It’s finally time for the Easter weekend edition of 613flea! I’ll be there as usual with my latest and greatest vintage housewares and kitchenware finds.
You can find me in pretty much the same spot as last month, a little bit left of the north door (the far left door on the long side of the building if you’re coming in from Bank Street).
Looking forward to seeing you there!
I’m super excited about the Easter edition of 613flea coming up this Saturday because I’ve managed to source some absolutely fabulous “new” vintage Pyrex! It’s all beautiful, and some of it has become quite rare.
1957-1966 Gooseberry Chip & Dip Cinderella Bowls
Pink Pyrex is highly prized because there weren’t all that many patterns released in this popular colour.
1957-1968 Butterprint Casseroles
Butterprint is an extremely popular design, so much so that when Pyrex released their modern “Vintage Charm” line, one of the most common is quite obviously an updated version of this pattern.
1958 Balloons Cinderella Bowl
The Balloons pattern is extremely rare; it was only released for the one year, so there weren’t many of them made. This has made it a highly sought-after collector’s item.
1960-1961 Golden Grapes Chip & Dip Cinderella Bowls
Golden Grapes is unusual because the design was printed on delphite blue rather than the more common opal ware. The gold colour actually comes from real gold, which means that these dishes, like any containing metal, are not microwave safe. (All of the other vintage Pyrex dishes without metal are microwave, oven, fridge, and freezer safe.)
1963-1967 Town and Country Casserole
The Town and Country kitchenware was available as a large mix-and-match series, which is why so many of them survive to this day. They’re not as rare as some of their older counterparts, but they remain colourful and versatile.
1972-1981 Butterfly Gold Mixing Bowls
With Butterfly Gold we start getting into colours and patterns that I remember from my childhood; many people who had children around my age would have received kitchenware in this pattern as a wedding gift.
1978-1983 Woodland Cinderella Bowl
The Woodland pattern is less common than the Butterfly Gold, although they’re from the same era.
As an aside, this was a battle I was constantly fighting while trying to get these photos: my cat really likes my light box. I’m not sure why I was surprised, as it was both warm from the lights and, well, it’s a box. I use a long exposure because the lights aren’t all that powerful, which is usually fine since the dishes don’t move, but it does mean that the cat interrupts with a blur.
1980’s Pyrex Checks & Cherries Bowls
Last but not least, I have these lovely Checks & Cherries bowls, which are probably the most recent items in my collection. I love the vibrant colours! This pattern is also very rare, although more so in the US than in Canada.
I’ve wrapped all of this Pyrex carefully and loaded it into boxes, ready to bring to the flea market on Saturday. I can’t wait! My favourite part of markets is when someone finds that one piece they’ve been looking for for what seems like forever. It’s so satisfying to see peoples’ faces light up with enthusiasm. It really makes my day!
I’m really happy to say that I’ll be at the April 20th edition of 613flea at Lansdowne Park! It was kind of touch-and-go there for a while because I missed the vendor application date. I got really sick with yet another sinus cold that week, and it just plain old slipped my mind. That’s one of the downsides to working for yourself: if you get sick, there’s nobody to fill in for you. Luckily the organizers of the market were able to squeeze me in, so I’ll be there with bells on!
The April market happens to fall on the Saturday of Easter weekend, which means everybody will be thinking spring, so I thought I should focus my attention on some of the more colourful items I could bring along. It turns out that I have a number of new-to-me green pieces!
I’m particularly fond of the way that the green shades gradually from light to darker on this large 1971-1972 Cinderella bowl in the pattern “Green Dot-Squares”.
The Spring Blossom pattern ran for quite a bit longer, from 1972-1979, and I think that’s why so many people of my generation have happy memories of it at their parents’ or grandparents’ house.
This nesting set of Cinderella mixing bowls in coordinating shades of green is also from the early 1970’s, although in my research I haven’t yet been able to narrow it down to a specific year.
