TRIVETOLOGY
Collecting, cleaning, displaying, researching, and appreciating TRIVETS and related go-withs!
Virginia Metalcrafters vacation series trivets
Being a life-long resident of the eastern United States, it’s been fun collecting these 1960s era Virginia Metalcrafters trivets! Over the years I’ve visited each of these destinations and these trivets bring back a lot of pleasant memories. So far I’ve found a total of seven different designs. If you know of any others, please contact me!
Notice that all the trivets are signed HB. Horace Randolph Burns (1910-1994) was a pattern maker with eighteen years of service at Virginia Metalcrafters. He developed new trivet patterns for the company, carving them from wood. Each pattern was created slightly larger than the finished casting, due to the fact that molten metal shrinks as it cools. For example: cast iron will shrink 1/8″ for every 12″ poured; that shrink rule is referred to by trivet collectors as “one size smaller”.
If you have a copy of Kelly & Ellwood’s book Trivet & Stands, you’ll find two photographs of Horace Burns on page 34. And for more information on Virginia Metalcrafters, see my blog post from June 2016: Celebrating the past and future of Virginia Metalcrafters.
Gallery
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- 1951 Endless Caverns ~ Cast Iron (CI), 8 1/4 x 4 1/4” w/3 feet. On front: ENDLESS CAVERNS, THE UNDERGROUND CATHEDRAL, NEW MARKET VIRGINIA. On reverse: “ENTRANCING REVELATION OF GRANDEUR”, ENDLESS CAVERNS, NEW MARKET, VA. , COPYRIGHT 1951 VA. METALCRAFTERS 9-29, the VM/Betty Lamp logo, and HB for designer Horace Burns.
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- 1951 Silver Springs ~ CI, 7 3/4 x 4” w/4feet. On face: FLORIDA’S SILVER SPRINGS and NATURE”S UNDERWATER FAIRYLAND. On reverse: WATER OF SILVER SPRINGS, 80 MILLION GALS DAILY, 72 DEGREES YEAR ROUND, 400 FT. WIDE 80 FT. DEEP. Also signed COPYRIGHT 1951 VA. METALCRAFTERS 9-30 and HB.
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- 1951 Skyline Drive ~ CI, 7 7/8 x 4 3/8” w/4 feet. On face: SKYLINE DRIVE SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK VA. On reverse: SKYLINE DRIVE with a map of the route, COPYRIGHT 1951 VA. METALCRAFTERS 9-28, the VM/Betty Lamp logo, HB and the registered trademark symbol ®.
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- Reverse of the Skyline Drive trivet. This is typical of the detailed notations on the back of each of the vacation series trivets.
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- 1952 Marineland (of Florida) ~ CI, 8 1/2 x 4 7/8” w/4 feet. On face: MARINELAND. On reverse: MARINELAND, COPYRIGHT 1952 VA. METALCRAFTERS 9-32, the VM/Betty Lamp logo and HB. (Marineland of the Pacific didn’t open until later, in 1954.)
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- 1952 St. Augustine ~ CI, 8 x 4 5/8” w/4 feet. On face: THE OLDEST HOUSE and ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. On reverse: 1513 PONCE DE LEON DISCOVERED FLORIDA, 1565 PEDRO MENENDEZ FOUNDED ST. AUGUSTINE, 1821 SPAIN CEDED FLORIDA TO U.S.A. Also signed COPYRIGHT 1952 VA. METALCRAFTERS 9-26, the VM/Betty Lamp logo and HB.
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- 1953 James Towne ~ CI, 7 1/4 x 4″ with 4 short feet. On face: MAY 13th 1607 and JAMES TOWNE VA. On reverse: 350th ANNIVERSARY JAMESTOWN LANDING 1607-1957. Also on the reverse is COPYRIGHT 1953 VA. METALCRAFTERS 9-36 and the VM/Betty Lamp logo. HB is on both the front (far right corner of scroll) and the reverse of this trivet.
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- 1953 Natural Bridge ~ CI, 7 x 4 1/2″ w/4 feet. On face: NATURAL BRIDGE, VIRGINIA. The initials HB are on the far right corner of the scroll. On reverse: COPYRIGHT 1953 VA. METALCRAFTERS 9-37 and the VM/Betty Lamp logo.
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- The Virginia Metalcrafters Logo
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