Sherbert/Ice Cream Dish Set

Albert Pick

In November of 2008, a beautiful sherbert or ice cream set went up for sale on ebay.com by seller Pat who sells under the name "uniondepothotel". After eleven bids it sold on November 30, 2008 for $120. The description posted by the seller is as follows:

    Here is a very rare 1915 – 1920’s era side logo and backmarked silver plate 7 piece sherbet – ice cream dish set made for the William Foor Hotels of Pennsylvania. Most William Foor Hotel items I find are marked “Wm. Foor Hotel Co.” but this is only the 2nd one I have ever seen that has “of Pennsylvania” also on it. I am not sure, but was the Wm Foor Hotel Company headquartered out of Pennsylvania and was this set possibly used at the other hotels that were owned by the company? Historically, William Foor was the owner / operator of several hotels. These hotels the Foor owned included the Kimbal House in Atlanta Georgia, the Hotel Cleveland in Spartanburg North Carolina, the O. Henry at Greensboro North Carolina, the Francis Marion in Charleston, SC, the George W. Vanderbuilt in Ashville NC, the John Sevier in Johnson City Tennessee, the George Washington in Washington PA, the Cumberland in Bridgeton New Jersey, the Garfield Grant in Long Branch NJ; the Leverich Towers Hotel in New York City, the McAllister in Miami Florida, and the Great Southern Hotel in Columbus Ohio. All six pedestal sherbet measure 4 ¾” tall and are 3 ½” wide (across the top), have the hotel’s outstanding shield type logo on each side, and are marked “WM. FOOR HOTEL CO. OF PENNSYLVANIA”. They have the circular Albert Pick & CO. – Nickel Silver backstamp and were most likely made by the Blackstone Silver Co., which was one of the primary manufacturer’s of silver for Albert Pick but many of times for Albert Pick the Blackstone backstamp was omitted. All of these were made to fit the tray and go very well together. The tray measures 11 ¾” by 8 ¾” and is ¾” tall. It also has a logo to the front and is backstamp “WM. FOOR HOTEL CO. OF PENNSYLVANIA”, has the catalog number of 03204, and has the “Albert Pick & Company of Bridgeport, Inc. – Nickel Silver – Silver Soldered”. This piece was made by Blackstone, but again, does not have the Blackstone backstamp. The sherbets do have some wear to the logos and backstamp and a couple have silver plate loss to the insides. The tray has some silver plate loss, some ring marks (I did not have time to clean the tray the way I wanted to, so these rings may come out), some wear to the logo, and the usual light usage scratches, etc. These are the heavyweight type Steamship, Restaurant, and Railroad silverplate. These would have been used in the Hotel’s Dining Room, Restaurants, or for Room Service and would have seen service in connection with the William Foor hotel china and glassware for table settings. All have been properly cleaned and are ready to display in your Wm Foors, Soda Fountain, Hotel, Teapot, or silverplate collection. The actual items look much better than what the digital images shows them as.