When life keeps kicking you below the belt... Go thrifting!

[redcarpetdrew]

Never fails. Just when I start to think I finally have things on cruise control, life keeps kicking me in the privates. Dad's condition keeps fluctuating, stuff back in Nevada always keeps demanding attention and then my personal/family life... It's all almost enough to drive me to drink. (And actually might have a couple of times lol!)

So what to do... Time to lose myself and check out the thrift shops! Retail therapy a friend of mine calls it. There's a couple of them I've come to know and a few I've seen in my travels and wanted to check out. This is how I ended up with my Hoover Celebrity Elite IV and that nifty roaster. So out I set. Here's a few of the neat things to be seen and/or had.

I couldn't turn down these vintage Pyrex nesting mixing bowls. In pretty good shape and got them for a steal.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Saw this recently. I may be into retro technology but I have to draw the line >somewhere< !

I thought they were all gone by now. Brought back memories to be sure but not enought to get it...

 

[redcarpetdrew]

I needed an iron for the uniform I'll be wearing again (finally!!! Woo hoo!!!) and this fit the bill. Tried to figure why it was turned in. Figured out the temperature control knob was put on backwards at some point so when they wanted heat, it actually was off. Funny. I really liked these cordless jobs. Took it home and 'pressed' it into service. (Ducking and running...)

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Picked this one up recently as well. A really neat antique wins up carriage clock with alarm, repeater, chimes on the hour and half hour and is just really cool. Surprisingly heavy from all the solid brass and glass for such a little clock.
[this post was last edited: 12/22/2014-01:28]

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Ready for another project to keep my mind busy, I found it. I kinda fancied a vintage Kirby for the fun of it. This one actually runs really well so it will be just clean up and polishing out things. I'll still pull the housings and go thru it anyway. That's how I roll. Lol!

 

[redcarpetdrew]

And for fun...

I haven't seen one of these in a bazillion years. My son likes elephants and this is really cool!

Thrifting. It's good for what ails you...

RCD

 

[retromania]

I never find good stuff at our thrift stores here because I don't go in on a daily basis. You can ride by our Goodwill on Main Street anytime during operating hours and the parking lot is full or near full.

 

[hooverwheelaway]

I had that exact Maytag cordless iron. I got it when I worked at the Hoover store, when Maytag imposed them on us to sell, along with the Jenn-Air Attrezzi blenders and mixers. They didn't sell very well and were problematic. I loved it, used it for about a year and a half, then one day it just stopped heating, which was unfortunate. Tossed it.

 

[danemodsandy]

Drew:

Your Pyrex bowls are the "Autumn Harvest" pattern, produced from '79 to '86. It's unusual to find the complete set of four intact like that in a thrift store - great catch. Usually, you'll find two or three, then have to turn to eBay to complete the set.

I envy the Hell out of you on that carriage clock - that is a terrific piece, the likes of which never ever EVER turns up where I am. Congratulations.

My first partner and I had that exact Code-A-Phone machine. Seeing your photo brought back a lot of memories of that time.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Great finds

Sorry about the crap in your life. It is fortunate for you that the owner of the mixing bowls did not wash them in a dishwasher because that just tears the hell out of Pyrex.

 

[petek]

Neat stuff. I bought one of those Maytag irons as well long ago. I think they were clearing them out at the time. I did try it and it worked well but I don't iron any more so back in the box it went lol .

The clock is very nice

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S., Drew:

The Pyrex bowls are of a style known to collectors as the "Cinderella" bowl. This shape, which incorporates a handle on one side and a pouring spout on the other, debuted in 1958. It was officially called "Cinderella" through the '60s, with many Cinderella products being catalogued, but then just became known by its stock numbers. Those numbers are:

441 - 1-1/2 pint small bowl
442 - 1/1/2 quart medium bowl
442 - 2-1/2 quart medium-large bowl
443 - 4 quart large bowl

There are also Cinderella casseroles, straight-sided, with the same handle and spout arrangement. These have clear Pyrex lids. I love the 1-1/2 pint size for microwaving soup, etc.

