Recent Finds

Earlier this week my husband and little miss made me go camping. I am not a camper but I agreed provided I could hit some thrifts along the way. I seriously had the iPad out and was googling places to stop as we drove. My husband was very amenable. I did pretty well in some of the small towns we passed through. I would have liked to have gone to more but snow, yes snow, was in the forecast and after one night in below freezing temperatures we all decided to go home. Here's what I did get, photographed at the campsite before I carefully packed it away for the trip home. I was thinking ahead and brought along some boxes and bubble wrap to keep them safe (and warm) in the back of the truck.

That's an unmarked Opal 401 (mold stamp number says 2, so it's an early one), Blue Stripes 403, and Pink 503 with the older lid. I was pretty happy! It's my second Pink 503 but I'm keeping it. The other one is for display, this is for my 503 stack, the size I use most for leftovers. I couldn't resist the Fire King Colonial Bands grease jar, even without the lid. It took what seemed like a metric ton of stops to get these four items, but they are all pretty minty so it was worth stumbling through the maps app. Not pictured is a JAJ Harvest casserole I found; I;m not yet sure what I am doing with it.

A couple days after our ill fated camping trip little miss and I did a thrift run. She spotted the below, which is wonderful since she collects the Pink Gooseberry in this house.

A trunk shot, I was that happy. This set is pretty minty which made me even happier. I cam home from purchasing these and traded away the set little miss already had for some new goodies for me.

This is the second week in a row I have stumbled on a Sunday yard sale and come away with some Pyrex. Recall Sunday is not a typical yard sale day here, so I am wondering if a new trend is starting.  I guess we'll see what happens next Sunday before I get too excited. Last Sunday yielded up some Butterprint fridges, this Sunday I came away with the below.

Yes dear readers, another car shot. I snapped this one while husband and little miss were checking out yet another yard sale we found, sadly one without Pyrex. Anyway, this find was a total fluke. In fact, there was more I left behind. I wasn't carrying more than a few dollars since I wasn't on the yard sale prowl, just out running errands. I had to use my emergency $20 to get this, and I got to keep my few dollars I already had. I bundled as much as I could into that $20!

So as you can see I did get some good stuff. Of course, since my mantra is "No fridgie left behind" I could not leave the 501s. I've already traded those. The two 403s I will keep. I had thought I would offload my Butterprint but I really like the size of the 403 when I am cooking. The Friendship is a no brainer and I needed it to start in on the mixing bowl set. The Snowflake Garland 475 is a double for me, I will try and trade or sell it when the holidays get closer and everyone wants snowflakes.

Husband and little miss waited in the car while I hit the sale and when I told him there was more and I didn't have enough money to get it all he tried to give me some cash. What a guy. I was okay leaving though, as what I left behind was nothing I really wanted/needed/wanted to hang on to for trade or sale. Hopefully another Pyrex lover found the sale. The funny thing about this yard sale is I was talking to the proprietor and she told me she used to have a lot of Pyrex. She kept some for herself, her kids took some, and now she was selling the remainder. I can only imagine what she kept and gave to her kids prior to the sale.

So, a pretty good week for me. Hopefully you all had some luck as well.

Jacquelyn

No Fridgie Left Behind

My mantra is, No fridgie left behind. I mean it when I say it.

My husband and little miss made me go to a flea market one evening. I wasn't seeing a darn thing at a single table. I passed through one, started to continue on my way, but had my inner Pyrex radar go off. I cruised back in, straight to a dusty bin at the back hiding under a table. I pulled every duty thing out and found this Woodland 503.

Now, Woodland is not my thing at all, but "No fridgie left behind," right? I rescued it, cleaned it up, and have already traded it for a piece of Gooseberry I need for my daughter's set.

Then on Sunday we were heading out to an estate sale when we made a detour to a yard sale. Sundays are not usually yard sale days here, so I was intrigued. We live close to the university where there are some older, wealthier houses so again, intrigue. We found the yard sale, a table of goods in a dusty front yard in front of an old bungalow. I told my husband it didn't look like anything good. Then at the same time we both yelled it: "Fridgies!"

What we saw was Butterprint. Again, this was a table in a front yard. No one was out. I jump doug of the truck and pick dup the fridges. I went up to the front door. No doorbell. I knocked on the wrought iron screen door. No response. I saw the inner door was cracked so I yelled "hello" a few times. Still no response. I stood there stupefied. I thought, do I just take them and leave some money? I mean, I was not about to leave without these fridges. I gave another knock, another yell. My husband got out of the truck and started toward the backyard, and as he did so out comes the tenant, who apparently was renting from his uncle.

