Recently, some clients/friends gave me a beautiful set of vintage pyrex mixing bowls that had been in their mother's home. The set is charming! The colour works well with some of my rustic decor and the bowls are sturdy and deep. I'm hoping that they'll encourage me to start baking again now that we're settling in and unpacking more.
Vintage pyrex sets also happen to be hugely popular at the moment and many people collect them for their beautiful colours and patterns. I often see pieces in thrift stores but there are many more available on sites like eBay and Etsy and even local sites like Craigslist. While I tend not to collect things unless I find them useful, I must admit that I'm very drawn to some of the colours and patterns, and a full collection can be very pretty and fun. Still, I think I'll just "collect" pieces that I know will be used frequently. I love things that are beautiful as well as functional.
True collectors know all about the patterns and the years they were made. I believe some patterns are more rare and there are even limited editions which are more valuable. While, I'm not about to join the Vintage Pyrex Fan Club (I'm sure this exists somewhere) I do like to know a little about the pieces I already own.
My mixing bowls are a pattern called Woodland Brown. Aren't they pretty against my harvest table?
The two photos (below) were taken this past weekend on our way home from camping near Cloyne. When we go camping, it's nice to leave a little early on the last day so we're free to stop at antique shops and flea markets on the way home. We always meet interesting people and it sort of extends our holiday by injecting some fun into the drive home.
This past weekend, we stopped at The School House of Treasures (13557 Hwy 41) and enjoyed sifting through numerous treasure and collectibles. If I didn't have self control, I could have filled the car at this surprisingly large and well-stocked vintage store. The owner was lovely and friendly and he gave us a discount after chatting about our engagement and the new/old house. He even gave us some local tips on avoiding traffic on the way home!
He had several rooms filled with lovely things but, for the sake of this post, I'll keep my pictures on topic. The next two pictures show about half of his collection of vintage pyrex:
I even left with a souvenir from our trip: this lovely divided casserole dish in Horizon Blue.
What do you think of this trend? I honestly wasn't a fan until recently when I started to see the beauty in the diverse and colourful patterns. For the budding collector, here are a couple of posts to help identify common patterns.
I know I had fun identifying some items I've seen at my mom's house. She happens to own a pretty casserole dish in the Old Orchard pattern, which often makes its way to our house filled with food! :
Pattern Identification Part 1
Pattern Identification Part 2
Pyrex Pattern Guide
Which patterns do you like? Do you recognize any from your own home?