4 @ .25 ea

Madge's requisites for thrifting bread and butter plates:

1. made in USA (check)
2. grey, light blue, or white in color or any variation thereof (check)
3. pattern must make me smile (check)

So obviously this little beauty (times 4) came home with me!!

In other news, I'm surviving the Great Pyrex Drought of 2010.  I hope conditions are better in your parts.

New Followers!  I appreciate your patronage.  Welcome.  Browse.  Let loose!

.85

In North Carolina, where I happened to honeymoon recently, I stumbled upon Dish Barn in Maggie Valley.  It was as it reads it is: a barn + dishes.  There was more restaurant ware in one room than I had ever seen in my whole life and the prices were wallet-friendly (as you can see by the post title).  Though these two Homer Laughlin plates photographed somewhat dark around the rims, I assure you they aren’t black, but grey.  Grey, grey, grey!  I’ve decided that with all of this American restaurant ware I’m collecting now, it’ll be for my second home (hahaha!  pipe dream!) when we’re good and ready to have one.  But for now, I enjoy it so much just knowing it’s part of a collection…

.50 x 2

You know me, I find it very hard to resist a bread and butter plate, especially of the restaurant ware variety!  I found two of these darling plates at a thrift shop in Portland recently.  They were just calling out to me!

For inquiring minds (SOURCE):

This is a piece of TEPCO (Technical Porcelain and China Ware Co., El Cerrito, California, 1918-1968); from a Tepco catalog:  "One of our employees, who spent a considerable amount of time in the Hawaiian Islands, returned to the Tepco factory and told us about this beautiful flower that grows everywhere on the islands. After seeing the hibiscus 'Tepco China' decided to use this flower in an over-all pattern, thus calling it 'Hawaiian.'"  The pattern was made during 1930-1960.

.49 x 6

I´m still never sure which spelling of gray/grey I prefer. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., grey is a variant of gray; gray having the far healthier definition (: of or relating to an achromatic color of any lightness betrween the extremes of black and white, etc.). At any rate, it´s a fabulous color with two spellings that has stolen my heart in terms of vintage bread and butter plates. Last year, you might remember I found a small steal of gray/grey Fiestaware bread and butters for fifty cents each. The color was so inspiring, in fact, that we painted our interior walls with it in mind last year. Long story short (or short story long, at this point), it dawned on me that I should look for other makers of vintage ceramic plates in gray/grey glazes. Hello, new collection. I found six pieces of the Harkerware plate photographed above on my latest thrifting excursion - and oh, I love it! Also, it looks great with the Fiesta.

Two questions:

1. what spelling of gray/grey do you prefer?*
2. do you know of any American china companies that used a gray/grey glaze, 1940s - 1950s?

*to me, gray seems like the feminine, grey the masucline

$5.99

Back:

Oops. I broke the cardinal rule: no more dishes! I couldn't help this purchase. Also, I've been visiting a Goodwill in Boynton Beach on my lunch breaks that consistently turns up nothing! When I saw these plates I thought I would try to turn my luck around!

$5.50

Happiness is finding five Fiestaware plates by Homer Laughlin...for fifty cents each...and dating them to the 1950s! Take a look at the tablecloth ($3) and gray Fiesta plate up close:

You can tell from the three sagger pin marks on the back of this plate that it isn't contemporary Fiestaware (post 1986)...it's the old stuff!

...They might sell for as much as $8 a piece. Oh, I love to thrift!

$1.50

This is a newer Homer Laughlin pattern I'm pretty sure - Gothic - but the weight and durability of these plates comes second to none! These will probably mingle with my everyday dishes - white Fiestaware, also by Homer Laughlin!

.99

Heavy in the dish department lately, I know...but I am a certified dinnerware rescuer! Especially with abandoned saucers. They already have so much trauma in their lives - their teacup is missing! I give them a nice bath, a prominent place to stay...

$2.95 x 2

My mom collects this pattern - Liberty Blue by Staffordshire. It was a promotional pattern for the Federal Savings + Loan bank she worked for during the 1970s-80s. She'd dumpster dive for the overstock that'd get delegated to the trash. I don't know. We might be related.

$1.29

Another plate for my mom's collection...

.59 x 6

These charming little blue plates remind me of springtime and robin's eggs. Here are some other pictures:

.59

You do remember this creamer from a recent post, yes? I found a salad/bread plate in the same pattern!

Solid Cherry Tip: Spare change is incredibly fun to work with - set aside all of yours in a jar and take it to the thrift shops. You will come home with treasures!

.29

Front:

Back:

A little restaurant ware for my tiny collection. A saucer? That's my best guess. It's tiny.
Bonus: From Restaurant Ware Collectors Network:

[Mayer produced] this custom pattern in 1959 for a restaurant in Manhattan. The Forum was one of a series of theme restaurants established by Jerome Brody in the 1950's.

Fitting for me to post about a little plate today, April 3rd. It is my mom's birthday and she is responsible for giving me the thrifting gene!

.95

So dainty. Missing the teacup unfortunately, but now that just means I get to hunt for it. It's from Bavaria, marked US ZONE (meaning, I think, it's from post-war Germany, between 1945-9).

$7.95

Again, for my mom's collection.

(The Fiestaware platter underneath is mine; it wasn't thrifted. I love Fiestaware.)

$4

For the mom's collection...all made in the USA.

$2.75

Those were the books for decoration I picked up last weekend at Salvation Army; they were .25 each. And I picked up that espresso cup and saucer ($1.99) in Portland over the holidays - I love the color combination (it reminds me of Crayola's original Sea Green and Olive, no?)! It's restaurant china, so it's really sturdy and you know me, I love me some restaurant china. However, I'm not familiar with the establishment logo...which is very sassy, I might add.

.49

I usually *don't* buy teacup-less saucers, but this one begged to come home with me (it was made in France, which sealed the deal). I love restaurant dishes! Having done some minor Google sleuthing, Restaurant Lutèce is a French restaurant in Manhattan. I had my morning coffee with this saucer; très fancy!

.95 x 3

I found 3 of my Great Grandma Didi's dishes while thrifting not too long ago; three little bread/salad plates. Here are the details: Myott, Made in England (fine Staffordshire ware), in the "Forget Me Not" pattern. They were just waiting for me. It was a great find.

I think one of the reasons I thrift is because it connects me to people I know but don't know...

Bonus: the little easel holding up the plate belonged to my grandma - my dad's side of the family - a woman I think a lot of when I'm out thrifting. She had a violet bathroom. Yes. Everything was purple! Except the toilet. ;)

$3

Last week, at my other blog, I posted a strong desire for this plate collection. My lovely commenters suggested I take the idea of twelve plates on the wall in my own thrifty direction. And when people comment, I listen!

I am going to take the idea of hanging twelve *somewhat* related plates on my kitchen wall. The only thing that will relate them, however, is that they have to be pink or brown (I will be happy to throw in any other pleasing color in the mix) and made in England. I found my first two plates at the Veteran's last week. Should be kind of challenging, but I am up for the thrill of the hunt.

When they're up and hanging, I will be sure to share.