If you can find one, there was a gold-tone metal bracket that clipped onto the lip of the 443 large bowl, and which supported a 441 small bowl. This turned the two bowls into a chip and dip set. The bracket is HTF and commands good money ($20-30) when it turns up.

One last tidbit: Pyrex of this vintage and later is not dishwasher safe. It will fade and etch, eventually becoming very rough and grooved. This is because virtually all postwar Pyrex is soda-lime glass, not the borosilicate glass used earlier. A lot of people think that the switch to soda-lime is something recent, when the truth is that they may never have handled a piece of borosilicate Pyrex in their entire lives.

Hope something here is useful to you.

 

[tomturbomatic]

We had that chip and dip set, given to us by friends, with the gold American eagle on the brown bowls. The gold was the first to go. I will never understand how people could scoop up a big glob of that early 60s French onion dip on a potato chip. It was enough for me to just touch the dip with the chip to get enough of the ersatz flavor without the nauseating experience of actually eating the greasy sludge-like sour cream.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tom:

It should tell you something about the blandness of much '50s cooking when you consider that California Dip (the recipe's official name) was the most delicious and savory substance that most people had ever put into their mouths at the time.

The recipe - created by the Lipton people - sent sales of a languishing product (their French Onion soup mix) into the stratosphere, as well as taking sour cream from an ethnic "niche" product and propelling it into the mainstream.

To this day, I would be willing to bet that food manufacturers' product teams would give their left neverminds to figure out a new product recipe that accomplished what California Dip did. It didn't hurt that California Dip used only two ingredients and required no cooking whatsoever. Any idiot could make it, with perfect results every time.

If you don't like it, you don't like it, but that recipe was the all-time winning product recipe. Only Rice Krispies Squares and Chex Mix come close.

 

[mattl]

That Kirby Omega was my daily driver for years, did a very good job. But it was relighted to the second floor when I found a near mint Gen. 5 for $30 with all the attachments and the video and original paperwork. It kills me to pay $10 for two bags, but as well as I thought the older Kirby cleaned, this one is better. I do heavy fall cleaning, and was amazed at the amount of stuff the 5 pulled out of the carpet.

I accidently vacced up something I needed and had to cut open the bag and sift through the mess. Need,ess to saw after emptying it I sewed it back shut and continue to use it. I have a second Gen 5 but it is in rough shape, needs a good cleaning and substantial polishing to get it usable. Someday...

 

[twintubdexter]

what fun stuff, treasures to be sure

Ah, Code-A-Phone. When I was buying personal electronics for the department store in San Francisco telephone answering was exploding. All those remote units you put up to the receiver to retrieve your messages. We sold a ton of Code-A-Phone. Unfortunately for the rep most department stores took anything back from customers no-questions-asked. I learned from inheriting a warehouse full of defective Magnavox Odyssey games from a previous department that it was not wise to buy anything where the vendor did not take back defectives for credit. That poor Code-A-Phone guy had a garage full of defectives that the distributor would not take back but I did get a credit for them. 

 

I go so far back with this stuff I remember the first auto phone dialer we carried. Inside was a belt with spaces for the number. You used a #2 pencil to mark the spaces for the number, similar to taking an SAT test. The belt rotated and a reader picked up the digits...until the whole thing got all smuged and started dialing wrong numbers, some of them long distance. I don't think a lot of today's young people realize how far technology has moved forward in what seems like a short time.

 

[tennblondie78]

I have a Magnavox Odyssey...

 

[tomturbomatic]

Sandy, This onion dip was from Atlanta Dairies and Sealtest in 8 and 16 ounce tubs, not homemade. Remember Gordon's Potato Chips? The plant was out near the airport and Cub Scouts and Brownies/Girl Scouts used to go their on tours. That was the place with the automatic vertical louvers on the glass front that adjusted to different positions during the day so that the direct sun did not hit the glass. It was so very modern in its day and I can't find a picture of it anywhere.

 

[alr2903]

RCD, please keep on keeping on.    When our folk's need us it is always better to pay it forward on the front end.  I am happy you can find diversions you enjoy.. It is survival.