1. Welcome! Mama's Kitchen is a free newsletter about kitchen collectibles. This newsletter is designed to be entertaining and educational, but also a dialogue among those who have a fondness for kitchen items of all kinds. I hope you'll join us for a few memories, giggles, laughs and some useful information about kitchen collectibles. I am not an expert in any field, but I have been buying and selling kitchen items for over 9 years and loving them for a lifetime. Remember collecting anything should be fun. This is especially true when you can use your collection on a daily basis. Please let me know if there is a particular item you would like featured in upcoming issues.

• Some Hints On Determining Age-In cookie cutters look for old dark tin, rather thick guage, spotty soldering, irregularly trimmed flat backs usually without rolled edges, and other signs of hand manufacture.
• The earliest method for corrugating sheet metal was with the use of a corrugating or crimping swedge- a sort of little molding anvil....an iron piece, cast with the requisite pattern of hills and valleys against which the metal could be hammered.....corrugating and crimping machines were not patented until 1854....cookie cutters (or other tinwares) that have extremely regular corrugations are almost undoubtedly from the 2nd half of the 19th century or later.
• In 1825 an apparatus called the "eupyrion" was used in most cities. This was a large mouthed bottle containing sulphuric acid, soaked in fibrous asbestos, and the matches, about 2 inches long, were tipped with a chemical combination, of which chlorate of potash was the principle ingredient. When the match's end was dipped in the acid and rapidly withdrawn, fire was produced.....
• In 1832 the first friction match was made. It was jokingly called a "lucifer."
• Match holders  were advertised as "safety match safes" because of the cylindrical "receptacle at the bottom to hold" burnt matches....The term match safe usually refers to a fireproof receptacle in which the unburnt matches are kept, with a lid that would contain fire if by rubbing together they ignited.
• there are as many figural S & Ps as grains of salt in one of them. Most are molded plastic or ceramic, some or cast slush or pot metal. these novelties seemed to have started in the 1930s when kitchens began to get fun....Before then, clever push-button mechanical devices were in demand.
• "Tupperware," originally called "Wonder Bowl," named after inventor Earl Silas Tupper, Orlando, FL, 1931.....
• Milk is a substitute for soap in the kitchen. A little put into hot water will soften it, give the dishes a fine gloss, and will not injure the hands .... Henry Scammell, "Treasure House of Knowledge,"1891.
• Pot scrapers are idiosyncratically-shaped metal pieces, with or without handles, used to scrape cooked on crud and crust off the inside contours of various shapes of pots and kettles. The most collectible are small flat pieces of metal, approximately 2-7/8 inches x 3-3/8 inches, plain, or lithographed with advertising.....
• In the winter of 1837, Mr. Francis P. Knowlton of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, purchased of Mr. Amos Kelley a sheet of wire netting....and constructed the first corn popper ever made....
• Brown salt glaze was made like gray or buff stoneware, with one extra step. Instead of firing the plain clay vessel, and throwing salt in to vaporize as a glaze, a brown slip was brushed on, or the vessel was dipped in it, allowed to dry, then fired just like the other pieces, and at the right time the salt was thrown in....
• "A closet, called a safe, for keeping food in the cellar, is an important convenience for keeping meat, milk, bread and various articles in daily use." Mrs. Cornelius, "The Young Housekeepers Friend", or, "A guide To Domestic Economy & Comfort," Boston & NY: 1846.

Ladies Home Journal, April, 1890.  

Note: A gill in the U.S. is equal to ¼ liquid pint; in Britain it's a ¼ Imperial pint (based on the metric system), but in British dialect, a half pint. It is possible that in early 19th century American recipes a half pint was meant. Later recipes which called for a gill require a half cup or 4 ounces.

If you have a favorite recipe to share, please send it to mamas@tias.com and we'll pass it along.

4. What is it?

This is a juice glass mass produced by the Kraft company as a premium for there pimento cheese spread. I would compare it to cheese whiz in a glass. I say this because it tasted like cheesy glue. Of course that's my opinion. I was one of many who took it to school everyday for lunch because my mother was building a set of glasses for free. They also packaged grape jelly in larger glasses with characters on them, Howdy Doody being my favorite. The glasses came in various patterns of red, green, blue, yellow, orange, brown, and black. Today these glasses are very collectible. The one shown is often referred to as a Kiddie Kup. I've seen them priced across the country from $5.00 to $12.00. Swanky Swig has become a popular term for almost any glass made in the 1950s. For anyone serious about collecting them, I would suggest getting a reference book or doing some research online.

It's Almost Free -- Product Premiums

From the depression era through the 1960s, premiums for manufacturers were a sure bet. Housewives could get almost any kind of kitchen item by buying the right product in their local grocery store or shopping where they gave trading stamps. There were hundreds of premiums used as packaging for the product like the Swanky Swigs. They came inside of the products sometimes or you collected labels or trading stamps to redeem them. There were ads you mailed in to the company that got you the product for very little money. How many of you can remember Top Value and Green Stamp Redemption Stores? Below are four examples of popular premiums. The first is a Quikcut slicing knife which was offered by Duz Detergent. It was a mail in premium and the book value is $8.00-$12.00. The second is a Pyrex custard dish in which Kraft packaged cream cheese. With the original metal top, the book value is $10.00-$12.00. Without the top, it usually sells for $3.00- $5.00.

The third is a set of Calumet cookie cutters from Calumet Baking Powder. It was also a mail in promotion. With the original box, the book value is $22.00-$25.00. By themselves the set usually sells for between $8.00- $10.00. The last was a mail in promotion from Lipton Tea. It is a Quikcut Cleaverette and has a book value of $12.00-$15.00. If you'd like to learn more about Premiums, there's a chapter on the subject in Brian Alexander's book, "Spiffy Kitchen Collectibles," Krause Publications, 2003.

7. Tip of the Month 

To remove hot candle wax from your carpet, lay a newspaper or brown paper bag on the wax and run a medium hot iron over the paper. It will absorb the wax from the carpet.

Sue in Nebraska wrote:

To dustproof a television screen, wipe it with a fabric softener sheet. This will eliminate static cling, and dust will be repelled instead of adhering to the screen.

Tom in Iowa wrote:

To clean kitchen appliances and stainless steel kitchen sinks, use club soda, it cleans and polishes at the same time.

Pat in Nebraska wrote:

When breaking spaghetti noodles in half before boiling, lay it on a clean tea-towel and roll the towel over it, then break.  You won't have dry spaghetti noodles flying all over the kitchen!

Have you got a great kitchen tip or question, please send it along to mamas@tias.com

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