Tag: jug

“New” Vintage Tupperware

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”?

Felting with Vintage Tupperware

When I’m at the flea market, one of my most consistent sellers is vintage Tupperware pitchers. I hear so may people exclaim that they remember them fondly from their childhoods, generally filled with Kool-Aid and paired with bell tumblers. I have to admit that they were a consistent part of my childhood as well, even though at our house they were filled instead with juice that came out of a can in the freezer.

However, this past weekend I learned that these days they have an alternate use. One lady came to my booth and was absolutely thrilled to learn that I had one vintage pitcher left because she uses the lid for wet felting. For those not into such things, wet felting is a craft that uses layers of wool roving or yarn, agitated together with hot soapy water until it all sticks together as a single piece of fabric. If you’ve ever accidentally thrown a piece of woolen clothing in the washing machine and had it come out shrunken, stuck together, and unwearable, you’re familiar with the process. However, wet-felting is when it’s done on purpose to create pieces of art. The end results can range from absolutely gorgeous to terribly cute.

What makes these pitchers such great finds for wet felters is the ridged undersides of the vintage lids. (The lady I spoke with told me that the lids of new Tupperware pitchers have been redesigned so that they’re smooth on the bottom.) The ridges are perfect for gently agitating the layers of wool so that they stick together. And the handle makes for an easy grip. Apparently the pitchers are considered to be great finds by this crafting community, not only because they don’t make them that way any more, but also because they’re generally snapped up so fast.

Who knew?