This started with an obsession in 2015 to find the perfect diner mug. (The kind you see in old school roadside cafes, that haven’t been “improved” on in a century). They earned the nickname “hammer mugs” because they are virtually indestructible – you could literally drive a nail with them. This made them the go-to in every blue collar diner, where they could survive multiple drops from overworked waitresses and overtired truckers.
Our search led us to a company that’s been making them since 1871. The folks at Homer Laughlin China dug up their Green Bay Stripe paint color from the archives, and took the time to school us on the difference between traditional underglaze plus real hand pinstriping, versus the fast & cheap methods most employ today in overseas factories.
It’s not cheap.
Or fast.
Or easy.
We might be crazy, but we’ve convinced ourselves that a swig of straight black coffee somehow tastes better out of one of these. (Try it when you visit us next - Some of you will think we’re obsessive, but some may get why we spent years obsessing on how to get this right.)
Thank you, @hlc_dinnerware. Thank you for every last one of those hand glazed, finished, pinstriped plates, cups & mugs. It helps makes us feel like we’ve just taken camp one step closer to what it must have felt like to have dinner at the Wandawega Hotel back in its glory days. Grateful to know there are still American companies like yours employing 4th generations artisans 140 years later, and thriving.
DETAILS
➕ Diner Mug - 8 oz mug - 3.25" x 3.5"
➕ Bread & Butter Plate - 7 1/8" diameter
➕ Boullion Cup - 4" x 2 1/4"
➕ made in America
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