My Fire King Charm collection, One year later

I just noticed that it's been almost a year to the day since I first wrote about my
Fire King Charm collection. And I don't believe I've updated since.

Well last night I found - or I should say, my husband rather triumphantly found a Forest Green Salad Bowl at GW for $2.99. Same GW I found the Serving Platter & a saucer at last year.

This is the only piece I've come across at a thrift in all that time. The rest of my pieces have been antique store purchases.

First up, I was very happy to find this dinner plate. I'd never actually seen the gold foil sticker before that was/is the only identifier on most pieces of Charm. This was the only one with a sticker from a stack of dinner plates, all 5 dollars each.

At first all I was going to buy was the one with the sticker. But then I had a change of heart and bought 4 more. I rationalized it as a 20 dollar splurge. I'm too cheap to spend 3 dollars a piece for more Corelle plates from Walmart in my pattern (Memphis), but I'll spend 5 bucks piece on vintage plates that I don't even use. Go figure!

And I didn't know it at the time, but 5 dollars a piece for barely-if-ever-used dinner plates is actually a pretty good price.
And here's the rest of my collection. Not much progress at all on other colors. No Jadeite, only a single Royal Ruby teacup, and a few little Azurite saucers, sans teacups.

Hopefully by this time next year I'll have the same pieces in Azurite as I have in Forest Green!

A flower garden of Petal

This is how I started collecting Federal "Petal" pattern. In my last post, I was saying how lucky I was to score 3 new pieces and a new color for my collection.

All of my pieces before now have had the points angling upward in a standard bowl shape. I'm not 1000% sure, but I'd imagine this style is considered 'scalloped' edge. But all my new pieces have the petals facing away from the center of the bowl, horizontally.The glass itself seems significantly thicker than the scalloped edge pieces.

This brings my colors up to 5, counting clear. I believe the colors I have now are Smoke (iridescent), Teal, Green, and (what I believe is) Sungold.I've yet to find a comprehensive resource for Petal. I bought a collector book by Cathy & Gene Florence, called "Collectible Glassware from the 40's, 50's, 60's (8th edition) that had a page dedicated to the pattern, but it only lists pieces by size and values by clear v. all colors - no reference to how many colors there are or any further specifics. Any color names I'm using, I've gotten the names from here.

I also found a globe to complete my hurricane lamp. It was a $1.50 antique store purchase, sitting all by itself, no base. Luckily, I had the base for it at home - another lone purchase from a pile of goods from "the little old man store".

And what a misnomer calling it a hurricane lamp. This guy wouldn't withstand much more than a light breeze. It's tiny! I put it here on a 12" sandwich plate. The base is barely bigger than the center of the salver.Wish I knew how many colors actually remain. I'm especially wanting to find pink pieces! At any rate, I've been doubly blessed and fortunate to have been led to collecting this pattern, and finding these pieces in such short order. I'm getting quite the multi-colored flower garden of glassware here!

Fiesta Challenge update

A good while back, I mentioned here on this blog that I was not collecting Fiesta. Then, I said that I would only buy pieces I found for dirt cheap. Pennies, I said.

Well, and then I said I'd keep track of it here. A public documentation in the hopes I'd keep myself to my word.

Well, I lied. At first it was just a few additional .29 teacups from Goodwill. Not exactly worth posting about. Then it was a couple of super-scratched up dinner plates from a charity shop.

But the real kicker happened when I walked into a GW one day and they were selling an almost-complete service for 8 - in a shade of California Raisin purple that I still don't know the rightful name of (plum, most likely) - for 25 bucks. (And if you've ever met either me or my kitchen cabinets in person, you'd know that I need another china pattern like I need 13 pet raccoons).

All said and done, my "pennies" magically turned into around 35 dollars. Not really terrible, but more than I was intending.

Well, in one smooth move, 1 single additional piece, and *bam* I've nearly doubled my Fiesta shame. Have I ever mentioned how much I love turquoise? I think I have, or at least, I feel like I've mentioned it about a thousand times here.

A vintage Fiesta coffee pot. I'm still really, really surprised to even have this. This body shape & color combination I believe was discontinued in 1956. Every single piece I've bought up to now - besides one lone teacup - has been the post 1986 modern Fiesta. It's all plenty expensive enough - new OR vintage - but of course, the vintage stuff is another one of those categories of collectibles that is well & truly out of my price range.

I paid 25 bucks for it. Not the kind of cash I'm used to forking out at little makeshift side-of-the-road affairs. And there is a catch. It has an inner-rim chip, that I honestly have no earthly idea how badly it affects it's value. It's not so bad that it shows from the outside. But still, a chip is a chip. And since I know so little about Fiesta, I don't know what a "fair price" on this piece actually is. Without flaws, a general poking around the net leads me to $200+ price points. I genuinely believe I got a bargain at 25 bucks, I just don't know exactly 'how much of' a bargain it really was.

