6.17.2012

Mid Century Smalls: A Fun Fix for a Mid Century "Junkie"

When it comes to hunting for vintage and mid century items, I've typically stuck to searching for the larger items and forsaking the smalls. That's not to say that I have no interest in smaller items, but bigger ticket pieces have always seemed easier for me to find. I've know of other blogs and local shops who have fantastic smalls, but since I'm not a regular visitor of estate or garage sales, I figured my time would be better spent on the vintage sofas, lounge chairs, dining sets and what not. Not to mention the fact that space is already pretty limited here at the Oh My Mod house, so piling up a bunch of little odds and ends may not be the greatest idea for a happy home. It's far too easy for a vintage lover to get sucked in by the charm of smalls, so for quite some time I told myself that I wouldn't get caught up in that game.

Well...I guess I failed.


The parade of smalls started with this lovely set of dinnerware by Marcrest. I've always admired a number of the mid century dish sets, most notably the ever popular Franciscan pieces, but never come across more than a single plate here or there. When came across this set of 20+ pieces, I was very tempted to buy it on the spot, but decided to stick firm with my pledge to avoid smaller items like this. I left the sale thinking I had done pretty well, until a couple days later I went to check out another item at the same sale and discovered that the plate set was still available, only now at a fraction of it's initial cost. It was too good to pass up and I didn't want to see these pieces tossed in the bin, so I loaded them up and brought them home with me. The print is called Nordic Mint and it features a radiating pattern of hand drawn, pink, turquoise and black mint leaves. Each piece of this set is rimmed with a turquoise band for an extra splash of color and style. Such a fun print, right? The set is composed of two tea cups 5 tea cup saucers, 4 small plates, 6 dinner plates, 4 small bowls, 2 medium bowls and one large platter. Quite a haul if I say so myself. There were also 3 more tea cups with broken handles and one more small bowl that had a crack running through it that came home with me. Shame.

Since purchasing the dish set, I've picked up a number of other smalls. It's like that first encounter opened up the flood gates and now I find myself coming home with more and more small items that I probably never would have noticed before. The big pieces are still my pick of choice, but a small here and there is a good fix for a "junkie" in search of vintage pieces.

Here are a few other smalls that I've nabbed lately. This is only a few of the pieces that we've picked up, so as I feared, the call of the smalls is growing louder and louder. Have mercy on me.

Retro casserole dish by Ernest Sohn.






Vintage Crown Corning Carafe designed by K. Shigeto (Milano)






Atomic Picnic Set: Ingrid Party Ball






Mirro Medallion Saucer/Serving Plate






3 comments:

  1. That Marcrest looks amazing! What a find.

    I have to keep myself from collecting dishware because I know that I'll end up with a ton of incomplete sets. The trials and tribulations of a mid-mod collector...

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    Replies
    1. I know right? I mentioned it before on your end that I try to avoid these things but in the end, sometimes it's just too good to pass up.

      I really don't want to be the person with a couple plates from from five different sets, but the urge is too hard to pass up at times!

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  2. All amazing finds but the Marcrest is beautiful and I love the Mirro serving plate. You don't find anything decent around here anymore at thrift stores.

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