Early American Surprise

Hello!

This is my first post to the Pyrex Collective. I’ve collected Pyrex for several years, albeit casually. I have a pretty low limit on what I’m willing to spend, and I try to stick with just the few patterns that I like best. 

For my first post I thought I’d share my most recent score, since it was pretty exciting. I stopped by a local estate sale in my neighborhood last weekend, mostly because the advert said that they had “numerous vintage Christmas items.” One of my goals in life is to acquire a vintage aluminum Christmas tree, so I thought I’d check it out. 

On my way to the basement, the location of the Christmas items, I passed through the kitchen and scoped it out for Pyrex and other vintage goodies. There was nothing. Either someone showed up at the sale’s opening and snatched up everything, or the homeowners weren’t much for cooking. No Christmas tree, either, though I did score a box of Shiny Bright ornaments in very good condition. 

My very supportive boyfriend had come with me, and as I was rooting through the clutter of Christmas stuff in this dirty, packed basement he called me over to see if what he found was “some of the Playtex you collect.” Yes, my boyfriend mistakenly calls Pyrex Playtex on a fairly regular basis. I have to admit, I do enjoy seeing the looks on peoples’ faces when he tells them I collect Playtex.

I ran over, and sure enough, a box containing a large Cinderella bowl was tucked away on a basement shelf. I pulled it out to see the pattern and noticed a smaller bowl inside. It was a chip and dip! 

Unfortunately, when I pulled the smaller bowl out, I heard the clanging noise of the brass bracket/clip thing falling to the floor. I had to spend several minutes on my hands and knees searching the filthy basement floor for it. When I found it I picked up the box to tuck it safely back inside and noticed that it was the original box! How exciting!

Even though Early American is not one of the patterns I would normally buy, I had to ask how much they wanted for it (nothing in the basement was priced). I have never found any Pyrex in its original box and I was really excited. The cashier asked, “How does four dollars sound?”

Um, crazy? Four dollars for mint condition Pyrex in its original box? Thank goodness my boyfriend was with me since my hands were shaking and I probably would have dropped it. And it really is in great condition, though it has definitely been used. There were the remnants of some vintage dip in the smaller bowl. Gross!