Elvis Presley and Noritake

One of the greatest things that happens on the Noritake Facebook page is hearing stories from Noritake owners about the memories that they associate with their dinnerware.  It turns out that the Internet is full of information about the relationship between Elvis Presley and two different Noritake patterns!

Here are the two patterns that come up when you start searching online about Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley and Noritake.

The images for Buckingham and Whitehall come from Replacements.com, our recommended resource for finding items in discontinued patterns.

As you can see, these two patterns (Buckingham and Whitehall, both available on Replacements.com)are very similar, both with white-on-white details.  This is where the mystery starts!

Photo via snacksleeve on Flickr.

Here’s a great photo of the dining table at Graceland.  During the tour, it is mentioned that this china is the Noritake china that Elvis and Priscilla selected at the time of their marriage. Sources from Graceland and some review of the pieces suggest that all of the pieces on the table are Buckingham. This is most obviously indicated by comparing a photo of the covered sugar dish (above the silver butter dish in the photo) from both Buckingham and Whitehall, and seeing that the handles in the Graceland photo clearly match the Buckingham sugar. (Buckingham is also listed as Elvis’ china pattern on this website, called “Elvis & You.”)

The instances of Whitehall coming up as a possible Elvis-owned pattern as well come from items that have come up for sale by a member of Elvis’ household staff and his physician. The image above is that of a Noritake Whitehall bowl, and it does appear to be the same Whitehall bowl that is seen here.  As the pattern name/number would be printed on the bottom of the bowl, it seems unlikely that they would name the wrong pattern in the auction.

Here’s an interesting video where Elvis’ doctor discusses the bowl, and how Elvis used it to control portions while dieting.

Another listing for a piece of Whitehall on an old website was found:

Unfortunately, the website appears to be broken now, but this second instance of pattern 6115 (Whitehall) associated with Elvis Presley suggests that because of the extreme similarity between the patterns, pieces may have been acquired in both.

Both Whitehall and Buckingham have been discontinued for years, but pieces in both patterns can be found at Replacements.com.  Additional information on research and purchase of older and/or discontinued patterns can be found on the Noritake website.

Regardless of the confusion, it’s exciting to add to the rich history of Noritake with this association with an music icon.

Here’s another video form Graceland, there are many views of the Graceland dining room in the last portion.