This past gloomy June Friday we had a great time thrifting! We came across quite a few new acquisitions destined for the main shop as well as our Etsy outlet. Here’s a quick preview of the goodies:
Probably the most exciting find was the possible black and chartreuse Krenit bowl from Denmark seen in the back left of the photo above. We say “possible” because there isn’t a stamp on the bottom of the bowl, although we’ve heard that Krenit bowls are sometimes unmarked. When they are marked, they usually have a printed stamp with a big “K” along with “Krenit Denmark”.
Designed by Herman Krenchel, these wonderful bowls feature a matte black exterior and a enameled color interior. The black exterior is extremely susceptible to wear which is why we were so happy to find this one in such good shape. We’ve seen the enamelware in various shapes and colors, but always at high-end stores and antique malls. This is the first time we’ve come across one at a thrift store.
Everything about it seems to be right, including the shape and color. We’re hoping that we can get a confirmation that it is indeed Krenit – these bowls are extremely desirable. The only question then will be – do we keep it for ourselves or not? =)
People often ask us how it is that we are able to consistently come across such amazing items at thrift stores. The answer is simple: persistence. Oh, and luck – but thrifting karma will only get you so far.
In addition to the increasingly crowded field of Ebay / Etsy picker-sellers hawking thrifting goods, we live in Southern California which has probably one of the highest concentration of savvy of vintage/antique dealers and collectors anywhere around. So, the only way we can hope to get the jump on everyone is to hit thrift stores often and hit them hard.
Case in point is this wonderful brown Cathrineholm casserole pot with lid. They had just put it out at a Goodwill near us – I mean, it was still on one of the carts. It was the end of the thrifting trip, and we nearly passed on this particular Goodwill because, well, it plain and simple sucks usually.
So it was a wakeup call to find the Cathrineholm pot just sitting there waiting for us. Also, all those folks who tell you that the only time a thriftstore is worth visiting is in the early morning when they’re opening (or on a day when the “tag color” has changed) – don’t listen to them. We were there at 1:30pm in the afternoon and this was not an isolated incident. I would say that greater than half of the items we’ve found have been at odd “non-peak” hours. So, you should thrift whenever you feel like it or are able to.
Wrapping up the rest of the thrift scores – we hit a church sale and came away with a set of mustard-colored La Gardo Tackett for Schmid snack servers with cups. The entire thing was a dollar. Not a dollar each piece, but a dollar TOTAL. Note to self: hit more church sales. The other find at the church sale was a wood server that may be part of the Arthur Umanoff for Raymor line of serving items made out of a rare Haitian wood called Taverneau. We’ve come across another of these Raymor pieces before, and while this one doesn’t have the same stamp, we suspect it may be from the same line, or at least produced by the same company.
The smiley-faced pottery figural planter is by Designs West which we’re still trying to find information about – the company may have been started by ex-employees of Robert Maxwell. Other finds include another Couroc of Monterey poppy tray, a Bauer Brusche Al Fresco 1 pint pitcher, a small metal creamer by Lundtofte of Denmark, and some more Vera Neumann designed floral napkins.
Whew. Hope you enjoyed the thrifting wrapup, and look for most of these items to make an appearance in the shop soon!
