2014/02/18

Jadite, Pyrex and Lefton Oh My!

My first piece of vintage, glass dishware I purchased was a small Fire King, Jadite, Jane Ray cup and saucer. I saw it at an antique market one summer and thought...wow this is stunning. It brought me back to when I was 8 or 9 and I forced my mom to buy this mint green dinnerware set from the superstore that consisted of 6 plates and 6 giant bowls. I didn't know it at the time, but it was jadite repo...not even the fire king stuff that came back after Martha Stewart did her thang...just really cheap ( but really beautiful) jadite repo. Over the years, every piece broke except for a few bowls. ( did I mention how cheap they were?)

When I spotted that cup + saucer set and looked in to it a bit more, I knew at that moment I was hooked. I just wish I had started back when I first fell for it,  as prices are getting higher all the time and pieces are becoming harder to find. But what 9 year old collects dishes?!

One afternoon while hunting for jadite at an antique store in Niagara on the Lake, I came across my first piece of pyrex. A little butterprint nesting bowl. It was $10 ( I was at a Antique store). The great thing about it was, butterprint was actually really easy to come by AND resonably priced.

So it begun...my collection pales in comparison to most avid Pyrex collectors, but I've set some limits for myself, because lets me honest, pyrex is a big space taker upper. My dream is to have a wall of turquoise and pink and white ( so I am tryng to stick to turquoise butterprint, Balloon, Gooseberry, White Daisy and Snowflake. However if I stumble across a promotional piece or a rare breed like cloverberry, you better believe I'll make room on my shelf!)  and another wall of my mint jadite.

Oh and then there is my Lefton collection. THAT is probably my most fun to collect and I have spent almost nothing on it. I have been gifted some pieces from friends who are avid thrifters, I have also thrifted a lot because I KNOW for a fact that if a smiley, blue faced Miss Priss creamer came into the shop, they'd stick it with all the other cat figurines. I found my red rose cabbage condiment dish for $2.99 at Value Village. I also found my Puppy Pal jam jar ( with spoon) for $16 at a flea market. My little Dainty Miss shaker? $1.00 at a goodwill. ( found by that expert thrifter friend of mine) and the list continues...