelock through McCrory’s in Salisbury. They all have the stamp on the reverse that identifies them as having been destined for theSalisbury, Md. store. No mention is made in the address of “U.S.A.”

They had to have been made between 1905 and 1915. The Wicomico High School was built in 1905 so images of it before then would have been impossible. World War I prevented anything from coming out of Europe after 1915 so the items would have had to be shipped before that date.

Getting back to the dime store that sold them, Wheelock identified them as McCroreys. The 1907 Salisbury City Directory has them listed as McCorley’s. Both are incorrect. The correct name of the store was McCrory’s. It lasted on Main St. until the 1960’s. Their original store was at 215 W. Main St. Their next move was to 728 S. Salisbury Blvd. until the Salisbury Mall opened and they had store #4 there.

While I am sure many of you remember one of the McCrory stores, we don’t remember Wheelock china and the joy it brought to some Mother on her birthday or at Christmas time. At the time, most pieces would have retailed for less than a dollar, with the plates selling for a little more. They fall in the class of “souvenir ware” now, but they are telling a story of Salisbury and history.