When I was getting married, I wasn’t keen on having a traditional wedding registry filled with china, silver, or crystal. It seemed archaic to me. Years of hand-washing my mother’s collections following holiday dinners were enough, and I swore I would never want to do it for myself. But from the moment I became engaged, I started to receive a good bit of what you could call “gentle” persuasions. The nudges came not only from my mother but also from other women in the family, including my husband’s grandmother, the matriarch. She stems from a strong lineage of Southern women hailing from Greenwood, Mississippi. Crowned the Maid of Cotton, her beauty precedes her—and with a chemistry degree from Duke University, she has the brains to match it. With her long, Southern drawl, she would ask, “Now, Ashley, have you heard of John Dabbs?” As you may have gathered, I eventually conceded—and, to be honest, I’m thankful I did.
Fast-forward 10 years, and I have the opportunity to visit the world’s largest purveyor of dinnerware, Replacements Ltd., located in McLeansville, North Carolina, just outside of Greensboro. Keith Winkler, marketing manager for the company, greets me just inside the doors. Next to him is a warehouse trolley with a crate tethered to it, which of course piques my curiosity. I kneel to take a look. “This is Phoebe,” Keith says as he introduces me to his one-year-old rescue pup who seems to be a regular in the showroom.
At the beginning of our tour, we enter a hallway where awards and accolades hang on one side. On the other is a long display case filled with the company’s top 500 patterns. As I peruse the aptly named “Great Wall of China,” I come to the end where the top 150 silver patterns are displayed. And there it is—my grandmother’s silver flatware pattern, “Damask Rose” by Oneida Silver. Immediately my mind is filled with memories of spending time in her kitchen and breakfast room. There was the spoon I would use to eat my bowl of vanilla Häagen-Dazs ice cream after playing a game of “Go Fish” with her. And the fork I would use to pull her perfectly fried chicken from the bone at dinner. It’s interesting how certain things will elicit a thought or memory that, up until then, seemed to lie in hibernation.
As we navigate through the expansive warehouse, the mere size of the 500,000- square-foot facility becomes staggering. More than 11 million pieces of china, silver, crystal, and collectibles are housed on 46,000 shelves that take up a space the size of eight football fields. Despite its massive scale and warehouse appearance, the showroom feels like a treasure trove of items ready to help make memories.
What began as a side gig to earn money for a trip with friends eventually turned into a 31-year tenure with Replacements for Keith. Although he wasn’t in tune with dinnerware and patterns when he first joined the company, his appreciation for the beautiful pieces and the artistry that goes into each one of them quickly developed. “I truly love silver,” he says as we stand within the museum area of the showroom. “When I look at a tureen, I am always taken with its beauty. The craftsmanship and the amount of time that was spent on every piece is astounding. And I know the story behind each one.”
Toward the back of the warehouse stands a beautiful wooden showcase. Behind its glass lie dozens of unique items that have been pulled from the showroom museum area. From “Azalea” by Noritake that was once used as a giveaway for buying soap powder to “Ivy” by Franciscan seen on the “I Love Lucy” show, each piece has an interesting story to tell. Then there’s the more peculiar flatware on display, including the lettuce fork, butter pick, and telescopic toasting fork. “Possibly the greatest invention since before sliced bread, the toasting fork was considered indispensable during the Georgian and Victorian eras,” Keith says. “Over the years, toasting forks were produced in a wide variety of designs, although most were of the simple three-pronged and two-pronged variety and were used in conjunction with an open flame to toast everything from crumpets to buttered bread to melted cheese sandwiches.”
Like its physical presence with its sprawling facilities that keep on going and going, Replacements is seemingly the tale of the never-ending story—picking up where the last person left off, continuing those traditions, and passing stories on to the next generation. When pieces become damaged, tarnished, or lost, the silversmiths at Replacements bring them back to life. “One of the little antlers on that animal head was broken off,” Keith explains, “and a silversmith was able to craft that piece back to perfect beauty again. It’s amazing what they can do.”
In a way, this art of restoration is the revival of one’s history. These pieces connect our present with our past, keeping our cultural canon. They make a table setting so much more than just a table setting as they bear witness to our gatherings and table conversations. And while the collections may expand and evolve, what remains the same are the original stories surrounding each piece, creating memories along the way.
By Ashley Hotham Cox
Photos courtesy of Replacements, Ltd.