RetroLife

Tickled Pink and Heavenly Days

Tickled pink was a dish pattern made by Vernonware in 1958, followed by a turquoise version called Heavenly Days. Both patterns can be found on ebay for reasonable prices.

Tickled Pink on Ebay
Heavenly Days on Ebay

Typhoon housewares

I was in an appliance store in my neighborhood when I saw all of these nifty retro goodies. I checked the brand (Typhoon) and looked them up online. Lots of cute retro kitchen goods can be purchased online at either typhoonUS.com or typhoonEurope.com. My favorites are the breadboxes (above) as well as the mug sets, tea kettles and kitchen timers.

Syracuse Jubilee

I just recently discovered this retro dish pattern, called "Jubilee," from Syracuse china. Syracuse was a supplier of restaurant dishes and legend has it, this pattern was used in Denny's restaurants in the early 60's. Bits and pieces can still be found on ebay.

Retro Juicer

This enamel and chrome-plated retro citrus juicer is available from goldaskitchen.com for $70.00.

Temporama by Canonsburg

Here is another mid-century modern dish pattern that can still be easily found on ebay. Canonsburg's "temporama" can still be had for reasonable prices, although more desirable pieces (such as this butter dish) go for a bit more.

Retro Repro Mixer from Hamilton Beach

These colorful retro style stand mixers from Hamilton Beach are available to buy online for 169.99. Aside from the "Sea Breeze" color shown, they're also available in An array of other colors. There's also toasters and coffee makers to match!

Ridgway Homemaker -- Late 50's

The "Homemaker" dish pattern by british company Ridgway & Adderly came out in the late 1950s and has since become a popular collectible with retro and design enthusiasts. You can still find quite a bit of it for sale on ebay although the prices are steep and nearly all sellers are in the UK, which makes the shipping costs high if you're ordering from the US.

As a testament to the popularity of this design, I discovered that there's been an entire book written about it: "Homemaker: a 1950's design classic" by Simon Moss

CB2 Comma Plates

These cute little retro looking stoneware snack dishes are available from CB2 (Crate and Barrel's more modern-style spin-off store) for a paltry $1.95.

Blue Heaven dishware by Royal China

I've been stocking my cabinets with vintage dishes for years, and always recommend Blue Heaven to anyone who wants usable retro-modern style dishes at affordable prices. This pattern came out in the sixties and was sold in inexpensive sets at grocery stores. It would seem there's a lot of it still around since there's always a long list of it on ebay with most basic items easily had for low prices. Certain items are rarer or more sought after, and can take longer to get (I had to do ebay battles for over a month to get a teapot), but still sell for prices that won't break the bank. My particular favorite Blue Heaven pieces are the little tea/coffee cups and glassware:

Texas Ware 1956

I found this ad in an issue of "Living for Young HomeMakers" from November of 1956. The first thing that grabbed me was the good old fashioned use of bright colors. Look at the peacock of the dress against the turquoise background, complimented by the red of her lips and nails...such a far cry from the dullsville creams, beiges and olives of the contemporary palate! It's a tragedy for my eyeballs that the latter-20th century cultural quest for "authenticity" has succeeded so thoroughly in exalting the boring and ugly. I'm all for bringing back some wholesome, all-american artifice, particularly if it results in greater use of the color turquoise.

And speaking of artifice, let us pause for a moment and appreciate the improbable fantasy of a fancy lady in an evening gown eating off Melamine. The pattern shown here is called "Flourish," which I looked up on ebay to see if remnants of this pattern are still floating around. While I found quite a bit of Texas Ware, I didn't find any of the "Flourish" pattern. I did, however, happen across this other interesting pattern from Texas Ware which seems to be nameless but would probably be a nice addition to the retro table:

Perhaps someone could get a set and throw a formal dinner party where ladies would be required to wear gowns in primary colors.