Second thrifting trip of the new year

I was happy to pick up these 3 Cronin Tulip pieces, 7 dollars for the three. I collect this pattern, but haven't added a new piece in some time.

Next up, just a small hodge-podge of housewares. Nothing too rare or exciting, but all things I collect. The Corning Ware coffee perk is my first electric. Haven't tried it yet, but it was in lovely condition, so I bit the bullet and bought it.

I also found two Spring Blossom Corelle plates, two Fiesta mugs in discontinued P86 Rose & Persimmon. And also somewhat coffee related, two metal heat diffusers. These guys would be used with Pyrex Flameware or other glass cookware, allowing it to sit on the coils of an electric stove. 

And finally, a blast from the past. Lisa Frank! I hate to say it, but if this hadn't been kittens, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. (or unicorns. Or..or....okay, I probably would have picked it up no matter what was on it, lol!)

I can't tell a whits difference between current Lisa Frank stuff and 'vintage', so I really don't know how old this is. And I can't find one like it to compare. But I bought it to use. ( I like to load up a couple of coolers of drinks and snacks to keep me and the hubs powered up through our epic all-day antique shopping trips we take every few months or so. :-)

Lisa Frank inevitably reminds me Trapper Keepers. And have you seen how much 1980's Trapper Keepers are going for these days? Gah! In all my thrifting, I've never come across a single one. I'd collect the crap out of vintage Trapper Keepers if given the opportunity. Haha.

Anyways, that's my second thrift haul of this new year :-)

Hope you're finding great stuff!

Happy Thrifting!

Inside peek at my hoosier-style cabinet

I never actually got around to posting about completing my Primary bowl set. It's a sordid tale of spending too much money for individual pieces, then spending even more money on individual pieces because I lucked into some of the original T.M. Reg 1940's versions that are somewhat heavier, thicker, and have some color variation.

So, long story short, I have a complete set of 1940's older bowls, and I'm one 'modern' red bowl away from having an entire 1950's-and-beyond set. Honestly, I could have paid the typical antique store ransom price and had 1 bowl set, and that would have been the reasonable thing to do. But, the problem is, I'm not a reasonable person, lol!

I did not realize when I bought the lidless bundle of mostly primary refrigerator dishes back over the summer, how crazy it actually was to be purchasing most of 2 primary refrigerator dish sets in one fell swoop. I paid 23 dollars for 2 yellow & 1 orange (citrus daisy) large fridgies, 3 medium blues, and 3 reds. They were all taped together, so condition was a question mark. The large fridgies and reds have been through a dishwasher. They aren't awful, but they have lost some shine.

On the bottoms, they were marked in black permanent marker, one dollar for the large & medium, 50 cents for the small. They obviously came from a thrift store or yard sale. I'm supposing the seller thought a markup from 8 bucks to 23 was good enough profit, especially since they didn't have lids.

This bundle has been both blessing and curse. I've seen many a single primary fridgie for more money than I'd ever pay, but starting off with so many with no lids, I'm constantly on the hunt for them. I've found two lids since, and I've bought a few more pieces that I lid-hop around. I have enough now that I've 'retired' the older style lids with the pieces they belong to & use them for display, and have one of each size to use regularly. These are brilliant for holding leftovers, and I was happy to add in another small way that my food does not come into contact with plastic. (My feelings towards plastics are another rant for another day. I have flour in Tupperware canisters as we speak. To me, it's less about trusting or distrusting plastic and more about genuinely questioning something that is so pervasive, it's almost impossible to avoid.)

The other two pieces, both pottery, are an unmarked teapot I've since found out was made by Cronin, and a Hall for Westinghouse refrigerator dish. The Hall piece has a humdinger of a chunk chipped out from the inside of the lid, but it was also a bargain at 3 dollars. It still displays beautifully.

And it is probably ill-advised to admit to this, but it had a horrible metal ring-shaped stain on the top that would not soak or Magic Eraser out of it. I hit it with Bar Keepers Friend and it took it right out without doing any apparent damage to the piece or color. Once again, this is not *advice*. This is merely a *rambling recollection* from a girl who is willing to potentially damage a piece in order to *potentially* improve it.

How's that for a disclaimer? ;-)

And also, this is the inside of my very-much-unrestored Marsh hoosier-style cabinet. On one hand, I'm eager to (hopefully!) return it to it's former glory. But on the other hand, what isn't showing in this picture is the horrible-looking black chewing gum stuck on the insides of the cabinet. This horrible black gum actually makes me kinda sad. My mom told me stories of 'saving' her gum in funny places when she was kid (the bedpost idea wasn't just a song!) so she could chew it again later. When the day comes that I have to remove it to sand and paint, I will probably have to try to convince myself that it was just a gross adult who did it, lol.

1950's Vintage Love

Yellow Cronin teapot I mentioned in my last post. From what I saw, the yellow is less common than the blue (but they are both perfectly lovely in my opinion). This dates to the 50's and was an A&P grocery store premium.

This pattern also coordinates with DRU Holland enameled cast iron from the same period. I've been wanting to try enameled cast iron but am gollywhopped by the price. This may end up being another thing were the vintage alternative is actually better (and cheaper even!) than the current. *ahem*cough*LeCreuset*holymoly*cough*

Two early Pyrex patterns also dating to the 1950's: Pink Gooseberry & Sandalwood.

Pyrex dinnerware in Dove Grey. Cream & sugar in Regency/Forest Green. The cream & sugar are the only pieces I have in this color. They are gold rimmed and I'm trying to collect pieces without it. But they were 4 dollars at an antique store, so I could not resist.
And finally, all the rest of my Pyrex dinnerware. Flamingo pink. 4 of these saucers have the mark in-mold and are a slightly different color. I suspect these could actually be a part of the restaurant ware line. The color name is Coral. I don't know how to find out for sure other than post these to Pyrexlove on flickr and see if I get any feedback from the restaurant ware collectors.

The casseroles above are Blue Stripe/Blue Barcode & the green is called Square Flowers. I got the two smallest pink gooseberry fridge dishes and the two blue barcode casseroles the same day, same place for 15 dollars. On a different day, I got 5 of the Flamingo plates and the cream & sugar set for 15 dollars as well. The funny thing is, it's this crazy little store that mostly specializes in comics, cards, toys and general fanboy fare. But the guy who runs it always has at least a tables worth of Pyrex, Fire King and other vintage glassware. A real his-and-hers kind of place if you are into vintage glassware. Definitely a one of a kind place to shop, and reasonable prices to boot.