SusieQT collects: Printed Glassware

Don't you just hate those bloggers who seem like they drop off the face of the earth all of a sudden?  Oh wait... :)

Well, anyway, things have been really busy around here and I seem to be a week behind on everything because of being displaced due to Hurricane Sandy for a while. But just in time for Thanksgiving I have a post about one of my very favorite things to collect, printed glassware!

Printed glassware was produced from the 40s-70s as a promotional item for consumer brands. In many cases, they were sold filled with things like peanut butter and sour cream. This encouraged the shopper to patronize a certain brand until she had accumulated a set of similar glasses. Popular themes were flowers, outdoor scenes and holiday motifs. Some glassware companies, like Libby, also produced sets complete with carriers and matching drink pitchers. I believe these might have also been promo items in grocery stores (i.e. free with a $20 purchase) or purchased with things like Green Stamps.

I've been collecting them for years, but they are getting harder to find at decent prices. I try to limit myself to sets of at least 2 glasses or those with pitchers or carriers now, which makes it much harder!

This is probably my favorite set, and the only set I currently have on display in my kitchen. I bought this set of 8 glasses with the carrier about 15 years ago for $15- now, I wouldn't be able to touch them for that price.

I love the red, yellow and green color scheme of these- matches my kitchen perfectly. I hope I can find another 4 of this pattern and maybe a pitcher someday to complete the set. (I've been looking for years!)

Juice glasses are so dainty- these are probably 2-4 oz size. It reminds you that years ago, if you wanted orange juice, you had to squeeze an orange (or five)! I found the matching pitcher for the orange juice glasses at a yard sale years after I bought the 3 (used to be 4, whoops!) glasses.

 Not every pattern was feminine and frilly. My guess is these were meant to be used as bar ware. If I had a couple more of these, I'd put them on my Thanksgiving table.

These holiday glasses are very common. It's a great starter set- you can probably find them in just about any thrift store if you're patient. I have a dozen of them and pass them up all them time anymore because I can't even use all the ones I've got! But they are so perfect for a Christmas tablescape set with a printed holiday tablecloth.

Stove update #2

Hi everyone, things have been kind of crazy around here (it's deer hunting season- I am a hunting widow...). But I do have a stove update, since that's what I've been focusing my free time on.

I found a great place for parts and wire, and best of all it's local! Bergey's Electric in Hatfield, PA was a life saver for me so far. At the urging of my mother-in-law (the Bergeys are her cousins) I gave them a call searching for the right wire (heat resistant, right amperage, etc.). I highly recommend them, and if you're tackling a similar project, do not hesitate to give them a call: 215-723-5518.

I had not had much luck with the other local places I had called, so I was not expecting much. (Because no one actually repairs appliances anymore, they just tell you to get new ones!) I know some of the parts are available over the web, but I much prefer to support local businesses and it's so much nicer to deal with people face to face.

Not only did they have the right, OEM wire in stock, I had the owner and the appliance repair man there to help me get the rest of my shopping list. I needed the burner wires- they had the original spool wire there and cut it to my measurements- the heavier gauge wire that goes to the oven elements, the connectors, and also as a bonus, an original ceramic recepticle for the burner itself.

The burners plug into a ceramic connector which is wired directly to the knob. I had one that was cracked and they just happened to have an identical one on the parts shelf. And guess what? They gave it to me!

And here's the neat part- know why they happened to have that original part on the shelf? They were the original and only licensed Westinghouse dealer in the area. Chances are that they were the ones that sold my stove when it was brand new. The owner said that if I can track down the name of the original owner, they can probably locate the original bill of sale. Now, if that's not a reason to shop local, I don't know what is!

Flea Market Friday: Beacon Blankets

A few weeks ago I was able to right a childhood wrong by going to a rummage sale. Well, that might be a little bit of a reach. But I was able to recapture a childhood memory of sorts, and pass it on to my kids.


When I was a kid, we had a blanket that we used for taking to picnics, outdoor concerts, etc. It was very colorful and had a southwestern motif. We used to call it the "Indian Blanket". Eventually all that toting around took its toll and we lost it somewhere, never to be seen again. Of all the things we misplaced over the years, that blanket is probably the one thing we remember most. 


As I grew older and more obsessed with collecting, I realized that the "Indian Blanket" had been a Beacon blanket, or "Camp" blanket. These textiles were originally manufactured from 1920 through the 1940s by the Beacon Manufacturing Company. In fact, they sold so many -21 million a year in the late 1930’s- that “Beacon” became a generic name for the cotton camp blanket. Beacon pitched its product as a modern marvel: a fluffier, less expensive, moth-proof alternative to wool that was easier to clean and just as warm. Their designs originally copied Navajo hand weavings although at their peak, Beacon produced as many as 1500 styles, including many Art Deco motifs.

