American Sweetheart Monax White Depression Glass Platter
Life has its ups and downs, and during the Great Depression many people had more downs than ups. One of the ways companies enticed careful housewives to buy their products was to include premiums with their purchase. Many depression patterns were give aways. You could go to the movies (all day for under 10 cents) and get a free dish, or buy a 50 pound of flour and get a plate.
For us collectors this causes a dearth of some pieces that were not premiums. Many glass companies gave customers the option to buy completer pieces – for cash which was scarce. That’s why today we don’t see many serving pieces in some patterns, or why a few patterns have a gazillion lunch plates but almost no dinner plates. People could afford to get free dishes but not buy the others.
Even today grocery stores sometimes offer china or what have you and the basic place settings are pretty reasonable but the additional pieces are a little more expensive. We got our dinnerware from Kroger; maybe you did too. If you did, think about what you bought, it was probably not every piece. (We made a good try though!)
Even though most people only need one or two platters, but they need 4 t0 12 lunch plates, the plates are usually far easier to find and less expensive. When you do find the serving pieces it’s a good idea to get them. The white platter is American Sweetheart monax white depression glass, which is a pattern we buy frequently.