These coordinating casserole dishes look great together, but I know they’re not all from the same decade. The top one, which is a vibrant lime green even though the photo doesn’t do it justice, began being manufactured in 1952 and continued into the 1960’s. The greenish-yellow and olive, though, were also made in the 1970’s to coordinate with the mixing bowls.
I have to admit, I rather enjoy researching new patterns and styles, although sometimes I don’t get the most precise results.
It’s finally that time again! This Saturday will be my first market of the season, and since I haven’t had a show in like three months I have so much new stuff to share. But first, the layout has changed a bit from last year, although I’m happy to say that I have a corner booth (perfect for my preferred layout) that is near where you could find me last year.
I’m still on the northwest side of the building, just a little further from the centre doors.
Since this is the March market and hence the one closest to Saint Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d showcase some of my green pieces.
These stacking Pyrex mixing bowls are from the 1980’s; this style remains a pretty constant favourite.
These Hazel-Atlas bowls have a lovely green ivy print.
This rather large oval casserole dish is from the 1972-1978 Pyrex Spring Blossom Green collection.
This is my most vibrantly green piece — although it’s only this bright under UV light. Granted, it’s still a lovely green otherwise. It’s Depression glass; this type is also known as uranium glass because a tiny bit of uranium in the mix is what gives it its colour. It’s also known as Vaseline glass in some places, but while all uranium glass may be called Vaseline glass due to its colour, all Vaseline glass may not be called uranium glass because it doesn’t all contain uranium. Don’t worry, there’s not enough uranium there for it to be dangerous; it’s no worse than eating a banana.
Hope to see you at 613flea!
I just received the email confirming that I’ve been accepted to the 613flea on March 9th — only three Saturdays away. Sadly, this means I’ll be missing the market this coming Saturday, February 23rd, as I have schedule conflicts that day. Even so, I’m really exited, and I have so many “new” items that I can’t wait to show!
A perennial favourite is the Tuperware Pick-A-Deli; it’s so popular that they still make them new (although the colours have changed over the years). I believe that they started making this design as early as the late 1960’s, although I’ve had a hard time finding a firm date on that one. It’s really great for storing pickles in vinegar, fruit in juice or syrup, pickled eggs in brine, carrot or celery sticks in water — just about any solid food that you’d generally store in a liquid, really. The trick is the strainer with the handle, which lets you lift the solids out of the liquids easily without making a mess.
Tupperware pitchers (or, as we called them in our household, juice jugs) are also very popular, and they’ve come in many shapes and sizes over the years. Variations on this look are still available new as well! For people of my generation, there’s something about the older styles that conjures childhood memories of Kool-Aid or frozen juices from concentrate, served in matching tumblers in the summertime.
This last one, now, made me laugh when I found it. I never knew that Tupperware paired up with Blockbuster to make popcorn bowls. I’d guess that this happened sometime in the 90’s, when now-defunct Blockbuster was at its most popular. Apparently this kind of promotion ran more than once, since now that I’ve known what to Google, I discovered that they also came with a “Blockbuster Music” logo. It’s essentially a 26-cup Fix-N-Mix bowl with different branding, which was originally intended to throw your salad fixings inside, add some dressing, and then close the lid to mix it all together. It could still be used for the same, but I have a feeling that the Blockbuster version was marketed to put popcorn in, add butter, salt, and/or other seasonings, and then close and shake to mix. How else were you supposed to use a large plastic mixing bowl to “make it a Blockbuster night”?
Tomorrow is 613Chrismtas, 613flea’s once-a-year Christmas event, and I couldn’t be more excited to be participating! It’s my biggest market of the year, and even the weather is predicted to cooperate.
I have so much new stuff to bring that I can’t photograph it all. My bins for vintage Pyrex and Tupperware are overflowing, and I have a whole bunch of beautiful Blue Mountain Pottery that are waiting to be shown off. I’m enlisting my husband to help me set up so that I can bring a third table to fit it all (usually I only have two tables and lug it all myself). It means that my booth will look a little different than usual, but that’s so I can bring all of my very best “new” stuff!
