Collecting Enamelware and Graniteware For Your Vintage Kitchen

Graniteware or enamelware is a great thing to start collecting. It is both functional and decorative and much of it is easily found at affordable prices. Vintage granite ware and enamelware make great displays in any kitchen, whether it's colorful utensils hung from racks or berry buckets, mixing bowls and stock pots lining the shelves.

In a previous post we talked about collecting tea cups and today we'll talk about enamelware and graniteware. Let's figure out what the difference is between the two, why two terms for what seem to be the same thing? When we asked a shop owner this question several years ago he said that solid color pieces were enamelware and those colorful patterned pieces, like the blue and white swirl for example, were graniteware. Sounds logical doesn't it? Since then we have learned that there really is no difference. The simple fact is that enamelware and graniteware are both made by fusing enamel to metal to help prevent the deterioration of said metal. We will no longer stress about whether to call pieces graniteware or enamelware, though we do admit that graniteware does seem to be used to describe most of the gray colored pieces we see online.

We do not collect graniteware but we do collect other people's things (go figure)! We cleaned out a farm house years ago and acquired a large amount of graniteware. Lids, berry buckets, kettles, pans and some things we that we didn't know what they were (like the insert above). Most of it has been sold and we believe they are vintage. Some we use, like the huge pans that are under the large potted plants, the white berry bucket with red trim and wood handle is used to hold cooking utensils, and the heavy blue cast iron kettles, one of which is about 24 inches in diameter that we just don't know what to do with since they would be heavy to ship. If you're buying for decorative purposes you a may not care if the piece is old or new, only that it's colorful. We pick up pieces here and there, like the red dipper set and some red and white swirl bowls that were just plain pretty. Vintage pieces tend to be heavier and show signs of use like chips in the enamel.

Please comment and tell us what graniteware pieces you are searching for or your view on the difference between graniteware and enamelware. Do you collect all shapes, sizes and colors or one specific item like coffee pots?

Happy Collecting!

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Tea Cups - Why do so many people collect them?

A harder question to answer may be why not. With so many choices, tea cup collecting can satisfy any pack rat's urge. They are pretty, plentiful and can be had even if you're on a tight budget. Go to any garage sale and you are likely to find at least one set for sale and the thrift stores usually have a selection of tea cups and saucers on the shelves. Add Ebay and shops (both online and brick and mortar) to the mix and you will probably never know the frustration of not being able to find that new piece to add to your collection. From whimsical to elegant bone china, the choices are limitless.

And how can you get bored with them? I had a customer once that bought several sets for a bridal shower. You would think a gathering of that sort would require an elegant matching set for her guests. But her idea was so much more fun. She wanted each place setting to have a completely different tea cup and saucer, no repeats. Think of how much fun any tea cup collector at that party would have had looking at the pretties! It would be even easier to do this on a smaller scale with a close knit group of friends over for afternoon tea.

Cups and saucers can take up just one shelf in your china cabinet or take it over completely. You can fill your walls with shelves of them and never have 2 sets alike if that's your fancy. You may have identical shapes, but the number of decorations are endless. That being said I would guess that once you start collecting tea cups and saucers, you might very easily expand your collection to include tea pots, sugars and creamers and even tea and dessert sets. It would be hard to resist ;)

Happy Collecting,