thrift store spoils, ch. 24: Domino Mobler, Libbey Prado, and Dale Chemical

A spring break trip to North Carolina and Merlefest, a focus on getting some Etsy and Ebay items listed (and some sold—yay!), and good old fashioned procrastination have all kept me from posting about my thrifting finds. 

Now, though, I'll just jump right in. And I may as well start with something big, something found at the Manassas SA on 25%-off-everything day (the crazy SA day I swore off a few weeks back). 

I bought a très cool piece of mid-century modern furniture.

This Domino Mobler sideboard and hutch, made in Denmark of teak and teak veneer, was marked at $199. That's a good enough price in my book any day. But I was there on the aforementioned discount day, so I paid about $150 for it. Score!

I called the hubby from the store and texted a photo, wanting him to talk me out of buying something so room-altering. But, wouldn't you know, he was the one who talked me into bringing it home. The piece was too big for our Honda Pilot, though, so I hauled only the sideboard portion home that morning and returned with the hubby in the evening to pick up the hutch. 

And the only two problems I see with it are a one-inch or so's worth of water damage to the veneer on the bottom right side—damage probably caused by a spill or leak that affected the carpet the piece was sitting on, and (maybe) a couple of missing drawer runners. You see, I've looked up photos of this piece online, and the narrow drawer I've placed below the fold-out desktop probably belongs instead above the desktop in one of the open shelves. But, as I said, the runners for the drawer are awol. 

Still, not too much damage for something that's been around since the 1950s, I don't think. Check out the stinkin' great minimalist handles.

Also, look at the beautiful veneer here. (And I promise that it's richer in person.) 

This piece has altered the room, for sure: it now sits where an old warped, crowded bookshelf (one made by the hubby years ago) used to sit. I am pleased, indeed.

Now on to some other finds, some of which are for me to keep for my very own self and some of which I've listed in my Etsy shop.

I have several tumblers in this pattern, tumblers that belonged to my Florida Mamaw. However, I've never taken the time to research them online. And until recently, I only knew that they were made by Libbey and that they can break into several pieces if used to get ice from the automatic ice dispenser on the freezer door. (Yep. They can break, if you try that.) 

Over the years, I've found that the pattern itself is pretty common in thrift stores, though often dishwasher damaged. But I had no idea the glasses also came with handy-dandy gold handles. Who knew?

But here they are. And I've now done some research and discovered that the pattern is called Prado and that these particular glasses were advertised as Casual Cups, although Libbey also suggested using them as punch cups. Okay, then.

This fun confetti ashtray was made by Dale Chemical Co. (yep, Dale Chemical), according to the info stamped on the back. Fun!

I love this Mother Mary planter. Isn't it beautiful-cool, as well as kitschy-cool, at the same time? I love the colors, the soft 1950s blue against the shiny gold. I love that it's functional. And I love that it's the Blessed Mother.

It's obligatory Pyrex find time. I picked up these two casseroles in the Verde pattern for my mom because the price was so good. The bottom dish has a lid, by the way.

And I found this one frosted cocktail glass (I believe from the 1950s?) all by its lonesome at the SA on the crazy day. The signature on the art/cartoon is W. Steig—that is, The New Yorker cartoonist William Steig. (I believe he's also the one who created Shrek!, on which the movie was based.) I don't really find his cartoons LOL-funny, but his stuff seems to be sought after. We'll see how this glass does on Etsy.

This is just a goofy plastic (or melmac?) bowl I found and duly bought. 

But, hey, the bottom is stamped "Japan," and it's a super-tacky and bright yellow, like the color my colorblind Florida Mamaw once painted the stucco on her South Florida home. (This is no lie, and I'm not exaggerating.). How could I resist?

I bought these Tupperware containers (perfect for herbs and such) for me, because I actually do preserve herbs at the end of the summer. And I like Tupperware.

The clear Pyrex fridgie is for Mama.

And last, I found this pair of the coolest bar glasses at my favorite GW. They are unmarked, so I know nothing about their history. But they're a vintage-1960s avocado green; the bottoms are super-heavy; and they were priced at 56 cents each. I love them.

