thrift store spoils, ch. 12: Russel Wright and a Cheshire Cat

Greetings. I'll just jump right in with some items I found during the last week. And I'll start with a beautiful bowl and cradle that I have not been able to identify.

I have no clue who might have manufactured this. I've posted an inquiry on a mid-century enthusiasts online community I'm part of, but, alas, I've gotten no responses. The bowl does come free from its cradle, and there are three ball feet on the cradle's bottom. So stinkin' cool. 

Anyhow, I just love it. For the time being, it'll serve as the house pinecone holder. 

I also got lucky at our closest Savers when I found two Russel Wright pieces.

This lidded veggie dish in chartreuse matches the single plate I found quite a while back. I love, love, love the chartreuse.

I also found this super stylish Russel Wright sugar bowl. Check out that fun mid-century handle.

These Christmas plates are a Marimekko design by Pfaltzgraff. The bottoms of the plates are actually marked "Marimekko Oy." (Huh?) I believe they're vintage 1970s, and they have rims similar to the Marimekko mugs I found a while back.

So I bought this Cheshire Cat mug. But wait.

When you pour in hot liquid, all but the cat's grin disappears (sort of). So stinkin' clever.

I don't care for Alice in Wonderland, by the way. The Mad Hatter is way too creepy, and Lewis Carroll was reportedly a bad man in the sickest way. I even get a little creeped out by the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Don't Come Around Here No More" video from the 1980s—again, icky. But this mug is fun.

I do love Tom Petty's music, though. Here's the aforementioned creepy video (vintage 1980s, folks!) :

And, of course, I picked up some mugs.

The cat mug is by Otagiri; the Aids Awareness mug was produced by the US Postal Sevice and is dated 1993; and the Maxwell House mug just plain reminds me of the classic Maxwell House commercials I used to watch as a kid—when there were only four channels on the TV. The Conservative mug is a Boynton design and is signed. And the "the Good Guys" mug is a William Logan design and is also signed and dated 1977.

And I bought some Longaberger pottery and some Tupperware. I cannot pass these up.

I hope that everyone out there in thrifting land is finding themselves some good loot.

And I'm sending many thanks to Sir Thrift-A-Lot, a living space, We Call It Olde, Remnant (where I posted with a poorly cropped thumbnail photo!), and Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm for the opportunity to link up.

thrift store spoils, ch. 11: more mugs and Pyrex Flameware

This week, I posted my first-ever classified on Craigslist (a set of Stendig chairs for sale at a fixed price), but the only response I've gotten is one low-ball offer, which I turned down. I bought these chairs at a GW a while back, and I'll use them myself if I can't get my price.

My Craigslist foray is meant to help me get my online resell feet wet, as I've never done anything like this before. We'll see how it goes.

See. Aren't they nice?

But moving on . . . this weekend (my regular writing/posting period) has been so dreary and dark that I haven't had a chance to take photos of all that I found during the week. (This girl's gotta have some good, natural light filtering through the windows for picture taking.) So I’m posting only those things that I snapped a few days back, when it was brighter and sunny and happy. 

Let's start with some mugs, which I really need to quit buying. But I know that won't happen. 

These coordinating mugs are stamped with "Japan" on the bottoms. Suh-weet, huh?

The mug on the left is a Mikel Urmeneta design, which I've done a little research on because he's new to me. (And here is an odd "about" page on his business website,  Kukuxumusu.) Seems like I should have heard of him, as he's reportedly selling products in 98 countries. Again, I've learned something new through thrifting.

The New York mug is just plain cool—1970s cool, I'm thinking?

And I love the vintage look of the Indiana mug. Its bottom is stamped with "USA."

When I saw these cute, smallish Corning mugs/cups in the Manassas GW, I looked them up on my iPhone and found a couple of listings where folks were calling them "John Lennon" mugs—presumably because of the "imagine" printed on them—making me wonder whether they were early 1980s.

Not.

When I got home and researched further, I learned that this is a 1995 pattern called Heather's Plate, named after the little girl who won a plate design contest held to commemorate Corelle's 25th anniversary. The contest was open to 7- to 12-year-olds, and the theme was "Imagine What We Can Do Together" (re: diversity). The complete set of Heather's Plate included a dinner plate, a soup plate, and one of these cups. 

(Okay. So I went outside in a lull in the sprinkling rain to try to take one photo.) I believe this is the six-cup "American Hostess" Flameware Teapot first produced by Pyrex in 1943. 

According to my copy of Barbara E. Mauzy's PYREX: The Unauthorized Collector's Guide, a Pyrex recipe book made the following claim about this product: A PYREX teapot is fine for fruit juices, spaghetti sauce, soups, and tops for tea.

Goodness. Who knew?

Boring to look at in a photo, I know . . . but these never-used Pampered Chef steamers are so stinkin' handy-dandy. I have both sizes myself, and I've used mine three or four times a week for about 10 years. So when I saw these two steamers (at two separate thrift stores on the same day), I grabbed them to give them to the oldest daughter, who'll move into an apartment next year. (By the way, hers cost a lot less than mine did.)

The bottom piece is Tupperware, designed for storing photos. That's not gonna happen, though, because it's missing some of the inside pieces. But there was no way I could pass up black and gray Tupperware. I'll find a use for it.

