Tiny red teapot, Big Red Heart

This just arrived in the mail today - a brand new Scarlet 2 cup teapot. It's so tiny! The hubs ordered it for me for Valentine's Day, but of course I got to open the package the moment it arrived, lol! Here it is with my vintage turquoise demitasse (also called AD cup). I love the color combination. Curious to see what the P86 turquoise looks like with these.
Technically both of these are Red! The modern Scarlet teapot is a true red. The teacup and saucer are original, radioactive red - closer to orange. I like how gigantic the cup looks compared to this diminutive pot.
And here's its big brother, Peacock. My husband bought this one for me for Christmas.
I think it's safe to tell the husband that for any occasion, just buy me a Fiesta teapot. A no-fail gift. Well...could be a fail if he ordered me an exact duplicate. Even then, I probably wouldn't mind.

And this reminds me of a story. I almost never go into Belk, but once in a while, I get a masochistic urge to look at their Fiesta selection and maybe longingly stroke a Kitchenaid mixer, haha.

Anyway, I was surprised to see they had a set of Peacock baking bowls. Someone must have returned them, because that's an item they don't keep in stock. They were scratched inside from use & had a handwritten price label. You know what those nuts were trying to get for them?!? $189.00! SURE, I'll take a janked-up set of mixing bowls and pay 50 dollars MORE for them than you can order them directly from Homer Laughlin! Gosh and golly!

And of course, one of their ever-so-helpful employees hovered around me the entire time as though I was a hungry street urchin and their Fiesta section was a buffet. I had gone in wanting to know how much their teapots were. The lady informed me that they don't sell teapots and hadn't ever carried them to her knowledge. Apparently all they carry are the standard place settings and water pitchers. That's a pretty sad selection. I doubt very much I'll be back in there any time soon.

At any rate, I'll be enjoying my new Scarlet teapot every chance I get, and maybe I'll get a different color 3 months from now *ahem* These colors make me think of birthday cake *ahem* Tangerine, Lemongrass, Shamrock, Sunflower, Turquoise, Peacock, Chartreuse. Bright and cheery colors like this make me feel young, as opposed to getting older. *ahem*

(Think he'll get the hint?)

Hope you're having a colorful day!

Fire King repro update

Update on my previous post about Fire King Reproductions

Check out the Jadeite repros, Red Dot Fire King bowls/grease jar, and Fire King Vitrock:

Found here

Trying to find out more about J.S.N.Y.

As you may have guessed at some point from either my blog name or the items I've written about, I primarily collect American made vintage kitchen items. High quality, abundant, good ole Made in the USA.

Well, these items are about as far from that as possible. They are basically the very definition of cheap 1980's import goods.

But still, I couldn't stop myself from being charmed by them! Over a period of time, I've picked these items up very, very cheaply from thrift stores. I've been surprised by the range of items. I never intended to collect these, but that's how it always starts, isn't it? ;-)

I forget which one of these lead me to researching J.S.N.Y. (The mug, I believe.) Most of these items are not marked in a way that is easily describable. I'd bought two different tile trivet sets before I came across one this one that's marked 1984. I was surprised. From the style, would have guessed these as being older.This is what I've been able to gather about J.S.N.Y. It's a import novelty company (Etna Products Co. of NY), filed in 1975 by Jeffrey Snyder. J.S.N.Y = Jeffrey Snyder New York. Clever, yes?

Unfortunately, I have no other information to report beyond this here
And finally, I noticed that the 1 lonely plastic duck measuring cup I have is also a J.S.N.Y item. I believe it is actually a nesting set of 4 measuring cups (mine here is the 1/2 cup). I have no idea if it's actually related to the duck from the tiles, but they sure look like they are at least cousins.

This is what I've found so far. Do you have any cute, cool, or otherwise nifty J.S.N.Y items to show off?

Thrift & Auction Roundup

Woo-hoo, thrifted Pyrex! A very few & far-between occurrence these days! This divided dish set me back $4.99. It came all taped it up with this cradle. I'm not positive the cradle is original but it definitely appears to be.

I can't find much out about it. It isn't listed on the reference sites. Several people in the flickr group have it & call it "Black Scroll" - which is an abundantly appropriate name for it. I'm going to guess from the design that it's an early-to-mid 1960's piece.
And these two pieces would be the only other Pyrex & Fire King that I've bought in a thrift store in months!

Very surprised to find a piece of Fire King Jadeite. This chili bowl was in the 'fancy-pants section' of GW and cost $3.99. I did not want to pay that for it, but that's still quite a bit cheaper than antique store price.

Also, can you believe they put this tiny little Pyrex dish in the collectibles section? Seriously? I was very surprised to see it there. It was lidless and also priced at $3.99. Gulp!

Again, I forked out the dough because it was a cute little piece I did not have. I found the lid over 2 weeks later! 59 cents, same GW. I imagine it had been floating around in the back for that long.
And finally, these were very much NOT thrift store items. My husband & I went to some antique stores & an auction preview. I was not thrilled with the prospects, but my husband wanted to stick around for some box lots, so he took me home and went back.