By the way, this photo was taken a couple of weeks ago when I made Mint Juleps for the hubby and me, in anticipation of yesterday's Kentucky Derby. (We're both originally from Kentucky, you see.) Fret not, though—yesterday's drinks were mixed and served in authentic pewter julep cups. We know what we're doing around here.

That's all for now. 

And thanks to Sir-Thrift-a-Lot, Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm, We Call It Junkin, and a living space for the opportunity to link up.

thrift store spoils, ch. 23: Pyrex faux bois, Canonsburg Temporama, and more mugs

I have no fun stories to pass on this week, so I'll just jump right in with some finds. I'll start with a beautiful authentic wooden piece and a beautiful fake wooden piece.

I'm calling this a candy dish. After I brought it home from my favorite GW, I treated it with my handy-dandy IKEA wood oil. The original sticker is still adhered to the backside, and the sticker itself is pretty cool.

That's a map/globe behind the Action name. Love it.

This is the second faux bois (false wood) tray by Pyrex I've found. The other, a larger one, has been listed in my Etsy shop for a while. But, alas, there have been no takers. I love them both, though—so mid-century sleek. And who doesn't appreciate glossy, fake wood?

But on to more mid-century goodness.

When I saw this Pyrex Space-Saver priced at $10 at one of my regular stops (a thrift store that benefits the local hospital), I texted Mama to see whether she wanted it. Of course, she did. It's a promotional pattern from 1958, unofficially known as Black Rooster. The lid is chipped some on the underside, and it's apparently sitting in the wrong cradle. (According to my copy of PYREX Passion, it originally came with "a cradle with cork handles," while those in the photo above are plastic.) But Mama will love it anyway.

A few weeks ago, I also found this tureen for Mama. (Forgot to mention it on my blog before!) The bottom reads "Glo-White Ironside/Alfred Meakin/England." It's in perfect condition. And Mama likes yellow things.

Note, please, that I called it a "tureen" here, yet I'll admit that when I texted Mama about it from the SA, I called it a casserole. A tureen is for soup; a casserole is for . . . casseroles. I'm an American: a pot is for soup, and every other dish is for casseroles. Forgive me. 

This mid-century goodness is mine, found at two separate stores in the same week. This classic atomic pattern was manufactured by Canonsburg Pottery. It's called Temporama. 

Love, love, love the individual designs. I may use them for inspiration on the next patch I embroider to cover the holes in my jeans! Seriously. I do that.

I also found this 13x9-inch pan in Butterfly Gold (the first Butterfly Gold design that was issued between 1972 and 1978)for Mama. Remember, she loves yellows? 

Don't look closely at the photo, please, because I didn't clean it well. I got some of the  gunk off of it with Bar Keepers Friend, but got tired. Mama will have to get the rest!

And now to the obligatory mugs. (God help me.)

Between the two mugs is a sour cream glass. I cannot pass those up.

I bought the "got milk?" mug to list on Ebay. The slogan/ad campaign was just retired, and the mug is dated 1999. So I'm hoping it'll sell.

The Epcot mug is from 1982—the year the ultimate mid-century atomic park opened. I'm pretty sure I was there that year, too. Epcot is my favorite of the Disney parks. And my family (both the one I grew up in and the one we're now raising) loves Disney. We've visited umpteen times. 

Not that you asked, but my favorite restaurant in Epcot?

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. 

From a couple of sections of the dining area, visitors enjoy a nice view of Cinderella's Castle. And if you time your meals right, you can eat while listening to a set from a fun band. 

But best—their large and reasonably priced menu (and by "reasonably priced," I mean "reasonably priced by Disney standards") includes a veggie burger and a super condiment bar. (I care, because I'm a vegetarian.) And at the super condiment bar, I can basically build a salad on my plate! Budget yummola!

One more thing—the decor in Tomorrowland (where the restaurant is located) is retro space-age. Perfect for us vintage lovers.

And, I promise, just one more thing—try to avoid this place during traditional mealtimes. It gets busy, busy, busy. And too many people looking for a table makes us crazy, crazy, crazy. And at Disney, we need to stay happy, happy, happy. 

