This *is* a Thrift Store, Right? Right?

My husband and I went to lunch the other day and on the cross-town trip home we hit my usual thrift store route (comprised of five non-profit charity stores on a two mile strip all on the same side of the street, very convenient!) on what Life magazine once names The Ugliest Street in America. The street doesn't look so hot now, so it must have been truly heinous back in the day.

Speaking of heinous, I thought I'd share some of what I found at some charity (read: donated goods) stores that claim to be thrift stores. Call me crazy, but I always thought the point of most non-profit thrift stores was to sell donated goods for a good cause at below retail prices. I seriously think the pricers flipped these items over, saw "PYREX" on the bottom, and thought to themselves, hrmmm, that's an automatic mark-up.

Yes, that says $25 for the four pieces, none with lids no less. I am amused at the mix of patterns Town and Country with Early American), it was on such a high shelf I couldn't even tell what the second bowl is. I had to take this picture with my camera over my head to even see all the goods for sale, because of course these were locked up in a glass case. 

How about $30 for these three pieces? They were locked up in a case with the four piece above as if they were precious goods, also on the top shelf so one could not examine closer.

This set of Butterfly Gold was at the same store as the two above items, but not locked up even though the price, $45, was much higher. I don't understand the logic. 

This set of Woodlands has been around at another store forever. Notice the white price tag, thus making it ineligible for the store's color-coded markdown system of 25%, 50%, 75% off certain older items based on tag color. They want $36 for this set.

I didn't even take pictures of the three DWD bowls I found, one at each of the remaining three stores. They were all 470s and each store wanted at least $4.

This was at Savers, not on my route but I had a Craigslist Pyrex parking lot sale meet up (clearing out for the things I really want) so I hit the store on the way home. The poor green 403 was so DWD yet it was $3. The fairly good Woodlands 403 was $4. I just don't understand. I don't collect Woodlands so I walked away. I'm no longer in the "must have all Pyrex I see" phase and instead have moved on to the "I only want this kind of Pyrex for this kind of price" phase. I figure the latter phase will take me more time to collect but I will also have the thrill of the hunt, right? I'll still pick up the occasional in-demand piece for trade or sale, though, as sometimes even I can't resist a great deal on a great piece!

Jacquelyn

Monday Finds and Plea for Pattern Help

I had a business lunch with a fellow blogger, The Chilly Dog (who is an amazing crafter) in a different part of town than my usual haunts. So, it being a different I thought I'd pull into some random thrift stores on my way home. I'm glad I did!

Here's what I found...I guess my thrift store drought is well and truly broken!

Starting clockwise from the bottom left:

• Divided 1-1/2Q Town and Country with lid, $4.75.
• Divided 1-1/2Q Charcoal Snowflake, with lid, $10. Yes, expensive, but I found this at a used bookstore that also has all sorts of random items folks trade in or sell. I had trade credit so I bit the bullet, technically making it "free" to me. The store had a lot of other Pyrex but the prices were crazy considering the condition for some. I feel slightly crazy myself for getting this piece but I console myself with the knowledge it was free, it just cost me books I traded in however long ago, as I have been carrying around the trade credit slip for a couple years now!
• Gooseberry 472, $3. I couldn't pass it up.
• Mystery 045, $5.50. Both this and the first item came from the same store and were 25% off.

About the mystery piece: I can't find the pattern anywhere, not in any of my reference books or any reference sites online. It is for sure Pyrex, but what pattern? Does anyone know?

Jacquelyn

First Thrift Store Find!

Well, after a months of trying to find a piece of Pyrex at any thrift store in the Old Pueblo my drought was broken. Hallelujah!

This afternoon my daughter missed her bus stop as she was too busy reading (a good habit!) to be bothered to keep track of when she needed to get off the bus. I wasn't able to stop the bus in time to see if she was on it so I ended up following it back up to the school while on the phone with the front office, who confirmed she was on the bus, she just missed getting off. Whew! I picked her up at school and to calm my nerves decided to stop at a thrift store right down the street from my neighborhood. I'm glad I did.

