Piece of history | Quaker used to give out dishes with its oatmeal

Happy Oatmeal Month!

Did you know you used to be able to get dishware in your oatmeal box?

For decades, American ceramics companies produced dishware for the Quaker Oats Company that Quaker put in its boxes of oats, including the box of Mother's Oats pictured here.

In the 1920s, breakfast sets were made by the companies Royal China, Taylor Smith & Taylor, and Homer Laughlin.

The sets consisted of teacups, saucers, 6-inch plates, oatmeal bowls and fruit cups.

Sometimes pieces were taken from a company's existing lines of dinnerware. In other cases, promotional dishes were specifically created.

Breakfast dishware was offered in boxes of oatmeal through the 1960s.

' Jami Roskamp is curator and education coordinator at The History Center.