Dishes, Dishes, DISHES!

[moonie]

I have been piecing together a fine set of dishes.  Of course I have to do it slowly in order to not break the bank.  I love the dishes from the 1950's, expecially anything with a light blue/aqua thing going on.  I am combining the pieces that I like from three sets.  I have the coffee cups and cereal-sized bowls from Metlox's Poppytrail, Del Rey pattern.  I love their swoopy-ness, but I don't like the plates or anything else from that set.  Too fancy.  So I have a bunch of Royal China's Blue Heaven plates.  If you aren't familiar with this pattern just remember your grandma's plates.  Yep, those are the ones.  I swear, everyone who sees my plates say, "I think my grandma had these."  Even my husbands grandma says, "I think I have these."  She does!  (It's hell getting old), but the set I'm most activing chasing Heavenly Days, by Vernon Kilns.  I'll eventually switch all my Blue Heaven stuff over when a big bag of money falls out of the sky.  I do have some Franciscan Starburst coffee cups, but there is NO WAY I can afford to do a set of those, but I do love them.  I think all of this stuff goes together.  A purist my think I'm silly for not just getting one set, but little do they know, I AM SILLY!

I use EVERY dish I have.  No "special day" stuff for me.  I would hate to die tomorrow and never have used the dishes that I loved the most.  Carpe Diem! (actually in my family we say "Carps are Dying", hey, it's Iowa).

[tiamatgreen]

I mix and match too, it's too hard for me to commit to collecting just one thing! lol plus I like eclectic. As long as it all works together, why not?

[moonie]

Yep.  What's the sense of having an entire set if I think some of the pieces are goofy.  I suppose if I were collecting with the intent of selling I would, but I'm not.  I love the stuff.

[Big Daddy Audio]

PUT UP A PICTURE!

WE LOVE PICTURES!

That is all.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I have been piecing together a fine set of dishes.  Of course I have to do it slowly in order to not break the bank.  I love the dishes from the 1950's, expecially anything with a light blue/aqua thing going on.  I am combining the pieces that I like from three sets.  I have the coffee cups and cereal-sized bowls from Metlox's Poppytrail, Del Rey pattern.  I love their swoopy-ness, but I don't like the plates or anything else from that set.  Too fancy.  So I have a bunch of Royal China's Blue Heaven plates.  If you aren't familiar with this pattern just remember your grandma's plates.  Yep, those are the ones.  I swear, everyone who sees my plates say, "I think my grandma had these."  Even my husbands grandma says, "I think I have these."  She does!  (It's hell getting old), but the set I'm most activing chasing Heavenly Days, by Vernon Kilns.  I'll eventually switch all my Blue Heaven stuff over when a big bag of money falls out of the sky.  I do have some Franciscan Starburst coffee cups, but there is NO WAY I can afford to do a set of those, but I do love them.  I think all of this stuff goes together.  A purist my think I'm silly for not just getting one set, but little do they know, I AM SILLY!

I use EVERY dish I have.  No "special day" stuff for me.  I would hate to die tomorrow and never have used the dishes that I loved the most.  Carpe Diem! (actually in my family we say "Carps are Dying", hey, it's Iowa).

I love that pattern!  I have the teapot to that pattern.  If you noticed GB and Cookie use that pattern on some of the pages of this site!

-Jay

[moonie]

Okay.  This is just like show and tell!  I love it.

First, here is my Blue Heaven stuff.  This is that pattern that every grandma had..


Next, here is the Del Rey stuff that I have.  There are only a couple of pieces to this set that I want that I don't have.  The rest is just too ornate.  


Now, here is the Franciscan Starburst.  Everybody wants it, and people with a lot more money than I have dish out a ton for it.  I just have a set of 6 cups and saucers.  I love it too....I love Ferraris too, but I realize I can't have one!


Finally, here is the stuff I like the best, the Heavenly days.  I really need the butter dish.  If anyone sees it, let me know.... I would like to switch my dinnerware over to this someday.  I'm hoping to come upon a box of it at an auction.  IT COULD HAPPEN!


That's my stuff.  I'm having a great time on this forum.  

[moonie]

Jay,

Did you find your teapot thrifting, or did you get it off Ebay.  I have NEVER seen any Starburst in real life that wasn't mine.  I would probably have a fit!

