That Cheap, Old, Awesome Dinnerware and Glassware That Never Dies

O.K. I'm back to the Antique Week chatter. Now that summer has blown away, and fall is kicking in, your favorite home decor retailers are revving up the holiday tableware sales pitch. The cheap old stuff your granny passed along to whoever would take it is actually a better buy, if you ask me.

Frankly, I love the old Depression Glass and cheap Green Stamps tableware my mother gave me. It transcends its cheap and slightly tacky look to be retro urban cool beyond anything the big retailers can offer. Although I don't actively collect depression glass or other vintage glassware anymore, I think it adds a nice touch to everyday dining or the occasional dinner party. So we do pull it out sometimes.

Avon Ruby Glass

I have a collection of Avon Ruby wine goblets and port glasses, I have plates and glasses of various size in the Depression Glass pink Sharon pattern, along with other random pink pieces, and a sizable collection of Sterling China (Japan) that my mother gave me. I recall this stack of dinner plates, saucers and tea cups coming from the Minimax in Edna, Texas. I think she collected stamps to get them. They were our everyday plates before the introduction of the microwave. After that, she boxed it all up because they have decorative metal rings that sparked. Now I use them with my family, but usage comes with strict instructions not to put them in the microwave.

Sterling China Florentine Pattern

Something I love about the Sterling plates and my Depression Glass plates is that we eat less. The pink plates are only about 9 inches in diameter, and the Sterling has about that much eating surface, with the rest of the plate dedicated to the outer pattern. 

Pink Depression Glass Sharon Pattern

Now that I've shown off my shabby collection of cheap glass, I want to encourage you to buy the old stuff. It's actually cheaper than the new replicas, and the old stuff has soul. Somebody else ate and drank off of this cheap dinnerware. They collected colored glass out of  oatmeal boxes, or at the movie theater, or like my mother, at the grocery store. We still earn the "free gift" today, but our contemporary freebies won't last for generations.

If you're headed to Antique Week, look for some cool old glassware. Make it the star of your Thanksgiving dinner party. Brighten up the holidays with nostalgia. That's what we'll do. We'll put up the every day Sterling plates and set the table with the pink stuff. It will be fun, and it will feel like our history.

Final bit of advice. Check eBay for these old table relics. I did some quick comparison, and I found that websites dedicated to the 3 different collections I own were more expensive. I really don't know what the prices at Antique Week will be. Here are three easy links to the glass I own:

Pink Depression Glass

Avon Ruby Glass

Sterling China (Japan) Florentine Pattern

Check out the other Depression Glass colors, too. I love the greens and blues, and my sister has a big collection of milk glass she inherited from our grandmother. It's heavy and ugly to the point of being cool. 

Milk Glass

Whatever style you like, buy up enough to set a table, and have some fun with holiday dinner parties.