Dining In: Dining Memories at the International Museum of Dinnerware Design

In one of its inaugural exhibitions since relocating to its new location in Kingston, New York, the International Museum of Dinnerware Design invites visitors to enjoy a (visual) meal with Dining Memories. On display are various styles of tablescapes, including china, silver, and plastics, presented through eleven lifelike vignettes. Each vignette is curated to inspire visitors to recall their favorite moments while sitting down for a meal, whether that was at a childhood kitchen table, at a beloved restaurant, or on vacation.

Although eating a meal is a singular concept, there are many ways it can be visualized. In the exhibition sits a 1930s table and refrigerator with its door ajar, filled with blue ceramic Hall China, next to a three-piece set designed by Viktor Schreckengos with Glidden Pottery Alfred Stoneware/Buffetware in equally delicious-sounding saffron, cayenne, and parsley colors.

A more casual scene is also featured in the exhibition, featuring a vignette of a TV dinner on an aluminum tray atop a fold-out table and chair. The meal is set in front of a 1958 Philco Predicta television, and a TV Guide is placed at its side.

Multiple forms of outdoor dining are represented in the show, including a vignette showing a Foley China bone tea service and a breakfast menu casually placed on a Cunard White Star Line Queen Mary deck chair. In another scene, a sprawling blanket replaces the standard table and chairs for a mid-century picnic, which offers a plaid canister, a picnic basket, colorful plastic dishes, and serving ware.

The exhibition also represents moments when we play with food, as seen with a vignette of Russel Wright’s (1904–1976) American Modern children’s dinnerware toy set presented on a mid-century table. Made for the designer’s daughter in the mid-1950s, this set was manufactured by the Ideal Toy Company and marketed by Sears.

Dining Memories is currently on view throughout the summer. For more information about the show, please visit the website.

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