These Starbucks mugs are for Ebay. The one on the right is a Berlin City Mug Series mug, by the way.

I was in the Manassas SA when I saw them in an employee's cart. She was stocking shelves. I waited by the cart until she returned from setting something on a shelf, and I asked whether I could take them. 

"Yes," she said.

"Thank you," I said.

And "Goodie!" I thought.

We'll see whether any Ebay shoppers might want one of them.

That's all for now. Happy thrifting, y'all!

Linking up with Sir Thrift-a-Lot and We Call It Junkin. 

thrift store spoils, ch. 22: Ben Seibel's Country-Time, a Ges Line Ashtray, and humble requests for I.D. help

How about we begin with a thrift-store-find mystery that I hope someone out there can help me solve?

I found these three small bowls on a half-day-seven-thrift-store shopping craze. I have an efficient route that takes me east through four traffic-heavy Northern Virginia cities, yet allows me to complete the run in four hours. (Caveat: I no longer have small children.)

I picked up these bowls because I thought they might be Russel Wright. However, there are no markings on the bottoms indicating such—only three stilt marks on each bowl. Also, after getting home and researching, the color of these looks a little darker than the iconic Russel Wright Coral. So maybe I got knockoffs? I do like them, regardless. But does anyone out there know whether the smaller Russel Wright pieces were ever manufactured without markings?

By the way, the melmac tray in the photo with the bowls is one I picked up at a SA last week. It's also unmarked. I got it because it matches the unmarked melmac bowls that both my Florida Mamaw and my Kentucky Mamaw used to serve us ice cream and cereal in.

This is definitely my best find of the past couple of weeks. Despite promises to myself to never ever venture into the Manassas SA on a Wednesday (when, ahem, the entire store is 25% off, and when everybody and his or her brother seems to know it), I did. I walked in three minutes after the store opened, and I picked up the last shopping basket available. There were two carts left, but I don't like carts. 

I have to say that, despite everyone else's carts getting in my way, I made out okay. And among the items I found were these three Ben Seibel designed salad plates by Pfaltzgraff. The pattern is Country-Time, and the minimalist fruit images are so stinkin' mid-century mod, as are the colors—saffron and gray. Am I wrong?

I probably won't keep them, though; I'm collecting, like, three patterns already, so I can't. But I'm not sure whether I'll list them in my Etsy shop, or whether I'll try an Ebay auction. I'm leaning Etsy, because Ebay intimidates me. (Too much down-to-the-wire pressure.) 

Right now I'm just trying to price them. I haven't found any of these exact plates for sale online right now, so I'm clueless about the current market value. (Thus, the nerve-wracking Ebay auction idea—let the free market decide!)

Anyway.

On the shopping spree day, I  found these two bread and butter plates—also designed by Ben Seibel, but manufactured by Iroquois. I believe the pattern's name is Pyramids, but I'm not sure. I'll admit I don't love the pattern. In fact, I bought the plates for the far out logo and fonts on the plates' backs. I know. That's just sad.

I got this unnumbered blue Pyrex mixing bowl to help Mama complete her Primary set. And I happened across a Taylorstone Cathay dinner plate to add to my recently acquired humongous set, discovered and bought on Taylorstone Cathay Day. This one has a little chip, but I just don't care.

Also for Mama, I picked up this Pyrex 023 Opal. (She likes the Opals.) The bread and butter plate is mine. It's Copper Filigree, one of the Pyrex dinnerware patterns.

I don't normally buy ashtrays, because I simply have no justification. (The hubbie lets his cigar ashes fall wherever they may, don't you know.) But this ashtray is uber-cool. The bottom indicates that it's a Ges Line and that it was "Made in the U.S.A." See? Uber-cool. (Note, please, that I don't know whether the Ges Line does or does not need a dash—like Ges-Line? The name on the ashtray doesn't make it clear, so I'm going with the usage I found online as most common. No dash, it is.)

What'll I do with an ashtray? I'll either use it as a ridiculous candy dish, or list it on Etsy. Not sure which.

