The Feros plate came from a batch dated ’11-1923’ and was probably part of a bulk order placed by the extended Feros clan, who had branches at Byron Bay, Ballina and Lismore at this time (having sold out of Mullumbimby in 1921, but not extending their reach to Evans Head until 1936/37). Apart from Angelo Crethar, the Feros were the only restaurateurs in the region to use their own moniker as a café name, perhaps signalling grand visions of a franchise chain, or seeking to establish a high-recognition brand name like Comino and Peters. (Besides, it was an expensive business to change a café name – unless taking the Johnny Feros route of covering all bases with an assortment of crockery embossed with ‘Monterey’, ‘Marble Bar’, etc. Don’t ask.)

These plates are also from the batch dated ’11-1923’, suggesting that in one trip the gifted travelling salesman made a successful pitch to a number of Greek café proprietors.
Peter Nick Bavea, aka Peter Peters, arrived in town in about 1917 to acquire the café housing Lismore’s very first soda fountain. After a fire and a makeover in mid 1920 the place re-emerged as the Garden of Roses Café, which appears to be the first café in Lismore to start advertising as a Sundae Shop. Peter was an aggressive marketer and in early 1921 came up with the gimmick of opening a booth at the racecourse every Friday and Saturday, which laid the foundations for a general catering business, later developed by his brother Jack.
He passed the business to his brother Jack around late 1923, shortly after the Great Barrow Wars, although it’s understood he retained a share of the business as a silent partner. He moved to Brisbane for a while before acquiring the Royal Hotel at Mundubbera, near Maryborough, trading as Peters & Co, possibly with a partner. Sometime in the late 1920s he came back to Lismore for a year or so before disappearing to Melbourne following some more odd goings-on in the Garden.

These plates are from batch ’04-1930’ (but could be 1950 – it’s hard to read)
While Peter Bavea tried a career change as a publican his brothers, Jack and Jim, carried on in Lismore. Jim seems to have been the initiator of the catering business when ‘Bavea Bros’ acquired a 7 seat Studebaker in late 1922 to transport the wherewithal to the various picnics, banquets and general functions they contracted for. But outside this task the car seems to have been a white elephant and was continually advertised for hire, under Jim’s name, until sold in mid 1923 during the ‘barrow wars’ debacle. Thereafter the business reverted to a traditional café until Jack resurrected the 'away catering' concept in ~1930 and, as a cunning Depression strategy in reducing overheads, operated from his house in North Lismore.

Over 25yrs Jack catered for weddings and functions at nearly every village hall in the Richmond region, often completing a circle in provisioning wedding feasts for the children of the parents he had earlier catered for.

The batch number on the right hand plate is hard to read, but looks like 12-1935, while ‘Crethar’s’ on the left is 06-1939, coincidental with the date of Angelo Crethar’s makeover of his premier Sundae Shop into ‘Crethar’s Airconditioned Café.’
Angelo probably made a bulk order for crockery to supply his 4 Sundae Shops in town, opened progressively from 1923 after his arrival from Ballina. Around 1935 he consolidated in his main outlet in Molesworth Street.

After the destruction of the 1945 flood Angelo Crethar’s restaurant was again renovated and made even more opulent, cementing his establishment as the favoured haunt of Lismore’s glitterati, particularly the after-theatre dress circle crowd. But fearing poaching by the ever-innovating Capitol, at one stage he introduced silver goblets for the serving of hot milkshakes during winter, quickly finding that the things were too hot to handle and generating much amusement amongst his compatriots (who subsequently offered Latte in glasses without handles.) The engraver’s spelling of ‘Crether’s’ was an omen.
 

The cup carries the batch number 01-1947 and the saucer 10-1948. By this time the Regent was in the hands of Veniamin Gialouris of Mytilini. Presumably he decided to start with a clean slate upon acquiring the place from Harry and Nick Jim Crethar in ~1946. [Or perhaps there was nothing left to acquire, as the place had a clientele of barbarian kleptomaniacs at one stage. (Other stories indicate theft and destruction was a perennial problem for cafes everywhere. The conspiracy theorists reckon that smart travelling salesman was behind it.)]

This tea pot probably came from Paul Coronakes’s Canberra Café, although the Canberra name disappeared from Lismore around 1925 and wasn’t resurrected until about 1935, (in a different location), when the Carkagis Bros acquired Peter Bavea’s original shop.

The Capitol was created by the Vlismas Bros in 1929 and 8yrs later passed to Dendrinos & Manias, who probably inherited the teapot along with all the other crockery/cutlery/... wherewithal.

The Mecca was opened by Jack Forrester in 1933 and remains in business to this day. But the original sugar bowls and tea pots disappeared many years ago.

Batch number 10-1946
The trade name Peters & Co made its first appearance in Kyogle in 1923, shortly after Jim Coroneo joined the partnership of Peter Conomo and George Malano, although the nature of George's shareholding is a mystery after his move to Nimbin. Stan Gleeson joined the partnership in 1927 when Peters & Co erected its new edifice incorporating two cafes, but both outlets were simply known as 'Peters' and remained as such long after the partners had sold up.
Peters & Co became the sole possession of Conomo and Gleeson in 1931.
(Courtesy Tom Maxwell)