At any rate, this is a piece that I bought simply because I fell in love with it. I had no idea it was vintage at the time. I didn't even know for certain it was a coffee pot, as opposed to teapot. I just knew these pieces were pretty expensive, and chip-or-no, it wasn't very likely I'd find such a nice piece in my favorite color any time soon.
And here it is with my only other vintage piece, a rose teacup. I'm such a sucker for '50's colors.

And this, brings my Fiesta damage up to 60 bucks total. *Eeep* Worse still, I'm putting myself through a crash-course in how to identify vintage Fiesta from new - which is a whole 'nother aspect to fuel the addiction that I haven't fully owned-up to yet, lol!

Same place, for a quarter a piece, I found two more small additions to my Federal "Petal" collection. Small base piece for the hurricane lamp, and a small bowl that I believe the color is called Sun Gold - bringing my colors up to 3. I've been lucky to find these pieces in such a short time. My grandmother gave me two pieces of it in clear, and after some research, I decided to try to assemble a small rainbow of the various colors it was made in, instead of trying to build up a more uniform set. I've been blessed with very good luck that I continue to be very grateful for!

Happy Collecting!

Fire King range set

Woo-hoo! I now have a compete Fire King range set. Granted, it is mismatch of the "Tulips" and "Dot" patterns. But still, I'm pretty darn pleased.

This polka dot grease jar was an antique store splurge, clocking in at the most money I've ever spent on a single piece of ANYTHING vintage. Tax and all, a memorable total of $34.34.

But on the flip side, I have a range set that set me back 37 bucks, total. Not too shabby, I think.

Buying this piece also solved a mystery I'd had for almost a year. I bought a milk glass lid for a quarter at a mom-and-pop thrift/junk/lotsastuff store that was going out of business. My justification was "well, it goes to something." Some months later, I saw a photo that made me think it was a Fire King grease jar lid. Lo and behold, it is identical. So I now know that I have a spare, and should I ever find a lidless grease jar for a nice price, I'll have a lid just waiting for it. Snazzy. And this is pretty much the rest of my Fire King pieces. I have a few mugs and plates in the kitchen - including a very recently acquired jadeite dinner plate that has seen better days, but I just couldn't pass up at 99 cents from GW.

And can I just say, it's a little surreal actually owning things I've only seen in pictures & collectibles books? Since my "junkin" budget is more in keeping with thrift stores than antique stores, there's lots of things that I think are lovely, but are just totally out of my price range. But when I've been lucky enough to bring some of these items home and put them to use - either as they were meant to be used or merely as eye candy - I feel very blessed.

Good stuff!

I collect: Federal Petal

This is a totally new-to-me glassware pattern. Manufactured by Federal Glass, this lovely "Petal" pattern was produced for app. 23 years (1954-1979) in a variety of color choices and iridescent finishes.

But what started me collecting this pattern, only months ago, were these two pieces given to me by my grandmother.
To my surprise, I've since found 3 more pieces from this line, all from thrift stores. First I found a large clear bowl. It was with another sandwich tray that was the same size as my grandmother's. For better or worse I made a decision on the spot to only collect unique sizes and colors from this line, and no duplicates, so I would never be confused as to which pieces actually came from my grandmother.

Since colored glassware generally has more collectors than clear, I was doubtful I'd find other colors anytime soon - especially at a thrift store. But just last week, I found this bowl. The color is called Smoke. From the top, the color is a deep grey with an iridescent finish on the underside. I'm still trying to get a better idea of the range of pieces made in this line. It does not appear that glasses or cups were made for it, and some of the colors - blue & pink in particular- seem far less common.

And though I only have the 5 pieces, I love the way it's worked out so far. I have a bowl for each plate in clear. Stacked like this, it reminds me a bit of the lovely jadeite "Lotus" snack set made by Fire King.

Since I'm a "set" junky, it's hard not to wish I had 3 or so more sets of each, I'd rather stick to my rule and aim for a variety of colors. And worse, I'm a "dishes" junky - so when I find even 1 stray cup or plate in a pattern I like, my immediate thought is "Oh, I'll just collect a service for 4. Nothing huge, or elaborate, or anything."

(cue the music of doom on behalf of my poor husband)

Price-wise, this pattern is still quite inexpensive, and somewhat lost in the sea of similarly lovely, unmarked 50's, 60's & 70's cut glassware. But I think it's just the cats pajamas. I'm tickled too for the fact that my grandmother specifically thought this would be something I'd appreciate. And I certainly do. And I'm looking forward to having another thing to keep my eyes peeled for in the thrift and antique stores. I've seen a few pictures of some of the other colors together, and I can't wait until I have a rainbow of them.

Thank you, grandma. I love you!

I collect: Fire King teacups

First, I apologize. These pics were taken under less than ideal lighting conditions, and I'm entirely too lazy to try to photoshop them into submission, so they are what they are. I did however play with scrapbook paper to try to give a little nicer background than my sorta-scrappy hand-me-down (but still functional) kitchen table.