There is a change of venue for this market: it’s at the much larger (and better-heated) Carleton University Fieldhouse. I’ll be more or less in the middle, in booth 808.
I’m happy to be able to say that I’ve upgraded my Square card reader for this event, so I’ll be able to take debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, as well as the usual credit cards and cash. The new machine makes it so easy!
So please pop by and say hi, even if vintage kitchenware isn’t your thing. I’m always excited to meet people who read my blog.
We’re getting down to the Christmas crunch, which means more flea markets for me! This coming Saturday is 613flea at Lansdowne Park. It’s not technically the Christmas market (that’s in two weeks on December 1st), but a lot of vendors will be bringing out their holiday wares because people like to shop early — especially if they’re shipping presents to family, or are planning on traveling themselves. Considering that the local Christmas craft fairs started up the Saturday after Halloween, I don’t really think it’s too early.
Once again, I’ve managed to narrow down my social media pictures to two, and I can’t choose between them. Which do you like best, this one:
Or this one:
I mean, they couldn’t be more different, but I like them both. It’s very hard to be objective when each one holds some pretty happy memories for me.
I’m also really excited this week because I have found some absolutely fabulous new pieces that I’ll be including at my booth. Once again I have warm colours:
Versus cool:
I honestly love them all and would be happy to keep them in my kitchen, but if I kept every piece that I like I wouldn’t have anything for my booth.
Hope to see you there!
Tomorrow is the next 613flea, and I’ll be there in my usual spot, one row south of the north door. And I’m so excited to show you the “new” things I’ll be bringing this week! (“New” in brackets because I specialize in vintage housewares, after all.)
I have fourteen pieces of green Blue Mountain Pottery that are in like-new condition. Some of them even still have their original stickers and/or tags!
I even have three new-to-me pieces of rarer harvest gold Blue Mountain Pottery.
I liked how that photo turned out so much that I used it as the photo for my social media promotion for this week. Fingers crossed that I can win that prize for best post! So if you’re on Instagram, it would be appreciated if you could drop me a like on that pic.
These Tupperware Wonderlier Bowls are from the 1950’s and 1960’s, but they’re still in beautiful condition.
Not all of my Tupperware is as old as my parents, though! These Modular Mates sized for spaghetti (with portion servers on the inside) are from the late 1980’s/early 1990’s, as are these butter dishes.
My absolute pride and joy this week is this lovely Pyrex divided serving dish. The turquoise-on-white snowflake pattern ran from 1956-1963, and this particular dish has never been used. It’s still new in its box, with all of the paper inserts and packaging included!
Dishes in this kind of shape are like the Holy Grail of Pyrex collecting. Even if this kind of thing isn’t your personal passion, to a serious collector this is like getting a original Star Wars toy in mint-condition packaging, or a trading card of a classic, big-name player that looks like nobody’s ever laid a finger on it. I couldn’t possibly be more thrilled with this find!
This coming Saturday I’ll be bringing my vintage kitchenware booth to 613flea at Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park. You’ll be able to find me in the northwest side of the building, one row north of center. As there will be 110 vendors there and the amount of sights to see can sometimes become a bit overwhelming, here’s a handy map:
The organizers of the market have started a contest among the vendors for most creative social media post. The winner receives their booth rental at the next event for free! I would love to win this prize, but I’m really not a graphic artist like Carabara Designs or Scatterbee. I had to make do with my photography editing skills. I worked on this for hours, and in the end I came up with two designs that I thought had promise. The first featured some my my colourful vintage Tupperware:
And the second a selection of my Blue Cornflower CorningWare coffee pots and percolators:
I’m honestly at a loss for which one I prefer, although I rather like how the high contrast makes the CorningWare one look like a vintage magazine advertisement.
Which one do you prefer?
Own Two Hands 