GMcB and Franciscan Promotions, Specials and Misc Items
In addition to manufacturing Toastmaster items, Gladding McBean/Franciscan also made promotionals and "give aways" for other companies including Sunkist and Sperry as well as hotel wares, garden pottery, and architectural pieces to enhance and decorate building exteriors. Included here, are some of these items along with miscellaneous pieces that as far as we can tell, don't fit into any other catagory.
We have included what promotional materials we have available, if you
have something you would be willing to share, or information about these items,
please send us an email. For us, this is a really fun section of Franciscan history,
and we would like to make it as complete a reference as possible.
Most the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on the image. ENJOY!
Sunkist Promotional Items.
These items came in many colors, the most common is turquoise.
We have seen these items in cobalt, apple green, yellow and orange. The sugar is open (no lid) and
is a miniature of the salad bowl.
Sperry Promotional Items. This set was made in yellow, cobalt, turquoise and orange.
These pieces were marked with a foil sticker, which in many cases is missing,
leaving them unmarked. The advertisment shown here is from the back cover of
the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, 1938.
Nasco Promotional Items. From 1934-1940 Gladding McBean manufactured various items for Nasco
(National Silver Company). This burgandy caserole is a great example of one of the
items produced. It measures 7 1/2" across rim to rim and has a removable stand.
The lid features a beautiful raised tulip design.
Other Promotional Items.
These have been spotted in yellow, orange, cobalt, and turquoise.
They are refered to as "tab handled" or "stackable" cream and sugar.
This is a "Jiffy Juicer", they are difficult to find complete.
Hospitality trays, found only in turquoise. We were informed these trays
are Toastmaster, but we are still working finding an advertisement to document them.
These hospitality trays are affectionately called Armadillo plates by some
people. They have also been called soap dishes, corn on the cob plates, and
side salads. They were only made in turquoise and coral. These are shown in both the special
and the Toastmaster section, since they aren't usually thought of as Toastmaster.
Bean pots, cactus pots and tumblers. There always seem to be some thing
new in this catagory! The green ring pot in the center is missing it's lid. The smaller "tumblers"
were created as cactus pots.
These are Bean Pots or Individual Caseroles that as far as we can tell,
don't fall into the El Patio line or any other catagory.
The one on the left is in "flame orange" and measure 4.5" across the top.
It also has small tab handles on it's side. The one on the right is in "Golden Glow"
and measures 5.5" across and does not have any handles.
Pieces often mistaken for little tumblers are "Cactus Pots"
and may originally have been part of the artware Catalina line. They measure 3"x3".
They do make great juice tumblers!
These two little bowls are sometimes called "Ringware".
The one on the left originally came with a lid and measures about 2" high by 4 3/8" across.
The second one is 2 3/4" inches in diameter and 3 3/8" tall.
Both are in Apple Green. Some of these "ringware" designs may have been incorporated
into the El Patio line including a covered butter, batter bowl, and mixing bowls.
This golden glow pitcher is the same shape as the Toastmaster waffle
syrup pitcher on the right. But it is never mentioned in the promotional material.
The larger pitcher is hard to find, but has been spotted in other El Patio standard colors.
This little mission with palm trees is about 2 inches tall and
2.75 inches wide. The back is glazed but not painted, with a raised Franciscan Logo.
The bottom has 1983 etched into it. These may have been part of a marketing display,
but that is just a rumor.
Gladding McBean also produced various ashtrays for promotional and
commercial usage. The ashtray on the left is the same shape as the large El Patio ashtray but
features a sketch of The Congressional Club, Washington D.C.
The ashtray on the right is an early piece measuring a little more than 5" across.
This ashtray features the Mason's symbol and reads "Friendship No. 07 Lincoln.
These wine bottles are a little bit of a mystery, but they have
a colorful story. It is known that they were made for a winery in Napa Valley California,
and they were made in four shapes, The Senorita, the Peasant, the Friar and the Nun.
Some tell the story that the deal fell through and GMcB ended up with the bottles, and
tried to sell them at $6.00 a case. Another version is that the winery went out of business
and sold the bottles for 9 cents each. In either case, they would have been an incredible investment. These three
were spotted at a California Pottery show where they carried prices between $250 and $650,
dependent on color and condition. They are from left to right, the Peasant, the Senorita
and the Friar
Here is a closer look at a the beautiful Nun bottle with the original cork
in still in place, accompanied by two
early GMcB pieces, and resting on an El Patio chop plate. Click on the image for a close up
view of the beautiful detail in her face and dress. She currently residing with Gabriel in her
native California.
Yes, it is a goose planter! This is from the Capistrano Artware line, and isn't truely a
"special", but we wanted to show it to you.
A special thanks to our pottery inspectors and photo editors, who spent
countless hours, monitoring the progress of the specials section.
3 5-26-00 
In the first photo on the left, the cactus pot on the left is one in "redwood" and the one on
the right is glossy turquoise. In the second photo, the cactus pot is on the left, and
an El Patio tumbler is on the right, both in glossy turquoise. This shows you the difference
between two very similar pieces.