Okay. More I.D. help needed, please.

This lovely, frolicking-wild-horse bar glass is dated 1993, but I can't identify the maker. 

Anyone out there recognize this logo? I'd like to learn more about the glass, but I can't find that logo on any of my logo-I.D. go-to sites. 

And still more help, please?

This cradle thingie was priced at 96 cents, and, of course, it has such a fun wooden handle. So there was no way I could leave it sitting on the GW shelf amongst all the common stuff. Too bad I have no idea what it was originally intended to hold and/or display. (At first, I was thinking that it might be part of a Pyrex set, but I can't find a photo of it in any of my regular Pyrex info sources.) 

Clue: It is collapsible.

The two tiny serving pieces were made in Japan. They were a little grungy at the store, but after cleaning the stainless steel and treating the wooden handles at home, they look quite good, if I do say so myself.

So those are the only items I'll write about this week. And, please, if you have any idea what the unknowns up there are, I'd love for you to share.

And I'll leave you with a Remington Steele update (because I wrote about the show last week). This week I watched the first episode of the second season. 

It's the episode in which Laura and Mr. Steele travel to exotic Acapulco, in part to save Laura's housekeeper's son from some bad south-of-the-border dudes. But it's also the episode that explains away the sudden absence of two of the first season's secondary characters, while also cleverly introducing replacement Doris Roberts (a.k.a. Mildred Krebs) as the IRS agent/stickler who, turns out, is a closet adventure seeker. (Spoiler alert: Mildred becomes Remington Steele's receptionist/private-eye extraordinaire and adds immensely to the show's charm.) 

Well, also in this episode, Laura Holt sports some rad vintage 1980s parachute pants. Oh, yes. Check it out.

I lived through the parachute pants days, by the way. And I'm here to tell you that it wasn't always pretty. (Laura carries it off well, though. Look at that itsy-bitsy waist!)

Please note the bar stool behind/next to Laura. Doesn't that look Eames-ish? Could that be an authentic wire bar stool designed by the man himself? Or only a reproduction. Fun, nevertheless.

Thanks to Sir Thrift-a-Lot, Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm, We Call It Junkin, and a living space for the opportunity to link up.

thrift store spoils, ch. 19: Reed & Barton, Pyrex, and a Repogle globe

This week, my thrifting was infrequent and my finds were sparse. This was mainly due to a snow storm that kept the people living in this semi-Southern/densely-populated/suburban area (that would be Northern Virginia) trapped behind frozen, snowploughed mounds on Monday and Tuesday, but also due to a couple of surprise substitute teaching calls I received at the end of the week.

The good thrifting news? At least I wasn't tempted to buy more random vintage coffee mugs.  

But I'll move on to what I did find.

Check out this sleek, mid-century, silver-plated candy dish. (At least I think it's a candy dish. I found it described as such online.) It was made by Reed & Barton (the bottom reads "Reed & Barton/251/A"), and the inside enamel is chartreuse. 

Yes, chartreuse. 

Love, love, love it.

  
And I found this great vintage globe. I still need to do some research, as I'm not sure whether it's vintage 1980s, vintage 1970s, or what. It does include the USSR, making it older than my kids. So I'll go from there when I start digging.

It's by Repogle; it's the "Repogle® 12 inch Diameter Globe World Classic Series," to be exact. But there's more.

 

It's a raised-relief globe! So I can run my fingers over the Appalachian Mountains, my future home, whenever I feel like it! (It's the little things.)

 

This Pyrex mixing bowl, a 403, is in the Woodland pattern. And as I mentioned in my last post while noting that I'd found a small Woodland casserole, I'm aware that this isn't a favorite pattern for collectors. I also know that my mom, who now collects Pyrex, doesn't like it. She pretty much told me so when I texted her a photo of it from the thrift store. You see, she has a strange aversion to brown—similar to my aversion to most yellows, I suppose?

But, dangit, I like this pattern. And I like coffee. I also like chocolate, pinecones, and rich dirt. There are so many delicious browns in this world!

