Dishes from the Sinclairs

My cousin received the set of dishes to which this gorgeous teacup belongs from the home of our shared Sinclair relatives; Nellie, Jessie and Bill in the late 80's.  Previous recent blog posts also highlight the Blanket Box and Book of Clippings from their home.  I was curious to see what I could find out about the set online.   The Sinclairs did not have any children of their own and upon their passing, the household belongings were distributed to their many nieces and nephews and their families.  The cup itself did not have any markings but the saucer had the stamp pictured below on the bottom.

Online research finds it to be the stamp of the J. H. Weatherby & Sons factory from Hanley, England. The trade name was Falcon Ware and this name applied to a number of patterns including some that were referred to as restaurant ware.  The factory where the pieces were made is featured online today as an abandoned photographic interest,  the business closed in 2000.  This particular pattern of white with a blue and gold ring wasn't anywhere that I could find online.  

                                                    

I had decided that I wasn't going to find it but "something" made me dig out an old Eaton's mail order catalogue from 1939 that had also come from the Sinclair house (above) and flip through it.  Lo and behold, on page 233, there it was - Blue Band! A 73 piece place setting of these dishes for 9 people also included a cream and sugar, 2 platters, covered vegetable dish, pickle dish, gravy boat, 60 pounds in all for the amazing price of $16.75.  Shipping from Winnipeg was an extra charge and if my calculations are correct, that would have been around $1.00. According to the Bank of Canada Inflation Calculator, this set would be about $300 total in today's money!

This is not the first time that I have stumbled across the answer to a research question by chance.  I have come to believe that such overwhelming coincidence is just not possible!  "Someone" is guiding my research and I appreciate their help to tell the stories of these items from the past of my family.