Vintage Plastic

Peanut Bowl Set

One of the things I look for when I'm thrifting is vintage plastic. Not the old gummy or flimsy stuff, but well designed, sturdy, quality plastic. Some of the coolest plastics you will ever see are from the Space Age era of design. Some names to look for:  Ira, Heller, Kartell, Panton, Rosti, Copco, Deka, Texas Ware, Melemac and Melamine.

moderncraze

If I had this turquoise flower melamine tray from the 60's I would hang it on the wall. So cute, so simple, so well designed!

thisnext

These egg cups are so cute! If I had these I'd have to make eggs just to put in them!

Some vintage plastics I recently found at Goodwill and an estate sale.

Some more of my plastic, I like modern serving utensils, the colors and designs are fun.

moderncraze

Here's a really modern pair of salad servers - love it!

Luigi Colani Ice Bucket

Vintage Georges Briard ice bucket, I found this at Goodwill.

Rosti Mepal Danish Flower Plates

Some of my vintage plastics I only use in the summer. Their bright colors and fun casual style seem to lend to the outdoors. I like the way they look on my picnic table. (Sorry, wish I had a pic, example below from a previous post on Heller.) 

Heller Plastic Dinnerware

Retro Chalet

Russell Wright Residential Melmac

When searching for images to show in this post, (other than my own), I came across Jo Je Bin's Photostream on Flickr. He has an extensive collection of vintage plastics, lives in Zurich, Sweden and his amazing finds come from thrifting! I am so jealous!


To go to a very groovy site (yeah, baby!) about Space Age Plastic, visit Plastiphile, it's a trip!

These vintage wall clock from the 60's and 70's are as much in style today as they were 40-50 years ago. Jo Je Bin has the makers listed as Wanduhren, Krups and Jura.


So there you have it. Or some of it. It's just the tip of the plastic iceberg. I didn't even show any plastic furniture.


Better save that for another post.

Thrift Share Monday, May 22

Yard work and other obligations have seriously cut into my thrift time (boo...).But it needs to be done and I did get out once this past weekend to a Goodwill store on the other side of town. I like going to this particular Goodwill as it is a bigger store and always full of stuff.  Here are my goodies:

I like the shape of this tall ribbed glass bowl. The two glass Heller jars are very sturdy and will be good for storing ingredients in the kitchen. The glass Planter's peanut jar is cute and will look nice with nuts in it. Think I'll just use it for gatherings as the two males in my house have no appreciation for this type of thing :>) 

I love sunflowers, so I had to buy this vintage stationery, right?

I've used this El Verde Ironstone platter already, for a grill out yesterday. I put big tomato slices  with fresh mozzarella and basil, drizzled with olive oil on it and it looked very pretty.

I found this cloisonne and brass candle holder to add to my collection of cloisonne. The other candlestick is made of iron, I like the design of it.

I really like the japanese motifs on this heavy plastic tray. It was difficult to take a picture as there was much reflection. I have heard that there is a product that will take scratches off of plastic - anyone know what that product is called?

This is the mystery object. It looks to me like a ice bucket or wine chiller. Bottom is marked Polytherm, made in Germany. There are initials - the letter W is over Mf. If you know anything about this item PLEASE let me know. I did a search and wasn't able to find anything.

This is the frustrating part, I couldn't find a lid. I spent over an hour looking for it in the store, hate it when that happens. 

What did you find this past weekend? This post is a part of Thrift Share Monday with Apron Thrift Girl.

Thrift Find, Heller Plates

My new stash of Heller. I need to get more plates and balance out the colors. The coasters are not heller. I thought the planter went nicely with the Heller and have two other larger ones that are yellow too.

photo NC Modern

While hitting the thrift store pavement last week, I came across some nice sturdy Heller plastic plates. On the lookout for things to use on the deck, I purchased a whole stack in colors that I liked. 

After getting home, I did a search on Heller and was pleased to find that they are collectible, (I would still like them even if they weren't) as this is always a bonus with thrifting.  As a newcomer to modern design, I wasn't familar with Heller, but am learning as I go.

Conceived by Italian designer, Massimo Vignelli,this melamine tableware is made to be stackable. (It won an award for good design in 1964.)  Originally produced in Italy, it was introduced later to the U.S. and produced by Heller who added more colors and Heller tableware became very popular. Apparently it is still in production and sold by Unicahome in white.

Photo Mary & Matt

Here you can see some of the colors they were made in

photo Domus Modern 

Here is some cutlery made to go with

I like this color combination. You can also see some other pieces in the line.

Nice Ice Bucket

Photo from White Mole

The yellow Heller pieces look really 

nice on the gray table, nice and cheery!

I think these will be great for outdoor summer gatherings. I have added Heller to my list of things to look for.