Well, I got my fridgies. I asked how much. He said, make me an offer. I said, $5. He said okay. Then he asked if I even knew what there were. I said yes. He said, can you tell me? I have no idea. Wow, just wow. I told him all about it and then went to the truck. My little miss had already flipped up half the backseat and laid out a blanket for me. 

This is some of the filthiest Pyrex I have purchased. My husband was talking with the proprietor and he said he pulled them out of a shed in the backyard. They had apparently been there for somewhere around fifty years. That is amazing for this part of the country. His uncle had realized he needed to clean out and was starting to sell stuff. You can bet your bottom dollar I'll be back. 

Here's what they looked like prior to a hot water bath. They came out sparkling clean. It was really amazing. The paint is bright, dark, and no scratches. The lids had nary a chip or rough spot. I'm keeping these even though I have this set. I've recently decided to collect every 501, which also means I need third 501 of the sets I am going to collect. I've also decided to start a stack of extra 503s. The 502, well, I use those all the time. 

Happy hunting!

Jacquelyn

(You can see my other amazing find this week here.)

Last Weekend's Finds

Our little family hit some yard sales and estate sales this past weekend. After a full morning of well over ten stops I managed to find some Pyrex, but not much. Here in the Old Pueblo pickers are scooping it up to sell at various antique malls and curated junk shops (I kid you not) at inflated prices. I'm a SAHM so when I'm out and about I'll run into a thrift store to check out stock and have come away empty handed each and every time. So, feeding of my Pyrex addiction is best done via yard sales.

Friday my husband came with me to do the bus drop off and on the way home stop off at a few sales. I found the brown 441 you see on the top right for $.25. It's pretty faded and was well used, but for a quarter I can use it as a prep bowl. I do a lot of baking and always have need of such bowls.

The other three pieces I found at an estate sale Saturday. We have a high number of retirees in my city so estate sales are plentiful, with professional companies running them and commensurate inflated prices as the sales company looks to get its cut.

At this particular estate sale I went straight for the kitchen and scooped up all the pieces you see, except the previously mentioned brown 441 bowl. I wasn't sure if I really wanted them but knew I had to lay claim in order to continue my wanderings through the house. My husband took them from me as I did so and by the time I met him back at the front they were wrapped and on an invoice---and thus they came home with me.

On the lower right is a Fire King 436 in the snowflake pattern. We're planning a big open house this holiday as part of Our Epic Sock Monkey Christmas so I splurged. It was $4, which is steep but it was an estate sale; Ive seen this at our antique mall for $12. 

In the center are the 441 and 442 in Butterprint. These are in good condition, with minor staining on the bottom. The 441 was $3 and the 442 $4. On the left is the 043 in Golden Acorn; it was also $4 (no lid, though) and has some minor scratching but the gold leaf is in good condition.

Perhaps I paid too much, likely so. The thrift stores here are a Pyrex desert; I have yet to find Pyrex at any store, only at the curated junk shops and antique malls. I am on the hunt for some rectangle casseroles and refrigerator dishes and in more than a year of looking have yet to find one at a yard sale. With cooler weather finally here we are hitting prime yard sale season so perhaps I will get lucky soon!

Jacquelyn

Pyrex Picking at the World's Longest Yard Sale

I must admit that I'm not usually a fan of yard sales. Oh, I'll stop at them every now and again if I see them, but I don't usually plan my weekends around them. They're often too early -- and I'm definitely not a morning person. I also find it slightly awkward to pick through someone's belongings while they're watching me from their garage. I don't know why.

However, I just discovered that we now live right along the route of the World's Largest Yard Sale. How have I never heard of this before?! The yard sale started today and runs until Sunday.

My husband I spent the majority of the afternoon picking our way through various tents, yards and garages. There were yard sales galore, but also a number of fields and parking lots full of vendors, so it had more of a flea market atmosphere in some places.

Shockingly, I walked away with nothing. There was some Pyrex to be had, but I thought much of it was overpriced. I expected yard sale or thrift prices, but many of the items were priced like antiques. Plus, there wasn't anything that I squealed over, except for the Horizon Blue #444 Cinderella Bowl (it really is a lovely blue...) but I didn't want to pay $15 for it.  

I was on the hunt for Pyrex dinner plates with the turquoise trim, but I didn't find a single one amongst the treasures. 

Maybe some of you will have better luck -- anyone else heading out to the World's Largest Yard Sale this weekend? We only covered a few of the 700 miles of sales, so I'm sure there's lots more to be found along the route! 

Brenda