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Adding Class to Our Plastic World
By Judy Keifer, Litchfield
I was reading one of those fancy catalogues that get mailed to my house, even though I rarely order anything from them. One of the new things they were featuring was what they called "Our New Everyday China!" They claim it is "virtually indestructible!" A 20-piece set … "Just $149!"
Boy, that took me back about 35 years, to when we lived in Wethersfield, and our five children were babies and toddlers. My best friend had six children, so we often went shopping together. Yes, we often took all the children with us—but children didn’t act up in stores in those days. There was something called "spanking"—or just the threat of a spanking when you got home—that kept children from falling to the floor in screaming "Gimme" fits.
But I digress … back to the china. My friend and I saw an ad for a restaurant supply store in Hartford. We didn't know if it was open to the public, or if you had to own a restaurant, but we took a chance and drove there.
It wasn't a fancy place, just shelves and tables full of dishes, silverware, glasses, huge pots and pans and giant coffeemakers. The prices were very reasonable. I bought a dozen plates in the Blue Willow pattern, made in Holland. They must have been from an old-fashioned cafeteria, because the top of each plate was divided into sections. (Our kids thought, and our grandchildren agree, that it is a major catastrophe if your spinach juice runs into your mashed potatoes.) I think my friend and I each spent about $20 that day, and I used them for "every day" for years, until I started seeing them in antique shops for $20 a plate! Now they come out only for holidays.
It's fun using antiques and "old stuff." It adds a little class to our plastic world.
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