When the weather turns colder, I get a hankering for ice cream. Go figure. Then I found a funky, 1970s soup mug and inspiration arrived. The dish is probably USA or Japan made, but there is no maker’s mark. It just screams retro, both from the motif and the colors. I was in a home […]
Cool summer salads can hit the spot on these hot, dog days, and all year round. And it’s especially fun to eat from a charming vintage bowl — in this case, a macaroni salad in a cereal bowl by Mikasa, Sumay pattern, Eclipse line. This ware looks like it’s from the 1960s or 1970s. The […]
Pie, the most comforting of the comfort foods that we remember from childhood. At our house, cherry and pumpkin were often on the menu for family gatherings. My mother made her crust with lard, and it was very tender. There’s a cute song about pie in the movie Michael. Part of it goes like this, […]
I had Corelle dinnerware in the Meadow pattern when I first had my own place, in the 1970s. Those dishes have gone their own way many moves ago, but I still have a plate or two, to remind me of those heady days of living on my own. Saturday I ate a special snack on […]
Cinco de Mayo, May 5, is a holiday to celebrate the history and culture of Mexico. It’s a great time to have a lively party. How can you use your vintage dishes for this celebration? Fiesta! This colorful Homer Laughlin china is tailor-made for Cinco de Mayo with its bold colors and heavier weight. Play […]
We’ve got a definite weak spot for 1970s dinnerware we find in our travels, especially the stoneware. Patterns from Midwinter, Mikasa and even Noritake go great with table settings based on the days when vintage was new: back to the land, Earth Day, Earth Shoe and The Mother Earth News. Midwinter’s series of patterns – […]
Now that Easter is over, time to get ready for Mother’s Day (second Sunday in May). By adding some vintage charm to your table setting, you can impress your mother, family and friends with a table setting that is creative and shows off your china to enjoyable effect. Feature Mom’s favorite flower – such as […]
Charming vintage dinnerware can make your holiday gatherings even more special. Pretty pale colors, shiny glassware, and bold clear accents are reminiscent of the colored Easter eggs, jelly beans, marshmallow chicks and other treats that many of us remember from our childhood Easter baskets. Easter was one of the big holidays at our house. Ham, […]
Orphan glassware that attracts my attention isn’t limited to drinking glasses. This vintage refrigerator drip catching dish just called out, “Repurpose me!” I used to have an old refrigerator, one with no shelving on the inside of the door. The kind you have to defrost by hand (portable hair dryers help). And I remember the […]
Indigo Moon has been on our radar screen ever since the first time we saw it. One, because it’s blue. Two, because it’s so cool. It’s an occupational hazard of life on the dish trail: Sometimes you want to keep your finds. As soon as I see blue, the cart turns in that direction. If […]
Remember the tag line, Love Leads to Lenox, used in print advertising during the heyday of department store wedding registries? Lenox fine china and crystal were so associated with weddings, that if you were in love, registering a pattern and, ultimately owning Lenox, was deemed inevitable. Today the fine china market has softened, and Lenox […]
Finding special vintage dishes is fun! See what I brought home with me in recent weeks, including some extra special items.
My dishie antennae perk up when I see pieces of Mikasa’s Mediterrania line in my shopping travels. The patterns are so retro. Many of them show the best of modern style from the 1970s. The shapes are simple and sleek. The colors and motifs just work for me. I think Blue Bird is probably my […]