Finally, I'll show you the plant stand that I bought. (Lousy photo, I know.) 

Granted, this thing could be vintage 2012 and originally purchased at Old Time Pottery, for all I know. But it cost me a buck-fifty. And you can't beat a buck-fifty for a plant stand. So I grabbed it, and now I'm boasting. This is why I like thrift stores.

Thanks to Sir Thrift-a-Lot, a living space, Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm, We Call It Junkin, and The Thrifty Groove for the opportunity to link up!

thrift store spoils, ch. 18: a missed opportunity, Pyrex, and Lillian Vernon

If you'd like to skip my story of the suh-weet mid-century modern item that I found but was unable to buy, feel free to skip down to my photos. But if you can relate to the thrift store agony of defeat, and if your misery needs a little company, please read my sad tale.

On Monday, I walked into my favorite GW about an hour after it opened for business. And right there in the front of the store, amongst several lousy, cheap occasional tables, was a mid-century beauty: a Gunlocke end table. (Confession: I didn't know for sure the brand upon first glance, but I could tell that it was vintage and very, very cool.) 

But, alas, kneeling beside it was a young lady. She was with what turned out to be her grandmother (not that I learned this by eavesdropping or anything), and they were discussing whether the table would work in a particular space in her little place. But they obviously had no idea that the table was such a great find; they were only considering its size and cost. 

The girl took the tag taped to the table (as you know, this is the thrifter's way of saying "saved") and moved on to look at cheap chairs. That's when I moved in to check out the table. The top was scratched a bit, which would be no big deal to fix, but the rest of it was in great shape. I turned it over, and that's when I learned that it was, in fact, a Gunlocke. GW had marked it at $20, but a 25% discount would be applied. 

Fifteen stinkin' bucks for that beauty. 

I wandered over to housewares and searched the table up on my phone to learn more about it, still hovering at a distance. (Okay. I was spying.) There was always a chance that the girl and her grandmother would change their minds about it and put the tag back, right? But, no. They bought the thing.

So then I had a dilemma. Should I follow the two of them to the parking lot and offer $25 for the piece? Should I at least stop them and educate them about what they had—so that they'd cherish the vintage Gunlocke in their care?

In the end, I did nothing. I was a chicken. Honestly, I kind of feared freaking them out more than anything. (Who wants to be followed to out to the parking lot?)

So by just a few minutes that morning, I missed out on a beautiful, vintage piece. I don't have a photo of the piece, and I can't find one online that I'm allowed to copy and post, but here's a link to one for sell on Etsy.

And here are the finds that I do have in my possession. 

I found two Russel Wright by Steubenville plates to go with my collection of these plates. (Okay. So I now have three of them in my collection. It's a modest start.) But I love the chartreuse. (The granite is cool, too.) I do have two pieces—not plates, but a casserole dish and a sugar bowl—available on Etsy. I believe this set was manufactured from 1939 until 1959.

Neither of these Pyrex mixing bowls has chips, but the finish on each is a little worn. I'm not concerned, though. That just makes me more likely to use them! The green is a 402 (a piece from the Verde set, I believe), and the blue is unmarked.

More Pyrex. The 12-inch plate is the Terra pattern, which lots of folks don't like. One reason for this, I believe, is that the finish is flat. I mentioned in a post a while back that when I first came across other Terra pieces in a thrift store, I thought they were DWD. 

The shallow bowl is Pyrex dinnerware. I have a few pieces from this pattern, Ebony. And this size bowl is good for sour cream, salsa, whatever.

And my last Pyrex find is this round casserole. It's Woodland, 472. The lid is scratched up quite a bit and chipped on one handle,  but the price was right—$2.96. And I like this pattern. (I know this may put me in the minority.)

I love this sweet Lillian Vernon mug from 1983. And, yes, I placed an order or two from Lillian Vernon back in the day. This mug has a timeless reminder ("Call your mom") written across a pretty obsolete item—the land line phone with a cord that you could stretch around a corner and into another room, begging for privacy. 

I tell my kids that I remember in the 1980s having to call Mama and Daddy collect and person-to-person from my dorm room just to get in touch with them. These days, I pretty much only text with my college student kids.

