The ABCs of alphabet plates

Q. I've enclosed photos of an old ironstone ABC bowl. The mark on the bottom indicates that it was probably made in East Liverpool, Ohio. I estimate 1850s to 1880s. Can you tell me the maker, age, value, etc.?A. ABC (or alphabet) plates and mugs have been around for a long time. They were most popular between the 1820s and 1860s, but they actually originated in late-18th-century England and continue to be made to this day.Our ancestors wanted everything a child encountered to be an educational experience, either religious or secular. ABC plates and mugs were designed not only to hold food but also to teach the little tykes their alphabet while they ate - and played with - their food.Many times, these ABC items also had moralistic sayings designed to deliver the double whammy of teaching reading skills and instilling values at the same time. Other ABC objects skipped the platitudes and offered entertaining images of games (baseball, cricket or marbles), animals (dogs, cats, donkeys, chicks, stags, lions or elephants), nursery rhymes, foreign scenes, flowers, Civil War images and pictures from books such as "Robinson Crusoe."Still another series had a large letter in the center of the plate such as a big "B" and the phrase "B is for ball" (and so forth). ABC pieces can be found made from pottery (creamware, pearlware and ironstone), glass and tin with the pottery items being the most desirable as a general rule.A large number of pottery makers located in Staffordshire, England, made these alphabet pieces, but late in the 19th century, American versions became available as well. It is difficult to read the mark on the piece in today's question, but after a few false starts, we determined that the D.E. McNicol Pottery Co. in East Liverpool, Ohio, and Clarksburg, W.Va., manufactured the piece.Despite the 1850-to-1880 estimate of age, this company did not open its doors until 1892, and it continued in East Liverpool until the 1920s, when it moved operations to Clarksburg. The largely obscured mark reads: "Holdfast Babyplate, Made by D.E. McNicol Pottery, Ohio" (some of these marks also read "Patent Applied For").This plate, with a raised rim that makes it look something like a bowl, is indicative of children's plates made in the 1920s. The decoration is taken from the nursery rhyme that begins "Pussycat, pussycat, oh where have you been? I've been to London to visit the queen."This would be a charming piece except that it is seriously damaged beyond all repair. Grease has seeped under the glaze over the years and caused an ugly brown discoloration; the transfer-printed decoration is so worn it cannot be clearly seen; and most seriously, the bowl itself has been cracked in numerous places (probably when it was placed directly on a stove to reheat the food).In this deplorable condition, this baby's dish has only sentimental value; there is no monetary value whatsoever.bull; Contact Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 27540, Knoxville, TN 37927 or via e-mail at treasures@knology.net.