After being disappointed at the auction preview, I consoled myself by spending too much money on a yellow vintage Fiesta Tom & Jerry mug. FYI, Tom & Jerry does NOT refer to the cartoon characters :-) It's actually an alcoholic beverage similar to eggnog that was popular in the 1930's & 40's.

The bowl here - an 8 1/2 nappy - was from an auction box lot. It has a chip & isn't in the greatest shape, but it cleaned up pretty well. For 5 bucks, I'm not complaining. As usual, it came with a bunch of other stuff I didn't want. My mom doesn't know it yet, but she's about to become the proud owner of a very tarnished silverplate teapot. LOL!I also learned something about these Tom & Jerry mugs. They are only 1 of 2 pieces of Fiesta that don't have the trademark rings. (The other being the rare and valuable syrup pitcher). The reason is, these pieces were pretty labor intensive, hand-turned and shaped after coming out of the mold. Because of this there can be significant variation in the the thickness of the walls and the inward curvature.

My rose mug has thinner walls and a more pronounced inward curve than the yellow. It was "screamin' deal" I got from the 'little old man store' some months ago. 5 bucks! Wish I could find more of them for that price. It figures that the cups I'd like to have for everyday use are expensive and hard to find.

Hope you have a lucky, thrifty week!

Pottery ID Help Please

(*EDIT 1/12/12 - ID'd the teacups. Hooray! See end of post)

This is my merry band of misfits - otherwise known as the things I just can't seem to ID on the internet!

First up is this pitcher, which I will refer to as "Is-this-an-ice-lip-pitcher-and-does-it-look-sorta-like-Bauer-ringware-and-is-this-also-technically-yellowware-or-something-else".

Whew!
And since I know absolutely nothing about pottery, I'm convinced I have something posolutely rare ;-) The story behind it is, I purchased it at my favorite weekend shopping getaway, a place I've dubbed "the little old man store". A place where I make a pile, he gives me a price, and we're both happy. I'm going to say that I paid no more than two dollars for this.

Interestingly enough, Bauer pottery really did get its start in Louisville, Kentucky - not exactly a million miles away from here, so I supposed it's not impossible.......
Next up, this sweet little vase belonged to my grandmother. I just liked the color and detail. It's completely unmarked. It's a family treasure, even if I never find out who made it.


And finally, these 3 teacups were sitting together at Goodwill, 29 cents each. I checked around for saucers, plates, etc. but none were to be found.

These seem to be either Homer Laughlin or contemporaries of. Frustratingly, I've seen the blue pieces being sold as Harlequin -in no less than two auctions - but that doesn't seem right at all. The green teacup is simply marked "USA". All 3 are similar in overall thickness to HL Harlequin - not quite as stout as Fiesta.

Any ID help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!

*Update 1/12/12. Found the teacups. A lead in my Fiesta book pointed me to towards W.S. George pottery. They made the blue teacups. The pattern is called "Georgette", but is more commonly known by collectors as Petal or "Petalware". While searching, I found a listing on ohioriverpottery.com that said this pattern was sometimes confused for a Mt. Clemens pattern called "Petal". Low and behold, the green teacup is Mt. Clemens.

Oddly enough, this makes the 3rd pattern named "Petal" that I have - the other being a glassware pattern by Federal Glass. Now to find who made the vase and pitcher!

Thrift & Antique store finds

Here's a happy dish drainer! First up, my thrift store finds:Goodwill has definitely caught on to us Pyrex fans. I paid an antique store price for the Butterfly Gold butterdish and gravy boat, but they are gifts for my mom. She's had this pattern for as long as I can remember, and since last year I've been buying the pieces she doesn't have when I come across them at a thrift store.

Beside them is my first promotional Corningware piece. According to corellecorner, this wrap-around version of "Floral Bouquet" made its debut in 1969, two years earlier than the standard version. This was another GW find for a reasonable price of $2.99. Hard to see, but on top of the corningware is a my first piece of "Colonial Mist" Pyrex. But technically this clear glass version is named "White Lace". These clear pieces were the 'modern' replacements for opal Pyrex when it ceased production in the 80's. It was 2 dollars at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
This pitcher and glasses aren't from today, but are also recent thrift store purchases. The pitcher came first, a reStore purchase for 2 dollars, and the glasses were .49 Goodwill purchases. They ALMOST match each other. Close enough for me! :-)And here's the antique store purchases for the day - a bit more on the pricey side, but I still think I got a few nice bargains. On the left is a radioactive red Homer Laughlin Riviera plate. I've yet to measure it, but I believe it is the luncheon plate size. I happily paid 3.99 for it an antique store that labeled it "Old Orange Plate". These Riviera pieces are becoming more & more scarce as time goes on. Dipped in the same glaze colors as Fiesta, they are a perfect compliment to the vintage Fiesta pieces I'm collecting.

Also in the same glaze colors is Homer Laughlin's Carnival, a very small 5 piece line that was a premium, or giveaway, item in boxes of Mother's Oats. These 3 plates are a mere 6 inches, but are the only size plates from this line. Other items are the cup & saucer, and two sizes of bowls. I happily paid 2.50 a piece for them from my favorite antique store.

Hope you're finding thrifty treasures!