.for those who savor the look and flavors of yesterday's kitchen.
August 2009
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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.
Soon after the development of bakelite, cold molded plastics appeared. During the next three decades, from about 1910 to1942, plastics technology grew enormously. In 1942 there were 17 different types of plastic but only a few of them proved to be of significance to the Housewares field. The few plastics housewares on the market prior to the 1930s were compression molded with thermo-setting materials. In the middle to late thirties, some products were being injection molded of cellulose acetate. The qualities of this product were its superior impact strength and wide color range from opaque and translucent to colorless or clear.
In 1938 the introduction of polystyrene opened up the housewares market. This material had all of the advantages of the cellulose acetate plus greater dimensional stability, greater clarity, a faster molding time and it was cheap. This was when plastic housewares really started to sell in volume. It was also around this time that a material known as melamine got a second life. Melamine had been hanging around since 1834 but nobody gave it a second thought. In the mid 1930s, the American Cynabid Company in Wallingford, Connecticut developed a formula which was believed to hold considerable potential for molding plates and bowls. They contracted with the Hemco division of the Bryant Electric Company which was a subsidiary of the Westinghouse Electric Company to start production. The new line was called "Beetleware."
In 1942 one of the most useful plastics, polyethylene, was introduced. It was soft, flexible and extremely durable. One of the first molders to specialize in this material was Earl S. Tupperware, founder of Tupper Plastics Incorporated in Farnum, Massachusetts. In 1948 an extremely tough and versatile thermoplastic, acryonitrile, was introduced. It provided greater impact strength and better heat resistance. It was used to produce all kinds of heavy duty drinking cups and glasses. Next came one of the lightest weight plastics, polypropylene. It had all of the virtues of polyethylene, plus it could be folded, flexed and bent without breaking.
Plastics truly revolutionized the Housewares industry as well as many other industries. Scoffers said it would never replace china, glass, and metal. They laughed at the absurdity of any homemaker wanting Melmac on their dining or kitchen table. However, plastic was the little material that could and it had the last laugh. Today, it's indispensable in every home. As far as the collectible's market, let's just say that I was a fool for getting rid of my Texasware bowls and original Tupperware. If you'd like to know more about the history of plastics, I recommend "The Housewares Story," Earl Lifshey, 1973, National Housewares Manufacturers Association.
Slice 4 pounds green tomatoes very thin. Place layers of tomatoes and 6 medium onions sliced thin in a large bowl. Sprinkle with about ½ cup of salt. Cover and let stand in a cool place overnight. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Drain and pour into agate or enamel kettle. Add 2 small chopped green peppers, with 2 cups sugar, 1 pint cider vinegar, 2 Tablespoons celery seeds, and 2 Tablespoons mustard seeds. Tie 1 Tablespoon whole cloves, 1 teaspoon peppercorns, 2 Two inch cinnamon sticks in a small cheesecloth bag and add to kettle. Heat and stir with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves. Bring to boiling and boil for 15 minutes. Remove spice bag. Spoon into hot sterile glass jars and seal. Let stand several weeks before using. Makes about 3 pints.
"Old Time Pickling and Spicing Recipes", Florence Brobeck, Gramercy Publishing Company, 1953
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?
Radish Garnisher
This is a radish garnisher. At least I think I've identified it right. A customer told me the card shapes were used to cut decorations in pastry. Fresh radishes were turned into works of art to decorate relish trays for the dinner table. The radish roses were my favorite. It's made of a molded plastic. I know of no book value, but I've seen them sold for between $4.00-$6.00. Do you have a piece of kitchenalia that you'd care to share or ask other's to help you identify? Just e-mail a picture and/or description to mamas@tias.com and we'll post it and any responses here.
Cheap Labor - Plastic Gadgets
The first item shown is a modern silent butler called a "Clean Sweep." After dinner you just ran it over the tablecloth and it picked up the crumbs. It was considered quite innovative in its day. In the original box and never used, it markets for about $15.00-$18.00 depending on condition. The second is a lattice Pie Cutter. It was used to cut holes in your top pie crusts. The book value on this is $18.00-$22.00. This one has the original wrapper but does have some wear so it's priced at $15.00.
The third is a Kesco roll cutter. This was used for Cloverleaf and Fan Tan rolls. This one has the original cardboard packaging and markets for $8.00-$10.00. The last is a box of Stop Ice Drink Aids. You slipped this over the rim of the glass and it kept the ice from your mouth when you drank. Since this comes in the original box, it would market for $15.00-$18.00.
