Wednesday, May 23, 2012

American Sweetheart

I love reading old magazines. I just read a story last week or so from a magazine dating from 1986, of a lady who began a collection of American Sweetheart depression glass from a lucky rummage sale find that cost her less than two dollars.

Little did I know I would have basically the same thing happen to me just yesterday, give or take 8 dollars for inflation.

I don't didn't collect Depression Glass at all. It may be the one type of kitchenalia on the face of the planet that I do not collect. Except......5 pieces of American Sweetheart in Monax (white) - my one exception.

So how on Earth could I refuse a taped up shoebox of pink depression glass that I couldn't even check the condition of for ten dollars? Which, to me, is a lotta bread for some bread plates.

(Sorry, bad joke :-)

But I think I did good, and was quite lucky. This little set totals 18 pieces, including 4 hard-to-find fruit bowls. Two of the footed sherberts have jagged chips that I'm going to sand down and keep them out to use. Otherwise the rest of the pieces are pretty much perfect.

  
Tiny, adorable fruit bowls. If baby kittens were dishes, they'd be these fruit bowls. They're that cute.

And here's my other pieces - one luncheon plate and 4 teacups in Monax.

(By the way, Monax is just an obscure, copyright-able name for white, in case you're wondering, lol.)

Same place, I also found a piece of Pyrex, an adorable Glasbake baker, and a Fiesta mug, but I'll save them for another post.

Happy Treasure Hunting!




Sunday, May 20, 2012

Yardsale Extravaganza 2012

This weekend has been a big annual (semi-annual?) yardsale weekend. Unfortunately, instead of great deals there were lots of folks who were using this as an opportunity to host Antiques by-the-side-of-the Roadshow. 

I did however find a few cute things for just a few dimes, including this little unmarked plastic napkin holder. As you can see, I've got two butter dishes from the same line. Wonder how many more colorways are available?
This purchase made me supremely happy. It's a Lustro ware Crisper. And it's huge! I've shown it here with my tiny pink Lustro ware fridgie dish.

The story is, I was walking around trying to find a deal when I came across this box. I'd never seen one like it, and had no idea it was Lustro ware. Anyway, the lady was not trying to sell it, she was simply using it as a container for vintage dolls she was trying to sell for 4 bucks apiece. When I asked her if she'd sell the container, she looked like she was at a loss, quoted me two bucks, and said "You know, these are probably collectible now."

This was my Pyrex haul. I didn't see much of it this weekend, but what I did manage to find were pieces that I did not have, and at reasonable prices, so I can't complain. I had to spend 8 dollars to complete my opal bowl set, but that was for 3 bowls, so now I have a complete set and two spares. These are the unmarked bowls that Barbara Mauzy said were rare and only produced in 1954. The thing is, I'm beginning to doubt that's the whole story. This makes the 4th unmarked opal bowl set that I've seen just this year, and I definitely don't live in an area that's known for rarities. You never know!

Funny story, an Antiques Dealer selling by the side of the road had a Pyrex bowl set in the Sandalwood pattern for 46 dollars. I need the smallest bowl to complete my set, so I was especially sad that these bowls were nowhere near affordable. Anyway, it sat for two days for that price, unsold. But Saturday? It suddenly was marked 60 dollars, and had a neighbor, 3 bowls from a Butterprint bowl set that they were asking 70 dollars for.

Dealers like that give me a bad case of the grumpies.
These mugs are cuties my husband spotted for me on Thursday when I wasn't with him to shop. But the real crazy score was the deep rim mauve blue Riviera plates. I'm so proud of my husband. He recognized Riviera without me being there!  His humble commentary on it was: "Well, I should recognize something that is hanging on the wall in my house." (I have so little Riviera that every piece I have is hanging on a plate rack in the kitchen, lol!)

This was actually a set of 6 - for only 2 bucks! Just 1 is in especially good shape, the rest have damage in varying degrees, but every one of them is still useable. I put the 3 in the best shape in the cabinet with my Fiesta and Fire King, and put the 3 most damaged in the cabinet to use.

And finally, this is the rest of my loot. Most of this was from one particular stop where we got things for a song. It was one of those where you made a pile and they said, 3 bucks, 5 bucks, etc. I felt like we bought everything that was even vaguely interesting to us.

The yellow Tricolator teapot would have been the score of the century for me if  (A) it had a lid and (B) in my haste I hadn't failed to notice that the whole bottom is ruined. Looks like someone poured very hot coffee or tea into it without scalding the pot first, and the whole thing cracked around in a perfect ring. It's still a pretty 'shelf sitter', but that's about it :-(



Most of this milk glass is going to my mom who collects it. Her real love is the hobnail patterns, but I've found so much grape pattern for her that it far outnumbers the hobnail pieces in her collection.

