Uplifters

This is another fun little item with a slight Oz connection - sometimes these things are hard to resist!

This is a creamer from the Uplifters social club. The Uplifters was founded by a group of businessmen in the Los Angeles area. L. Frank Baum was one of the original members and was quite active in the group, writing several plays for the members to perform and contributing a few poems and pieces that were published in Songs of Spring, a compilation of poetry from some of the early club dinners. The Oz Film Manufacturing Company had financial backing from some of the prominent club members. The first Uplifters dinner was held in 1913.

The club name has been engraved or stamped on the side of the creamer. I don't know a specific date for this piece, but the lack of a date code indicates that it's earlier than 1928. That was the year Reed & Barton began to use date codes on their silver-plate. It could easily be from the early 1920's, when the group built a clubhouse in Rustic Canyon. The club continued, with many well known members, until it disbanded in 1947.

This particular creamer may well date from after Baum's involvement with the club as he died in 1919 - but there's always a chance it might be from some of the earlier dinners!