M&B Stock: No. 33 "Evening Primrose"

General
The second of the “floral” trays that draw from the 1901 work published by Denver publisher Frank S. Thayer and probably the least often encountered. We suspect given the subject and more pastel colors this would have appealed more to retails and as a premium than it would for brewers.

For No. 33, the M&B 1903 catalog description says: “Tea Tray No. 33 Evening Primrose of the Rocky Mountains. Blooms from June to August. One of nature’s beauteous gift, and seemingly placed next to her roughest work, the Rocky Mountains, as a living allegory of her strength and gentleness. In the 1903 price list it appears as “No. 33, Evening Primrose.”

Shape & Rim & Ad text
Only tray examples are known, all of which are oval with the low pie shaped rim and rolled edge. The rim features the same basic leaf pattern as No. 32 that is far simpler than contemporary Beach rims. From the few examples we have to draw advertising text appears on the rim in black or on the back; we have not seen it, but we expect there may be some with text on the face of the tray, most likely also with black text.

Hager & Price
Hager does not discuss No. 33 (or any of the affiliated Thayer flower trays), but does include a picture in his catalog. Despite their scarcity, unmarked stock versions go for very low prices, while the sole brewery example auction price we have seen (Finke-Uhlen) did better than $2,000 in 2019 time frame.