-Angie (moonie is my dead cat)

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Angie- thanks so much for sharing the pics-- I'd first been reading you describing, and was going to ask if you'd post pics-- but you were way ahead of me! What a nice looking set they've become-- they really do compliment each other perfectly.

You know--to all you folks who are into the mid-century modern here, I really appreciate learning about your interests and seeing the stuff you covet. It's been such a great education in a period of time I'm not as savvy on, collectible-wise. I've learned a ton, and can see what you appreciate in the design.

[Other People s Junk]

Those are great dishes!  I like that you have more than one kind, but they still go together... "variety is the spice of life"

[Jay2TheRescue]

Jay,

Did you find your teapot thrifting, or did you get it off Ebay.  I have NEVER seen any Starburst in real life that wasn't mine.  I would probably have a fit!

-Angie (moonie is my dead cat)

Thrifting of course.  I got it dirt cheap because there is the tiniest chip on the tip of the spout.  In my experience though, almost all of them are chiped there.

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

You have fantastic taste in dishes.  I love all of them.

-Jay

Okay.  This is just like show and tell!  I love it.

First, here is my Blue Heaven stuff.  This is that pattern that every grandma had..


Next, here is the Del Rey stuff that I have.  There are only a couple of pieces to this set that I want that I don't have.  The rest is just too ornate.  


Now, here is the Franciscan Starburst.  Everybody wants it, and people with a lot more money than I have dish out a ton for it.  I just have a set of 6 cups and saucers.  I love it too....I love Ferraris too, but I realize I can't have one!


Finally, here is the stuff I like the best, the Heavenly days.  I really need the butter dish.  If anyone sees it, let me know.... I would like to switch my dinnerware over to this someday.  I'm hoping to come upon a box of it at an auction.  IT COULD HAPPEN!


That's my stuff.  I'm having a great time on this forum.  

[moonie]

My coffee pot is chipped there and under the lid.  Since I buy my dishes to use, I'm not too picky.  As long as it doesn't detract from the appearance and it's usable, I'm game.  

Far out, finding your teapot in a shop.  Rural Iowa isn't really the place to find things like starburst.  A little too spacy for all of this corn.  Maybe I'm just not looking in the right spots.  

[fifihex]

I never thought about combining dishes from difrent sets. I'ts such a great idea!!! I have a lot of dishes at my grandma's house in Ukraine. I love them cause they are just classic and gorgeous, not like stuff in Holland where it's cheap looking. The problem is that most sets are incomplete. Or there are a lot of cups in one theme and nothing else. Also a lot of boring white teacup plates. This combining idea really opened up doors in my mind! Thanks!

[Jay2TheRescue]

I never thought about combining dishes from difrent sets. I'ts such a great idea!!! I have a lot of dishes at my grandma's house in Ukraine. I love them cause they are just classic and gorgeous, not like stuff in Holland where it's cheap looking. The problem is that most sets are incomplete. Or there are a lot of cups in one theme and nothing else. Also a lot of boring white teacup plates. This combining idea really opened up doors in my mind! Thanks!

This is an old thrifting technique.  I've seen where people have put togeather an entire set of china with each place setting being different.  Most often I've seen this done with floral patterns.  For example each place setting may have roses on it, but they are all different.  This is easy to do because many times thrifts price china by the piece because they rarely get a complete set donated.

-Jay

[Scott]

I see Blue Heaven and Heavenly Days in thrift shops relatively frequently, and Starburst a bit less frequently. All three are great patterns, and I could see you being able to build a thrifted set of at least the first two patterns if you have patience and determination.

I've pared my dishes down a LOT lately, so now I am concentrating solely on building a single set of Iroquois Casual China, which was designed by Russel Wright and introduced in 1946. It has taken me over 10 years to build up a significant quantity to be able to use them as my daily dishes and I've "cheated" a couple times and bought pieces missing from my collection in an antique store or from eBay, but the majority have come from thrift shops, garage sales, and estate sales.

Keep looking ... the good stuff is still out there in thrifts, and I find the "thrill of the hunt" just as satisfying as actually having a great set of dinnerware. Good luck!