This bright Christmas mug is marked Waechtersbach/W. Germany. I love the simple image of the Christmas tree. I'll probably list this on Etsy shop next fall.

And lastly, I found more Tupperware canisters. This isn't my favorite color, but both were in good shape. And they're so stinkin' handy-dandy in my pantry.

Thanks to Sir Thrift-a-Lot, Magpie Monday and Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm for letting me link up!

thrift store spoils, ch. 16: Dixie Dogwood, Otagiri, and more Pyrex

My mom has caught the Pyrex bug. (I own some of the blame, I'm sure.) Unfortunately, though, she says there's not much of a Pyrex inventory near her home in the North Carolina mountains. So I took pity on her one morning this past week (while she searched Pyrex listings on Ebay) and ran into a few thrift stores I don't get to visit very often—just for her. And I she got lucky.

The following photos are those that I texted her while in the stores, the photos that asked, "Do you want this?"

At my first stop, a SA, I struck yellow. This unnumbered primary bowl was in super condition and priced at only five bucks. A no-brainer.

Primary serendipity! At the next store, a GW just down the road, I grabbed this green 403 for her. It was in pretty good condition, too.

Then I moved a couple of aisles over.

And there sat more primaries. The red 402, God bless it, was way beyond refurbishing, so I recommended (via text) that Mama pass on it. The blue 401, though, I thought had promise.

I wrote to her saying that, despite the scratches, the bowl was a nice enough one for $1.96. But here's the deal: When I got home and washed it, I learned that those weren't scratches after all. Instead, the whitish stuff is some kind of film, which I hope I can remove with some product and a little bit of elbow grease. We'll see.

 

Also at that GW, I got Mama a divided lid for $2.96. (She's even collecting lids now.)

And this is one of two manger scenes I found for her. She has been collecting these for a while. (I take no responsibility for this obsession of hers, by the way.) This cute handmade ceramics project is dated in the late 1970s (about the time Mama and I also had some ceramics fun—when it was quite the thing). It stands only about three inches tall.

At my last stop for her, my favorite GW, I found this Butterfly Gold Cinderella (the vintage 1972-1978 release). It wasn't in great shape, with that dull finish and lots of little scuff marks. But it was priced at $2.96, so I convinced Mama (still via text) to get it. When I got home, I worked on it just a little. I was able to get rid of the marks with Bar Keeper's Friend, but it's still dull. I'm not sure whether I should have gotten it. We'll need to work on it a little more.

And I found her another lid.

And this is what her haul looked like after I washed things up a bit. It was a pretty primary day for her, for sure.

And for myself? I did okay.

This is a bad photo, I know. But I've already washed and packed my new Santa away for next year. (This is the photo I texted to Mama.)  Christmas was 75 percent off that day, by the way, affecting the prices for my Santa and Mama's nativity scenes. And like Mama's nativity scene, my Santa is hand done.

Of course, I had to buy some mugs, all of which are now listed in my Etsy shop. This one is by artist and author Suzy Becker, and it's signed and dated 1991.

I'm so over folk country, but some folks have never abandoned it. And, hey, for some, it's new and retro! So I picked up this mug by Potpourri Press. It's dated 1990. And it oozes that folk-art-country-late-1980s-early-1990s style.

And I say you can't go wrong with an Otagiri mug. Isn't it classic? This one was made in Japan.

I just love these melmac fondue plates, made in Japan. Dijon mustard yellow? Oh, yeah. And they'll coordinate just fine with the plates I found in the summer.

And lastly, I bought this set of 12 bread-and-butter plates, thinking that they might be Blue Ridge Pottery, although there was no making on the bottoms. (I was going to list them in my shop.) Turns out they're actually the Dixie Dogwood pattern by Joni China, which is fine, too. In the end, though, Mama wants them. And that works even better for me. They'll look right at home in her kitchen.

That's all for this week. Hope everyone is having good thrifting luck!

And thanks, as always, to Sir Thrift-a-Lot and a living space for the opportunity to link up.