Gulf Coast Lines China and Holloware Examples

[peggyrothschild]

The St.L.B.&M and N.O.T.&M. made up the Gulf Coast Lines running from New Orleans to Houston to Brownsville. The 1 pint teapot (silver plated) holloware is marked Gulf Coast Lines made by Wm Rogers. Hopefully I can find a handle to match the pattern someday. This piece and two I&GN pieces were found in an antique shop in Springfield, Missouri some 35 years ago. [attachment=13:2hjcr6jq]10111D1C-51F3-40D9-A5CE-B9E50ED94604.jpeg[/attachment:2hjcr6jq][attachment=12:2hjcr6jq]6D47962E-B9A2-4323-B901-3A9458F51364.jpeg[/attachment:2hjcr6jq][attachment=11:2hjcr6jq]6FB53D08-5131-4B13-999B-9AC182BDB2C0.jpeg[/attachment:2hjcr6jq]
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Gulf Coast Lines china
Example of a 8 1/4” Gulf Coast Lines china plate made by Loubat in New Orleans. Dick Luckin’s railroad china book states this pattern was also made in with green lettering and striping. Dick comments this pattern was used on the Orleanean observation-dining cars. This plate as well as I&GN Bismarck china was being used on the MP wrecker assigned to Houston in the 1960’s. Luckily a railroad officer recognized it for what it was and traded the cook for store bought china. [attachment=8:2hjcr6jq]A32A9C5E-4D81-4CB1-9FDC-25EC6DF839CC.jpeg[/attachment:2hjcr6jq][attachment=7:2hjcr6jq]B56D9EF5-ED5C-44F4-9A33-3F5E1DDF2A25.jpeg[/attachment:2hjcr6jq][attachment=6:2hjcr6jq]FEFCD2E9-2B70-4126-A37B-0C8B3CFA6456.jpeg[/attachment:2hjcr6jq]

New Orleans, Texas & Mexico China
Here’s an example of the N.O.T.&M.’s Mission pattern. This platter has a date code of July 1941. Joe Covert (MP engineer (dec) found a stack of saucers of this pattern on the wrecker diner in San Antonio in the 1970’s.
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[bargetanika]

Loubat is still in business in New Orleans. I’ve done business with them for commercial kitchen equipment. I had no idea that they’d been around this long though.

[benjamintickell53]

Early Gulf Coast Lines dining car service is a challenge to today’s railroad historian. The June 1916 Official Guide Gulf Coast Lines entry does not mention cafe-observation cars on trains 3-4 between New Orleans and Houston. However, the GCL undated timetable (but with notice advising change of New Orleans station effective June 1, 1916), does list cafe-observation cars on trains 3-4, with the notation that dining service is under the direction of Hotel Grunewald Catering Department. The Nov 1917 Official Guide entry similarly mentions Grunewald Catering. The January 1920 Official Guide, with the railroad now under USRA control, still shows cafe-observation cars but does not indicate whether food service was being handled by the railroad or under outside contract. The 1923 Guide likewise continues to show cafe-obs cars but does not indicate any catering arrangements or whether cars were being staffed by the railroad.

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For those unfamiliar, the Hotel Grunewald was built in 1893, owned by Louis Grunewald, a German immigrant. After various expansions, the hotel was purchased by a group of New Orleans investors and renamed the Roosevelt Hotel in 1923.

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There is some speculation that this Hotel Grunewald Catering china was the original china used on the GCL cafe-observation cars when the cafe service first opened, with the Gulf Coast Lines china coming later, perhaps during or after the period of USRA operation.

Bill Pollard

[peggyrothschild]

Bill
I looked at the three GCL public timetables I have and a 1912 Frisco Lines.

St.L.B.& M. No. 19 dated June 13, 1909 shows only meal stops between Houston and Brownsville.

GCL No. 16 dated December 15, 1922 shows dining service provided on the trains using Pullman Club cars between Houston and Mexico City and Houston and Tampico and Parlor Cafe Observation cars between New Orleans and Houston.

GCL No. 12, is undated (of course) but highlights the Grunewald Hotel operating dining service between New Orleans and Houston (see below).

Frisco Lines System TT dated September 1912 shows ‘stops for meals’ between New Orleans, Houston and Brownsville. Fun rabbit hole you’ve started!

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