6. Mama's Kitchen Stories
I always see my mama in the kitchen. She's usually at the sink or preparing a meal. However one of my most special memories is the summer trip. Every year she would herd us into the car and take us to where she had grown up. We would visit my Great Aunt Cora and the cousins. Afterwards, she would take us out to the lot of land where her home had stood. The log cabin my grandfather had built was long gone and a lead mining company now owned the land. She would show us where the cabin had stood and my great grandmother had her iris beds and rock garden. She would tell us stories of her childhood. My favorite was the one about the mule getting into my Great Grandmother Corrine's flower bed. Before we left, she would get the shovel from the trunk and we would dig up some of the iris bulbs. Then we would collect a few rocks from the garden and make our way home. I always remember the love in her voice when she told those stories. To this day I can see her as she lovingly planted those bulbs by our house and added the rocks to her own garden. She told me it was her way of telling her grandmother she wasn't forgotten. I sometimes wonder if she ever knew how much those trips meant to me.
Joyce has a memory to share:
I can remember my mother - when I was little - buying Crisco in a can that had recipes on the outside. She would make wonderful cakes from those recipes - cakes were her THING back then. One I really loved was a chocolate cake with green frosting and chocolate drizzled on top and down the sides. The frosting was cooked in a double-boiler over the stove and whipped with a beater and then green food coloring was added. It must have been for St. Patrick's Day ... anyway, it was almost too pretty to cut. When Mom passed away I found the recipe - picture and all - tucked into a cookbook with the year of l940 which was the year I was born. I have since passed the cookbook down to my granddaughter as she loves to cook. She and I have had fun looking at it and comparing the way things were then with cooking today. What memories finding that picture and recipe brought back to me. Thank you MOM for all the wonderful memories.
Do you have a kitchen memory to share. Please send it to Mama at mamas@tias.com
7. Kitchen Tips
Cut old stockings lengthwise to make ties for tomato plants. These will not cut into the stalk, and are very strong.
Anthony wrote:
Cut plastic mesh baskets that strawberries and other fruits are packed in at the grocery store, to fit into the bottom of vases for use as frogs to hold cut flowers.
Serena wrote:
Before going on a picnic, place hot dogs in a wide-mouth thermos and add boiling water. They will be cooked and ready to eat by the time the picnic site is reached.
Have you got a great kitchen tip or question, please send it along to mamas@tias.com
8. What's New at Mama's Treasures
Joining my mailing list at Mama's Treasures makes you eligible for promotional coupons and advance notice of sales. New items coming to Mama's Treasures include: Wearever Aluminum Sieves, Wood Spice Racks, Refurbished Tulip Spice Set, Federal Orange and Pink Nut Grinders, Refurbished Cherry Salt and Pepper Shakers, Moeller Punch N Cover, Wesson Oil Mayonnaise Beater Jar, Ivory Premium Red Handle Vegetable Peeler on Card, Hammered Aluminum Napkin Holder, Aqua and Pink Plastic Butter Dishes, Westinghouse, Watkins, Universal, Culinary Arts Cookbooks, and Peg Bracken I Hate To Cook and Housekeep Books, Pearl Necklace and Earring Set, Kromex Canister Set, Comet Aluminum Coffeepot, Christmas Nativity Figures and Pixie Elves, Kesco Roll Cutter, Handi Hostess Li'l Frankie Hot Dog Roaster, Xray Juicer, Foley Choppers and Forks, Mendets, Pet Milk Opener, Refurbished Tipp City Style Red and Yellow Flour Spice Set, Green Knob Cookie Cutters, Red Metal Spice Rack, Aluminum Measuring Cups, Mirro Aluminum Cookie Presses, Pyrex Teapots & Double Boilers, Japan Christmas Cardboard Houses, Feemster Peelers, Swans Down Cake Pan, Py-O-My Premium Baking Sheet, Roll- Rite Glass Rolling Pin, Brownie Reflex Camera, Robin Hood Flour Recipe Box, Schneider Cake Breakers, Boxed Hankie Sets, Teapot Aluminum Grease Cans and so much more!!!!! Drop by and visit me at www.tias.com/stores/mamas. I love to chat, answer questions and I always consider reasonable offers.
Drop by and visit me at www.tias.com/stores/mamas I love to chat, answer questions and I always consider reasonable offers.
9. Helpful Resources
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