Country Living did an article on them a while back, if you want to read a bit more.

In all my years of scouring thrift stores, yard sales and such I have always looked for another "Indian Blanket". And perhaps a little part of me was hoping to discover the exact same blanket I had had as a child. But I never found one, until a few weeks ago.

I scored this blue and tan example with an Art Deco ombre plaid (the fading design pattern was a Beacon trademark) for $4 at a rummage sale. It's in great shape, with no holes, tears or frays, something that probably couldn't have been said of our original Indian blanket. It is a perfect fall addition to my son's bed, and he loves it because it is nice and soft. I promised him I would be more careful with this one and not lose it!

Bet this never happened to you...

And if it did, I want to know. I'm thinking of forming a class action suit.

What is wrong with this picture?

No it's not a steampunk range. (At least not yet, but I'm thinking that might be a fitting end for it. Grrr.)

In the middle of the night I awoke to a crash. Thinking that something (like one of my beloved 50s lamps) fell over and broke, or worse yet, someone was breaking in, I ran downstairs. But everything was in its place and buttoned up tight. At least until I went into the kitchen and saw this:

(Obviously that is not my head, it's my husband's. He did most of the clean up while I stood there slack-jawed. Plus he has long arms and could reach all the glass without stepping on it.)

The glass door had fallen off my oven all by itself and shattered into a bazillion pieces. (FYI, it is safety glass, like a car windshield. Now you know.)

Besides being a royal pain to clean up, especially while trying not to wake two small children- talk about potentially making a bad situation worse- I had to spend all morning trying to find a replacement.

Guess what? There are no replacement glass pieces to be had- it's been discontinued. I found a couple on ebay but they were asking $160 plus shipping. For a 14-year-old oven door. It's not worth getting repaired, especially since there are a few other things wrong with it already.

So I guess I'm doomed to spend this weekend trudging through big box stores looking for a new oven. And since one of my criteria is always that it should be made in America, I think I might be in for a long day. 

Yes, I know what you're thinking- time to step up that search for a vintage stove. That's always been on my wish list. I'm working on it. I'm just having a hard time convincing my husband to cut the countertop and cabinets off to fit a 40 inch stove instead of a 30 inch. I told him he can either do that or learn to cook. Hey, it's his choice!

Ironing the Vintage Way

One of my least favorite household chores is ironing. I absolutely hate it. And as you all know, one of the drawbacks of vintage clothes and linens is that they usually need to be ironed. Blech.

So to make it a little more palatable, and for a true "vintage ironing experience" I've been acquiring and using only 1940s/50s household ironing implements. After I wash them with homemade laundry soap
(another post) and line dry them, the next step is ironing.

I don't know if this makes the actual chore better or worse, but it's more visually appealing at least...

Some time ago, my modern steam iron started to automatically shut itself off about every 2 minutes while I was ironing.  Needless to say, this was annoying; I had to go and unplug it and re-start it every time. I went to buy a new iron and was dismayed to find that I could not buy one that was made in America. (This is one of my pet peeves, and I prefer not to buy new things unless they support American manufacturing jobs.) 

So I began the hunt for a vintage iron. I found one not long afterwards at a rummage sale, and fell in love. I mean, how could you not love good old, American-made, chrome and turquoise (even if it is an iron? ;). Plus, at $1 it was far cheaper than the foreign-made dreck, and I'm sure it will last longer, since it already has at least 40 years under its steam plate.

When I am ironing, I prefer a big, heavy ironing board that won't tip over. This is a 1920s-vintage ironing board that I inherited. It really is a board, with a cotton pad over top and steel legs. It probably weighs 10 times what a modern ironing board weighs and is solid as a rock.

My new iron does have a steam feature, but many vintage irons do not. In order to get that extra moisture to remove stubborn wrinkles, most housewives used a laundry sprinkler. 

This is just a sprinkler top placed in a repurposed bottle. Mine happens to have been made out of a ketchup bottle, which was painted and decal-ed with a Mexican motif. I found this in a thrift store for a couple of bucks. 

I rarely use starch, either the spray or boil kinds. For things like tablecloths, which might be stored for a while, the starch can attract unwanted insects. Plus, I hate the smell.

Here is my new iron in action- I love how it lights up when it is hot. And it does get hot- way hotter than the old iron. Plus, it's at least twice as heavy. It actually makes the job go quicker- always a plus! 

 And the finished product- two sets of curtains, three tablecloths, and a couple dresses, shirts and blouses. Yes it was dark by the time I was done!