Kromex Chrome Serving Tray Brass Walnut Handles Original Box Sears USA MCM

A Kromex chrome serving tray with a long shallow well, upswept ends, and end handles built from brass plates over shaped walnut. It comes with the original printed carton and the Care and Use card. The tray still carries its MADE IN U.S.A. foil sticker. The card reads SEARS, ROEBUCK AND CO., Made in U.S.A., SIMPSON-SEARS, LTD., CANADA, with the number K-4598 and Litho in U.S.A.  Kromex of Cleveland built its business on spun aluminium and chrome housewares sold through catalogue retailers, and the Holiday Giftware line printed on this box was the seasonal packaging Sears used for its boxed pieces. The construction is worth looking at: the well is drawn from a single sheet so there is no seam to trap food, and the handles are the only decorative element, using brass and walnut to warm a surface that would otherwise be entirely cold metal. That pairing of bright chrome against dark wood is the signature of American tableware from the late 1950s into the 1960s.  Condition is very good. The chrome is bright and reflective with light handling marks visible under direct light, the brass handle plates are sound with their screws in place, and the walnut is uncracked. The carton is worn with softened corners and edge splitting but remains whole, and the care card is intact.  Measured against a rule the tray runs about sixteen and a half inches end to end.