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FLIPS. Flip-top salts. Flip-top sugar bowls. They don't even have an official, decent, dignified name.
They are the covered bowls that served everything from salt to sugar to cheese and crackers to sundae toppings. A flip would have been manufactured primarily for commercial use in such diverse venues as restaurants, diners, hot dog stands, fine hotels and soda fountains.
It would have been constructed in two parts. Its bowl (from 4 1/2" wide to larger than 10") was made of heavy, vitrified china; heavy, molded glass; or rarely metal. Its lid – its most distinguishing characteristic – was fabricated from metal and either crimped onto the bowl or screwed on. With few exceptions, hinges on the lid were continuous – like piano hinges – and allowed the lid to open (usually) halfway and to flip back onto itself.
Dates of manufacture would have spanned from before the turn of the 20th century to approximately the 1970s. The lids have almost always been scratched, discolored, dented or warped. The bowls frequently are perfect.
A RECENT ADDITION: Jackson China of Falls Creek, Penn., – 1917-1930s – with lid manufactured by Utilities Specialties of Jersey City, N.J. The only black and rust striped flip we've seen. |
These pages are the result of a collaboration between me and John DeGrafft. We met virtually as ebay competitors but drew up a truce long enough to merge photos and info for this site. No one before had ever amassed these containers together based on their unique lid design.
In most cases the companies that made the lids and bases are no longer in business. My research efforts can best be exemplified by one company that I tried to find. It had been based for decades in Chicago but was sold, and by the time I got to them they had relocated to the Southwest and were no long making flips. All original employees retired before the move, all records were purged. That was the end of the line.
On the other hand, there have been a few surprises, such as the e-mail sent from the granddaughter of the founder of Utilities Specialties. She was doing her own research to try to find examples of her family’s wares and at the same time was gracious enough to share with me what she knows of the company’s history.
Check back occasionally as we have many more interesting flips that need to be added to the site. And feel free to share photos of your finds with us as well.
Susan Phillips |
