May is National Tourism Month. Just as today’s tourist purchase postcards, T-shirts and refrigerator magnets, the travelers of earlier eras purchased postcards, stereo view cards and small pieces of souvenir china. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries souvenir chinaware was popular vacation mementos.
This souvenir plate features locations in the city of Brookings. First Baptist Church in the upper left, First Presbyterian Church at lower left and the Brookings High School, also known as the Red Castle in the lower right. In the center of the plate is South Dakota Agricultural College Central Hall, the Gymnasium at the Agricultural College is in the upper right and in the upper center is Mechanical Hall (Solberg Hall) at South Dakota Agricultural College. The banner beneath the images reads “Picturesque Brookings, So. Dak.” The back of the plate is marked with a black stamp reading “WHEELOCK Made in Germany for Lentz Brothers, Brookings, SD”
The Wheelock brothers—Charles, George, and Arthur became the largest wholesalers and retailers of fine china in the United States. Around 1894, they hired traveling salesmen to specifically market souvenir china to small towns in Illinois and surrounding states. The salesmen carried pattern books listing hundreds of available shapes and designs. Merchants provided the salesmen with photos of local landmarks, businesses, schools, churches, historical or natural sites. The salesmen sent these images to German or Austrian potteries which applied the color transfer decals, hand painted details and lettering before firing the pieces. The bottom of most pieces received a stamp with the name of the merchant and town, the Wheelock name and the region or city where it was produced. The potteries then shipped the pieces directly to the American merchants. The Lentz Brothers operated The Corner Grocery in Brookings in the late 1890s and through the early 20th century.