I found the Butterfly Gold 403; it has some minor scratches and fading at the top but otherwise no other flaws. I also found a Golden Honeysuckle casserole but it was in very sad shape, some DWD, but a lot of black marks, scratches, and discoloration. It was marked $2.50 but I just didn't want to bother as I was not drawn to the pattern enough to want to clean it up. Anyway, the 403 you see above did not have a price, so little miss and I took it up to the counter where they sold it to me for $2. I was relieved I had decided to not get the casserole because no doubt they would have charged me more for the 403 when the kind ladies up at the register saw the price and condition of the other item. I escaped without even having to pay our insane sales tax, as the store supports a local non-profit. 

Perhaps this is a sign of good things to come? We do plan to hit yard and estate sales Saturday, and I may do some independent searching at the Friday pre-sales. Reading everyone else's blogs about their various Pyrex and other cool vintage finds has really inspired me!

Jacquelyn

Finally, a pink casserole!

Hi all, SusieQT here from Practice in Time!

I can't believe, after however many years of collecting Pyrex and never finding any pink, that I have found two pieces in two weeks.

You may recall my previous post here about finding a pink fridgie, and now I have a Flamingo casserole to go with it!

Last Saturday, our town had its community-wide yard sale (love those!). At the first place I stopped at, I spied this beauty in mint condition. For $1. You can bet that I carried it around with me the rest of the day!

I love these casseroles (is there a 'correct' name for them? I'm drawing a blank...) They are a perfect size for many recipes. I have a clear one that I use just about all the time (and the beauty of that one is that it can go in the dishwasher :). I've been on the lookout for another in any color or pattern, but never even let myself think I might find a pink one. I'm thrilled!

I also found this Old Town covered margarine dish the other day at a thrift store for $1. I don't collect this pattern, but my grandmother had the matching Corelle dishes, so it has some sentimental attachment. I found a use for it right away; while we don't use margarine in our house, I do use a lot of cream cheese in a brick. It's a perfect size to keep that partial brick of cream cheese once the wrapper is opened. Much classier than a zip-top bag, right?

What a Wednesday!!

I think this might be my best pyrex thrifting day to date... However I have only been collecting since June.

Anyhow...Here is what I found:

• On top is a 1957 Christmas Promotion piece, it is a space saver, but I can't find a pattern name.  Possibly "Embroidery"?  It needs a lid and the holder, but it is in pretty good shape! ($2.79)
• The bottom is my first Daisy in pink!  The lid was actually found at a different store.  (A very good reason to always be on the lookout for lids!) ($2.09)



 

• On the left, a 1959 "Golden Scroll"  #444 cindarella bowl, which I found out was part of a chip n' dip! ($4)
• A fridgie with a lid, it looks to belong to the Butterfly Gold collection, but doesn't have anu pattern. ($1.50)
• On top of the fridgie my very first teacup, looks like "Flirtation"?  But, I don't know much about teacups. ($1)
• And finally a "Spring Blossom" #442 cindarella bowl, my first of this pattern ($3)

So all for less than $15!!!!  I would say that is a pretty AWESOME thrifting day!

 

 

I usually have much better luck at our local antique stores, but this just goes to show that there are still some great finds in the thrifting world!  These were found at four different stores.  I did go to one store that seemed to think they were an antique store, there were several bowls for $6, $8, and even $15 that I passed on because they were patterns I knew I could find again, hopefully for less.

 

Happy Pyrex hunting!!

 

~Whitney

New to the Group and Pyrex Collecting

Hi everyone.  I am new to the group and to Pyrex collecting.  I must say I am now addicted and have even had dreams about finding Pyrex. lol.  It all started a little more than a week ago (the 17th) with these two great bowls.

Butterfly Gold 4 quart and 2-1/2 quart bowls.

 

I had gone to the Goodwill store looking for crafty things and old quilts with no luck.  I was about ready to leave empty handed when I spied these sitting on a bottom shelf.  I'm pretty sure I let out a little squeal.  I was so happy to see these two bowls, and without a scractch or chip on either of them. Isn't it funny how seeing something like this can give you warm fuzzies? My great-grandmother and grandmothers had beautifully colored Pyrex mixing bowls and casserole dishes when I was growing up. I remember paying more attention to what the food was in than what the food was. lol. 

 

I thought they were a steal at $3.00 each.

 

Now when I go to the Goodwill store I'll be looking for old quilts, craft items, books, and Pyrex.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Angie