This kitchen towel, which I got for 50 cents, appears to be from the actual Venice Simplon-Orient-Express based in London. (Did someone lift it from the kitchen staff? I don't know.) But I do know that the train's website is quite impressive—all swank. Looks like a fun trip. 

And my last item isn't actually a thrift store find; instead, a friend gave it to me. She was going through her grandmother's stuff, and before donating it, she asked me whether I'd like it. She's been in my home, you see, and she knows that I like to repurpose vintage luggage. The label on the front has been broken off, so I'm not sure who made this one.

I'll have more next week—after I get those photos taken.

I'm linking up with Sir Thrift-A-Lot, Thrifter Maker Fixer Farm, We Call It Olde, and a living space. And, as always, I thank them for the opportunity.

thrift store spoils, ch. 10: mid-century mod goodness and some Pyrex

Just for fun, check out the windows on my favorite Goodwill last week: 

And please humor me while I share with you an odd thrift store encounter. (We've all had odd thrift store encounters, right?) 

It started about six months ago at a nearby SA, when an older gentleman shopper approached me a couple of times to make friendly comments (small talk, really), as if trying to start a conversation. I was polite in return, as I always try to be, but I didn’t encourage him. (I was on a thrift shopping mission and didn't really want to be bothered. Duh.) Later, though, he came up to me yet again to show off what he’d found—a Little Tikes shelf  sitting in his shopping cart.

I said something like "Yeah, that’s nice"—at which point, the dude put his hand on my shoulder, leaned in, and asked, “Are you available?” 

Seriously. He asked me whether I was available. In a thrift store.

I rolled my eyes and said, “Absolutely not.” (Come on, mister. Move on. I'm huntin' for some opal Pyrex here.) Then I walked away. 

So this week while in the same SA and in the same housewares department, I turned to find the same man beside me (though it took a few seconds for it to register). The man points to my shopping basket and asks, “Can I put my stuff in there?”

Good God. 

I hardy-harred with him and, again, walked on. Of course, he was harmless, but Lordy. 

I don't know. I guess not everyone goes to thrift stores to shop—some go for company?

Anyway, weird. Has anything like that ever happened to y'all?

And why am I writing about this? I don't know. 


But it does help me segue into why the odd things and people and smells we come across in thrift stores are worth it—because sometimes you happen across really cool stuff like this mid-century covered casserole.

It's an Ernest Sohn Creations piece, and it's in nice condition—without even utensil marks or scratches. I've learned that Sohn tended to mix ceramic, wood, and metal in his designs. In the case of this casserole, we have only the ceramic and wood (walnut, I think); however, the warming stand/cradle that was originally sold with it was made of wood and metal—with classic atomic-style mid-century legs. (I've seen a photo!) I paid a little more than I'm used to spending on housewares in thrift stores, but I wanted this one.

I also bought this never-used basketball toy thingie that you attach to your office or bedroom waste basket. And if the original box and instructions (dated 1969) are to be believed, the thing "fits all wastebaskets." Handy-dandy! The backboard on the contraption (which I failed to photograph) is a faux wood. And all of the pieces—including the net—are still there. 

This office time waster reminds me of a board-type game that my daddy had back in the 1950s, a game that my brother and I would play when we'd visit my Kentucky Mamaw's farm in the 1970s. It was called Bas-ket, and it included a cardboard gym floor, cardboard backboards, spring action spots across the floor for shooting, and a ping-pong ball as a basketball. We spent hours playing that game.

Just a quick note about something I didn't buy: I saw this mid-century serving cart in a GW last week, and I texted this photo to Mama, as it's the same one she bought when I was in North Carolina a while back. (I wrote about hers and posted a photo here.) I sent her this photo to show her what a deal she got. This one was priced at $60, while she paid a mere $5. Yay!

The bottom 474 Pyrex casserole dish here (the lidless one) is a Spring Blossom Green (1979 Redesign).  The top one, though, I'm still unsure of. It's a 472, but I can't figure out whether it belongs to a Spring Blossom Green set or a Verde one. I'm thinking it's a Verde sold with the wrong lid (as the Verde's lid is opal with green flowers, while this one is clear). I don't know.

I love Pyrex mixing bowls. The 401 on top is from the Rainbow Stripes series, vintage 1965-1967. The bottom bowl is from the Primary Colors series, and although it looks like a 401, it's unmarked. My understanding is that this means that it's vintage 1945-1949, as Pyrex didn't issue model numbers during that time period. 

And these are the Pyrex pieces I didn't buy:

These were at my closest GW, and as you can see, all three pieces had lids. (Yay!) But we're talking Old Orchard here—the current ugly duckling pattern of Pyrex. 

I know. Tastes will change, so we may all like it one day. And I do like browns. But still: the price wasn't right enough, and I'd have to find somewhere to store them. So I passed. Then I stopped back in at the same GW a few days after, and they were all still there. The staff had moved them up to the front table where they like to feature items. Poor things. 

I found this enamel mixing bowl at another GW. It's in great condition, and I love the logo on the bottom (designed by Homer Laughlin!).

And last, I picked up some books and a Creative Memories Christmas album. Published in 1965, the Betty Crocker cookbook is so much fun—full of sweet illustrations and retro photographs.

Check out the Pyrex Terra casseroles here. Circa 1965, of course.

I'm linking up with Sir Thrift-a-Lot, a living space, We Call It Olde Link-Up, Colorado Lady, and Remnant. (Thanks for the opportunity to do so, y'all!)

And that is all.