Collecting

My "new" teapot from eBay arrived on my doorstep today, and it's just as cute in person as it was in the photos! My husband even agreed that it's pretty sweet, although he did say a little bit later that he thought I should either collect teapots or collect plates; not both. Yeah, sure honey!

I've been a book collector for most of my life--I just can't stand to get rid of the books I've enjoyed, and I have bookshelves all around the house as well as a few boxes of books stored in the garage. I DO try to part with the older books that are no longer my taste or style, but it's hard! Do I read them again? No, not really, but I enjoy seeing them around me. Probably a little silly, but I think they're my "security blanket."

Fabric--yep, we all know I collect that. Had my husband suggested I stop collecting fabric, he'd probably be wrapped up in some old cotton poly fabric I no longer wanted and buried in the backyard. Smart man--he knows better than to suggest anything THAT drastic!

Teapots and plates though. Collecting both of these is a recent interest of mine that's developed over the past few years. I like teapots that are simple in style and decoration. Although I appreciate the feminity of rose covered teapots and the idea of wearing large hats in a shady garden amid snow white lacy tablecloths, dining on light sandwiches and cakes, if I'm given a choice, I prefer the more homey, honest, country feel of the simpler designs, like Fiestaware and Hall.

As far as plates, I have a passion for Johnson Brothers transferware. Johnson Brothers has been manufacturing transferware plates in England for about a hundred years. The earlier transferware has handpainted accents, so each plate is a bit different.

A few years back, I went in search of plates for my Thanksgiving table, and that's when I discovered Johnson Brothers. I ended up with eight dinner plates in a pattern called Frozen Up from their Historic America line. Then I NEEDED Christmas plates, so I bought some more Johnson Brothers transferware plates. And what do you do when it's winter but not Thanksgiving or Christmas? Well then, of course, you need dishes from the Friendly Village line. Blue and white plates are perfect for summer, so I felt compelled to buy more Johnson Brothers dishes and other pieces from their Coaching Scenes line. Yes, I'm hopeless! But I have restrained myself from buying full sets of all of these things--buying dinner plates, salad plates, and bowls from the Snow White Regency line meant I could mix and match. So what did my mail person bring me a few days ago? Luncheon/salad plates from the Friendly Village line that will go with the Friendly Village dinner plates and would also go fairly well with my Frozen Up Thanksgiving plates. (Frozen Up is on the left; the new plates are on the right. Not a perfect match, but I think that's just fine!)

Cute, aren't they? I figure I don't collect shoes as some women do and I don't collect clothes (although I DO collect a lot of stray threads ON my clothes!). So, honey? Do you think it would be okay if I keep collecting plates AND teapots? I'll tell you what, hon--I'll give up collecting cabana boys and hunky gardeners if I can just buy another plate or two. Okay?

(The plate on the left is from the Friendly Village line.)

WINNER!

The funny thing about auctions is the way they make you feel really great about offering to pay more for something than anyone else. And part of it, besides the competitive adrenaline, is the fact that you can stamp the word "winner" on your forehead. (Well, you could if you wanted to. Not that I do. But I'm thinking about getting it tatooed somewhere maybe. I think my inner thigh would be kind of funny, don't you?)

I love eBay. Sometimes I go through crazed, manic eBay periods until my mail carrier threatens to sue me for back injury. (It's funny how much our mail carriers know about us just by looking at what we get in the mail. For instance, mine knows I'm a quilter. I think the tip off was the couple bolts of fabric she's had to deliver.)

I've mentioned before that I have a small collection of teapots, and I've just "won" another one to add to my collection.

Isn't it cute? Kind of 50s looking. It's a Hall's teapot. I've seen one of these before on someone's blog, and I seem to recall that whoever it was found it at a thrift shop; she probably paid a small percentage of what I did.

I haven't done a lot of thrifting, but what I've done has been kind of disappointing. I haven't given up though--there are still thrift shops in my area I haven't tried, and maybe I'll hit the Mother Lode one of these days, but in the meantime, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with eBay. I DO know that I've gone to antique-type shops and found that I can buy from eBay much cheaper, even when you add on the cost of postage, and the selection on eBay is a whole lot better.

Besides, at eBay I'm a WINNER! And that's gotta be worth something, doesn't it?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you love vintage "stuff," are excited by thrifting/collecting, and spend some of your time reading, check out Killer Stuff by Sharon Fiffer. Killer Stuff is the first book in the series about collector/amateur sleuth Jane Wheel.