The most famous and by far grandest of Atlantic City’s illustrious hotels is the Claridge Hotel. The 24-story hotel opened in 1930, during the Great Depression. At 370 feet tall, the Claridge was the tallest building in New Jersey, earning it the nickname, “Skyscraper by the Sea”. It was also the first and only hotel to have running hot and cold, fresh and salt water, as salt water was believed to have health-giving properties.

The famous Philadelphia builder, John McShain, built the Claridge and spared no expense in doing so. Although based in Philadelphia, McShain had a strong presence in Washington, DC. He would go on to build the Pentagon, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park (NewYork), and the renovation of the White House.

During the early 1940’s Atlantic City turned many of its hotels over to the United States government to aid in the efforts of World War II. In order to serve the country, the Claridge housed The United State’s Air Force.

Following the war, friendly service in elegant settings continued to draw visitors to this Manhattenesque hotel. Marilyn Monroe stayed at the Claridge during the fifties when she was grand marshal of the annual Miss America Pageant and other famous guests included Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Princess Grace of Monaco. Hall of Fame Baseball great Mickey Mantle actually lived and worked for the Claridge when he became the hotel's Director of Sports Promotions in 1983. 

Despite Atlantic City's downturn as a premier vacation resort in the 1960s, the hotel continued to operate and survived into the casino era with a multi-level casino and a showroom featuring stars from Aretha Franklin to Donnie and Marie Osmond. Today, Claridge's in part of the Radisson Hotel Group.

Dating from the 1950s, this gleaming bread dish from Atlantic City's Claridge Hotel is a lasting piece of classic American Hotel Silver that still shares its sparkle, sure to offer its service for years to come.

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Strictly one-of-a-kind and subject to prior sale. 10.25" x 5.5". In very good restored vintage condition.

Learn More about Hotel Silver

Once found in Grand Hotels, chic cafés, elegant restaurants as well as luxury steamships and the dining cars of the great locomotives, vintage hotel silver beautifully evokes the Golden Age of Travel. Enduringly crafted using sturdy nickel silver as its base metal and coated with a thick plating of pure, gleaming silver, vintage hotel silver is unmistakeable for its simple, classic lines and its pleasing heft. Often crested with the name of the establishment, the pieces bear the gentle, lovely patina often referred to as a “butler’s finish”.

Produced by the great silversmiths here in the United States, as well as those in Britain and on the Continent, most hotel silver dates from the 1920s to the 1940s. Prized for its perfect blend of form and function, hotel silver was made to withstand the rigors of daily use. Highly collectible, vintage hotel silver is a wonderful addition to any home.

Evoking the days of elegant travel, there are many new ways that hotel silver can be enjoyed. A milk pitcher or sugar basin makes an elegant vase for flowers or fresh herbs on the kitchen counter. A collection of oval platters adds sparkle and depth in a hutch when not being called into service for a buffet or dinner party. A toast rack becomes the perfect way to display photographs, hold fingertip towels in a powder room or organize mail in the office. Mix and match cutlery brings a relaxed sophistication and elegance to any tablescape. Whatever the piece, vintage hotel silver is sure to stir memories not only of your own travels, but of exotic destinations and ports of call from parts unknown.