Glass and Pottery Co-Op March Newsletter

Greetings from The Glass and Pottery Co-Op!

Spring is a time for new growth, fresh starts and remodeling! As our site grows we too must refresh our look from time to time. We work hard to make our pages inviting to the eye and have changed our front page to show the best of our products at first glance. Our dealers' featured items are now front and center and we've moved our new additions links to the right side navigation. As always, our category tree remains to the left. We hope this helps you navigate more easily.

Spring is a great time for you to think about sprucing up your dinnerware patterns too. Get rid of your late winter doldrums with a Cheery Chintz pattern by Erphila Dorset. Perhaps daisies or roses are better suited to your taste like this Franciscan dinnerware. Patterns with floral bouquets are lovely and here is just a sample of our vintage American dinnerware by Leigh Potters. Elegant patterns by Dresdan are also in stock. These are just a few ideas and we have a large inventory to browse.

Are you ready to shake off the cold and start visiting again? We have a selection of tea cups and saucers that will impress your best friends at your next afternoon tea party. It's always fun to mix and match during these informal gatherings. And speaking of cups, did you know that just a little bit of oxy clean in water will remove the stains from your favorite mugs in a very short time? This works especially well on stoneware. Try it, so easy.

Happy Spring!

The Glass and Pottery Co-Op

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New Arrivals 2/18/10 Pfaltzgraff Yorktowne and Noritake Maywood

Dishes and Doodads has added some nice items to the inventory this week. Vintage American dinnerware and some beautiful Noritake porcelain pieces are in the New Arrivals section!

We've added Yorktown dinner plates, luncheon plates and a cream and sugar bowl set to our Pfaltzgraff inventory. We also stock Heirloom and Heirtage, both popular patterns. These pieces are all made in the USA. If you collect Pfaltzgraff, you're aware that the company is no longer producing it's dinnerware in the States. The USA marked stoneware dishes are of better quality than the newer product.

We've added 2 lovely pieces of Noritake Maywood #5154. The large serving platter is 16 1/4 by 12 inches, perfect for serving a roast during a family dinner. Also added is a gorgeous covered vegetable bowl. Maywood has a pretty pattern of roses and blue ribbon with gold trim. Very elegant!

Which Pfaltzgraff patterns are your favorites? Do you prefer the older stoneware or buy brand new? What about Noritake? So many patterns, which one do you have in your china cabinet? Please use the comment section to let us know what you're trying to add to your dinnerware pieces.

Happy Shopping!

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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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Great News! The Glass and Pottery Co-Op now offers UPS Shipping!

Last month we posted about the various shipping methods available at the online shops where we sell our dinnerware and collectibles. We are happy to tell you that The Glass and Pottery Co-Op has added UPS to their shipping options. This will save our customers a pretty penny on shipping costs for all that china and dinnerware you've been hoping to buy, especially on combined orders for replacement pieces. Combine with a 10% discount (sale items excluded) using code TY2010 at checkout and the savings are even greater. This 10% discount is good at Dishes and Doodads, The Glass and Pottery Co-Op and The Collectibles Store! So, what are you waiting for?

Get Shopping!

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Milk Glass and More

Some friends of ours have started a new store devoted primarily to milk glass! If you're a milk glass collector, you will want to check them out. They offer Westmoreland, Imperial, Tiffin, Anchor Hocking and Fire King to name a few. Milk Glass and More will also carry a selection of slag glass, opaque and opalescent glass, stretch glass, cased glass, satin and custard glass.

Please join Dishes and Doodads in wishing them great success with their new venture!

Milk Glass and More

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Shipping methods vary from site to site

In a previous post, tips to save money on shipping, we tried to give you what we hope were helpful tips on decreasing shipping costs. In this post we'll try to explain our shipping methods on the different sites that we sell and why they vary from site to site. We sell on 3 different sites and all welcome international sales. This post deals with US shipping.

• Dishes and Doodads
  
• The Collectibles Store
• The Glass and Pottery Co-Op

Dishes and Doodads:
This is our independent site hosted by buyitsellit.com. It is our most flexible site where shipping methods are concerned because the host supports many options. We use these options to keep shipping costs down for our customers. We offer USPS first class, parcel post, priority and express on items weighing less than 2lbs. Because we are on the east coast, items heavier than 2lbs are given FedEx options. In many cases, FedEx ground service can be a much less expensive option for our buyers with a shorter delivery time. We also offer flat rate shipping on select items. Shipping method for flat rate would be determined by your location.

Gail's Good Things at The Collectibles Store:
This site is a multi dealer site similar to a brick and mortar shop that stocks collectibles of all types and ages. It offers free USPS first class and parcel post shipping on all items. Customers can upgrade to USPS priority mail. These are the options that the site supports. Gail's Good Things does allow and encourage customers to email us for other options such as FedEx if USPS shipping seems high. We are happy to work with you and you can find our items by looking for sku gabj.

Gail's Good Things at The Glass and Pottery Co-Op:
This is also a multi dealer site that stock dinnerware, art pottery, art glass and all things glass and pottery. The site supports USPS shipping only but as above, Gail's Good Things does encourage customers to email for other shipping options on items marked sku gabj.

All of the dealers selling on these sites are members of the Glass and Pottery Sellers' Association and follow Glass and Pottery Sellers' guidelines.

We try to be flexible. By leaving a comment, you can share with us what is most important to you when you choose a shipping method. Is cost more important than delivery time or do you just want it on your doorstep right now?

Happy Shopping!

New Arrivals 1/1/2010

Dishes and Doodads is starting the new year right by adding some lovely new items to our inventory this week. We've added vintage milk glass by Westmoreland Glass and Anchor Hocking and also some collectible Lenox Holiday Disney mug and plate sets.

Milk glass was at the it's height in popularity in the 1950's but is still quite collectible, especially Westmoreland's Paneled Grape pattern. We've added a few pieces like the Christmas tidbit plate to your right along with a pitcher and compote. We've also been lucky to find a set of 6 Anchor Hocking Pineapple tumblers in milk glass. These are usually found one at a time but you can see the set by clicking on the picture.

We've added Lenox China Holiday Disney plate and mug sets also. Many of the pieces have original stickers and are in unused condition. The sets are ivory, the mugs have the holly design and Mickey Mouse and the plates are decorated with different winter holiday scenes like caroling, playing in the snow and decorating the Christmas tree. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald and Daisy Duck are featured. This is just one example of the center design on a plate, 5 different choices are available.

We'll be adding vintage linens to our inventory soon so don't stay away too long.

We wish you a happy and healthy new year!



Share with us what you collect and are searching to find. Are you a milk glass collector? What pattern and makers do you prefer?

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