INSICO's Zephyr Pattern Origins
INSICO's Zephyr Pattern Origins
Has designer Lurelle Van Arsdale Guild ever been linked to the 1935 Zephyr Pattern design work. Why do I ask? An on-line Southern Pacific shaker (?) date coded for 1935 has the lines of Zephyr. Union Pacific did use that pattern, so it would be logical for SP Company to also use it for their connecting services on the City of San Francisco streamliner train. (It was not until 1937 that SP's own Daylight Streamliners went into service.) Guild's work for International has striking similarities, but I'm not sure of the link. He did work with Pullman and Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) in the early 1930's. Alcoa is directly related to Union Pacific's early streamlined trains in this era. Pullman would also be involved with the services.
Re: INSICO's Zephyr Pattern Origins
The Lurelle Guild boxed holdings listed here show the links to these companies: https://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/g/guild_l.htm
Re: INSICO's Zephyr Pattern Origins
Found a Guild link to Wilcox & Evertsen (Insico) in 1934 for a shaker design seen here: https://collections.dma.org/artwork/5324739
Re: INSICO's Zephyr Pattern Origins
Can't provide a link due to commercial site rules, but Justia Trademarks shows that International Silver moved to protect the wordmark "Zephyr" in September 1934, claiming first useage in that month. It was to be used on tablewares. Now abandoned. [As far as I know at this point, the Zephyr flatware was not used on Burlington Route (C.B.&Q. RR) streamlined "Zephyr" trains. It was used on Union Pacific streamliners known as "City of...." trains, as well as by some other railroads with modernized services. Why Insico grabbed this name so fast is not yet clearly known.]
Re: INSICO's Zephyr Pattern Origins
Added info: From A Century of Silver (1947)..."By 1940, International's Hotel Division had not only extended itself beyond hotels to a very special silverware service for the restored Williamsburg, Virginia; it had also supplied all the special silver for nearly all the streamlined and other de luxe railroad trains of the country and had made and delivered special light-weight silver dining sets to nearly every airline flying within and out of the United States of America."..page 285.