And finally, some love for Goodwill, who despite all the yardsales, still had some sweet stuff for sale this weekend. First up a banded ring glass that is considered a Fiesta go-along. I have 9 of these now, thanks to various thrift stores.

And finally, I thought for a second that I had stumbled onto what would have been the jadeite score of the millenium - for me, at least. But this one mug is all I have from it. 2.99 and the only jadeite mug I have.

What it was, in their locked case they had 3 chili bowls and 3 jadeite mugs - 14.99 for each grouping. In other words, 5 bucks a piece. I was going to pull the trigger and buy all 6 pieces for a whopping 30 bucks until they got them out of the case. DBD. Death by Dishwasher. Oh the humanity!

Before I could let loose with a torrent of tears, I noticed that one of the mugs wasn't dishwashed. The manager just happened to be around, so I asked her if she'd sell me the one that hadn't been dishwashed to death, and she said sure, she'd let me have it for 2.99. Very cool! I'm curious to know the fate of the other pieces. Chances are good that they'll turn up in the antique store in town.

Thanks for hanging in there with my very long blog. Hope you've found lots of treasures this weekend!



Saturday, May 12, 2012

Oh Happy Day

Medium Green (!) Fiesta teacup, vintage Chartreuse plate, Fire King Tulip Pepper shaker, vintage Cobalt Fiesta relish tray center! Excitement!!Whoo!!Happy Dance!!! Guess this means I'm working on a relish tray now, huh?!
Oh happy day! I LOVE finding amazing deals in unexpected places. These came from a slightly out-of-the-way antique store we don't usually stop at. It was my husband's idea, and Boy am I glad he suggested stopping in!

First find was the Fire King Tulip shaker. 12 bucks. Oh yes. Happy, Happy. Am I a terribly greedy person that I already have the S&P set in this pattern but still want to buy every one of these I see?  Although I never actually saw it as a child, my mom tells me that my grandmother had this range set. So I think of this as her pattern & any piece of it that turns up in my price range, I'll happily take it.
The original 11 Fiesta colors!
And I was just telling the hubs that the only vintage Fiesta colors I didn't have a single piece of was Chartreuse & Medium Green - both desirable and pricier colors. I have to use a few Carnival teacups (a Homer Laughlin line) as stand-ins, but this is all 11 vintage colors. Yay!
Playing around with the other colors I have - Harlequin yellow (foreground saucer left), P86 Yellow (foreground saucer right). Teapots in back are Peacock, discontinued Seamist, & Scarlet.

And finally, these are all the greens I have an example of: Seamist teapot, vintage Chartreuse plate, Forest Green Carnival cup (left), original Green Carnival cup (right), Medium Green Fiesta teacup (middle). I've been wracking my brain trying to think of the other greens I do not have. Right off, I can think of Turf Green (ironstone), the limited edition Chartreuse, Evergreen, Lemongrass. Have I missed any??

Happy Day! Hope you're having a Great Weekend!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Birthday Bonanza!



Birthday loot!
Yesterday was my birthday. I'm older than I'll admit to. And I spent more money than I'll admit to. I'll give you this much: I'm less than a hundred years old and I spent less than a hundred bucks. The rest will ever remain a mystery :-)

First up, my birthday goodies. No beautiful pink Pyrex mixing bowl set waiting for me, boohoo. But I can't despair too much. I found some lovely Fire King that I did not have, and I was thrilled to get it.

The red dots shaker is just a single. No matching pepper shaker, but it at least came with a lid. I saw this shaker on Valentine's Day when we were at this antique mall the last time but I thought it was priced too high. This time I decided I was going to spring for it - a birthday splurge.

The Apples & Cherries Fire King bowl is the largest 4 quart - an unwieldy 9 1/2 inches bowl. But it's beautiful. And in beautiful condition, too! I have a grease jar in this pattern, but no other pieces.

Here's my trio of Fire King salt shakers. I only have the pepper shaker (not shown) in the Tulip pattern.

Fire King salt shakers - Red Dots, Tulip & Kitchen Aids


Cobalt Fiesta - Vintage Cobalt on the left (carafe & sauce boat), P86 Cobalt right (teapot & ramekin)




This vintage Fiesta cobalt carafe was 25 bucks - which I thought was a bargain. Like most of my vintage pieces, it's got a few issues. For one, it's missing its lid - a not uncommon issue with carafes - and some manufacturers defects. No chips though. I'm wondering if I got a good deal because of how hard it can be to tell vintage colors from current? I'm still a bit of a newbie to Fiesta, vintage or otherwise, so I love when I see color comparison photos, so I thought I'd take a photo of my own here.

I had a great birthday. Lots of great goodies & had a wonderful day!

Hope you're having a great weekend!