These teacups make me happy. But I'll be frank. I don't actually drink out of them. Like many items from this era, these guys just don't hold the half-gallon of coffee it seems to take to get me going in the morning. I do use a modern-made coffee cup by Anchor Hocking (the manufacturer of Fire King), but it is positively huge in comparison. It probably holds the same amount of coffee as all 5 of these teacups put together.

Ah, modernity. Not only is it making us fat, it's giving us unprecedented levels of caffeine buzz.The origins of these teacups is still a mystery to me. I have yet to acquire a Fire King resource book, so I'm going on what I've seen in online auctions. According to what I've read most is that these were giveaways in Mother's Oats boxes.

And I'm unsure if these ever had official pattern names. I believe that the teacups I have & show here were not full dinnerware patterns, with the possible exception of this blue pattern that coordinates very well with the Taylor, Smith, Taylor pattern "Boutonniere".Some of the other patterns available (that I don't have) are indeed full dinnerware patterns. These include "Wheat", "Forget-me-not", "Fleurette" & "Primrose" and quite likely others that I'm not yet aware of.

One thing I enjoy about collecting these sets is that I've reunited many of them from a variety of locations, and very inexpensively. In fact, the only pattern I bought together was when I lucked into a set of 4 of the Red Roses (very top picture) at a Goodwill. The rest have been purchased one teacup or saucer at a time, usually for no more than a dollar.

I also really enjoy the fact that these teacups have multiple colors and smaller, more delicate patterns. As a Pyrex collector, I almost forget this exists. I love my Pyrex, but it's definitely a nice change to have more colors and details going in a single pattern.

I think this is also the reason I find myself picking up certain Glasbake bakeware items, even when I have a Pyrex piece that is just as functional.

Anyways, I am charmed by these teacups. I hope to assemble sets of 4 in these patterns, and perhaps a couple of from the dinnerware lines, and I would consider my teacup collection complete. (I have to give myself some parameters here, lol. For my house, for my husband, limits, girl, must.have.limits...)

So much cute stuff - just not enough cute house to put it all in!

I collect: Fire King Charm

This is every single piece of Fire King "Charm" pattern that I own. And while it's not exactly what you'd call a 'massive collection', what I have of it isn't exactly deliberate, either.

It all started several months ago. One square, pale blue teacup sitting in one of my favorite little junk shops. Unmarked, and a total mystery to me.

Helpfully, my brain suggested: "Didn't you see a lone saucer just like this in an antique store?"

Why yes, helpful brain, yes I did.

The urge to reunite the two was irresistible. I paid the dollar for the teacup, vaguely confident that the matching saucer (also a dollar) would still be waiting for me my next trip to the antique store.

I also did a little research. Fire King "Charm" pattern, made from 1950-56. Every piece in this line is square, except the rectangular serving piece (Confusingly, these are called 'Oval Servers'. Ah, confusion..). I have pieces in 3 of the original 6 colors. These are Royal Ruby, Forest Green, Azurite (the pale blue), Jadite (pale green), milk white, off-white, and pink.

Technically, Royal Ruby and Forest Green (the two brighter, more transparent colors) were not considered a part of the Charm line, despite being made in that shape. On their own, they were two popular color schemes offered by Anchor Hocking in a variety of shapes, and were marketed more as colors than patterns.

Unlike most Fire King pieces, these guys are not typically marked. Marked pieces do pop up occasionally, but generally are recognized more by the characteristic square shape, as well as distinctive striped bottoms. You can see this quite clearly on the green saucer above. The transparency on the Royal Ruby and Forest Green is most likely why these were more commonly labeled with gold foil stickers instead of being marked in-mold.

And since reuniting the Azurite cup and saucer, I've found the rest of my pieces at thrift stores. My best finds have been the Forest Green Oval Server for $1.49 at a Goodwill, and a 9 inch Azurite dinner plate at the re*Store for a dollar! I can't really speak for what these pieces are worth, but to purchase online could set you back $18-$48 dollars a piece, depending on whether you look at ebay, etsy or replacements sites.

And since finding the Azurite dinner plate, I really think I'm love with this color. It's so pale. Much lighter than than the popular delphite and turquoise blues.

I could gush about this Azurite Charm the same way The Pioneer Woman gushes about her Jadite collection . Check out the Charm pieces! Cautiously, I estimate her collection to be valued at one bazillion dollars.

Poor Azurite. So similar, yet so un-similarly valued. Still, I think it's gorgeous. Here it is again (I can't resist another photo-op)

And finally, please excuse the very wrinkled 'tablecloth' in the background. It's actually a curtain I very hastily grabbed when the mood stuck to take pictures. It looked like a good enough backdrop to my eyes at the time, but looks pretty darn horrible in the photos. No amount of 'fancy china' is going to make me much of a domestic goddess. I've got too much "Eh, it's good enough" in me for that to happen.