EVOLUTION OF DESIGN

FFCA Convention
September 24, 2005

Bob & Vickie McBain

My discussion this year is on the evolution of design, specifically as it relates to the 80C/94L tumbler, 90C juice cup, 82C/83/7CL cup, and 82M/84/7M mugs. These items have been in production from the beginning, and have evolved over the years.

Let’s start with the 80C Tumbler. It was first made in the 1938 time frame, as I have examples of the tumbler with the broken cat as well as round “o”. It was first produced as a 9-oz. drinking glass, and ranged from 4½ inches to a little over 4¾ inches tall, with a “Western” look and feel. The design was made to represent the spokes of the wagon wheel, and the top rim of the hub.

 

 

 

It was produced in all the colors, and was incorporated into the Wagon Wheel line, and changed number to 94L in the 1954 time frame and became a 12-oz drinking cup.

 

 

 

The next one is the 90C juice cup. It was first made in the 1938 time frame and was discontinued in the 1965 time frame. It was 2 ½ inches tall and held 3 oz. This also had a western look and feel to it.

It was produced in all the colors up to the 1965 time frame, and it varied it height as molds were remade for this over the years.

 

 

 

Frankoma experimented with other variations of the 90C juice cup. They made smaller versions of this, the 89A. It was first made in 1936-38, and was 1 ¾ inches tall. This was also produced in 1942, again about the same size. There were a lot of variations in this 89A.

 

 

 

Frankoma also made a larger version of the 90C or smaller version of the 80C, whichever way you want to look at it (90D for reference only). As far as I know, it did not make it into production status.

 

 

 

 

 

Although it appears from the different sized pictured to the left that Frankoma was trying to make a complete set of drinking glasses, Joniece says that it was not the case. The rims are different, for one thing, and secondly, it simply isn’t logical. The exact reasons that there were so many sizes may some day be discovered. We know the tumbler, which in time became the 94L, was the drinking glass for the Wagon Wheel pattern. We know the two very small 90C and 89A variations were juice glasses and toothpick holders. Just simply economically speaking, there was no reason to have all the middle sizes. Can you imagine what stocking problems would be like?

 

The next set of drinking cups I want to talk about is the Mayan-Aztec line. The 82C is the cup that was produced by Frankoma. It was made from 1936 until 1948 when it was made part of the Mayan-Aztec dinnerware line.

 

 

 

It then became 7CL. It continues to be part of the Mayan-Aztec dinnerware line. This cup held 8 oz. of drink. It has changed in style, as the earliest versions of this cup had crisp clean lines, and the 7CL became more rounded lines. The 82C had the Mayan-Aztec design, just like the rest of the items.

You can also find this item with 83 stamped on it. It was the same item, just a different number. Harder to find, it was done only during the 1937 time frame.

The 82M is the mug that was produced for the Mayan-Aztec line. It was produced in the 1936-1948 time frame.

 

 

It became 7M and part of the Mayan-Aztec dinnerware line. It is 5 inches and holds 12 oz. When it became part of the Mayan-Aztec line, the size of it increased, and it held 14 oz., then 16 oz. The height of it also changed to accommodate the increase in volume. You can find this mug with 84 as a number. Again this was done in the early years of production.

One of the unique characteristics of the 82C and 82M is that you can find them with a concave bottom to them. It can have a 1-inch indentation on the bottom, and the inside reflects this, as it is a convex shape. The 82C was more pronounced than the 82M, but both of them were made this way. Don’t know the exact reason for it, but some day will find out.

The 82M was one of the first items that Frankoma made that was used for advertising. The Town Tavern was used on the 82M as advertising for this establishment.

Another item that Frankoma made was the 7C, a smaller version of the 7CL and 7M. The early version held 5 oz. This was increased to 8 oz in the later versions. The 5 oz version looks just like the 82C, just smaller. As you can see from the photos the 7C was redesigned in later years. The old 7C looked too much like a “mug,” and the space in the handle was not comfortable—it was too small. So as the M-A dinnerware and/or the whole dinnerware concept expanded, it was necessary for sales to redesign the coffee cup mug to look more like a coffee cup.

The 82C/7CL was also used as the base for the 7A/B sugar and creamer. It is the same size height and width. Just a slight modification to the 82C/7CL, and you have the 7A & 7B.

 

 

 

 

The early version of the sugar did not have handles, while the later versions had double handles. The 7A/B was redesigned from the 82C/7CL for a very simple reason: the public demanded handles on their sugar bowl and a lid to cover the sugar. The earlier design was not conducive to a lid. So the 7A/B was designed to be in keeping with the design of the new 7C.