MAPLE VALLEY seattle syracuse china plate antique witch vtg railroad restaurant

Seattle ~ 1922

Large 15" WILDERNESS witch serving platter. The date code C-9 is for 1922 and there was 2nd firing of this pattern in 1925 (see invoice above). Wilderness is now known as the Seattle area districts of: Maple Valley and Lake Wilderness, including the *wiccan town themed names of Ravensdale, Black Diamond and Covington.

The most logical explanation for this pattern is that it is a yet-to-be-identified railroad line. The flying witch, a symbol of swift transportation. Railroad china patterns often pictured indigenous plant life (flowers you might see out the window of your railway car) and the flower on this platter is the Pacific Northwest's Syringa (wild lilac, Philadelphus lewisii or Lewis' mock-orange after explorers Lewis & Clark). The chimney-ed building is almost certainly the original Maple Valley train station with the vertical siding (see comparisons above). In fact, it looks like the roof-graphic on this charger was drawn directly from the very photo pictured above. We've been told that a WILDERNESS railroad Stop has been found on a circa 1920s map archived by the Lake Wilderness Historical Society but have yet to confirm. If that Stop was renamed the Maple Valley depot (photo above) is not clear. Companies known to use the route were the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad, later becoming the Pacific Coast Railroad. And we have found numerous business transactions between the distributer M. Seller & Co. and Great Northern Railway.

Another possibility is a restaurant. The Jacobsen family settled in the area in the late 1800s and, in the 1920s, built three Lake Wilderness fishing resorts with dining facilities. But witches are known for serving poisonous food (apples etc) so what restaurant would use a witch as a logo?!

Or, maybe a small air service? Speeding over the top of the railway depot ( a snub) to reach Seattle quicker?!

*It's been suggested that the flower is hellebore, a witch's broom flying plant. And "The Hellebore Tea" is still celebrated annually at Lake Wilderness. Coincidence?

Measures about 15" by 11". Excellent condition. Shipping will be $10.95 to any U.S. address ($18.00 foreign).