Reply #54: A 1939 Coronado floor model radio, and two 1930s Homer Laughlin

[Left Is Write]

ceramic pie plates.

The radio was purchased at an antique shop in Duluth, MN, while on my honeymoon. It was then that I introduced my husband to the fun of antiquing and began my vintage radio collection. I love that radio.

The pie plates came from eBay, but with a purpose. One is an 8-inch plate and the other a 10-inch plate. They are yellow with a rose pattern around the side. My mother has a matching 9-inch pie plate that used to belong to my grandmother. It's a cherished "heirloom" plate, and I bought the others on eBay to match it. My mother and I both love that yellow pie plate, because it was Grandma's.

I also have many, many cookbooks dating back as far as the 1930s, although most are from the 50s and 60s, with a few from the 40s and 70s also. And I have lots of vintage kitchenware, and a collection of 1950s aprons sewn by a 1950s housewife.

Of course, it is obvious that I don't find owning either vintage items or antiques to be creepy in any way. Just the opposite, in fact. I love the connection they give me to the past, and I particularly like cookbooks in which the original or previous owner wrote her own notes or jotted down other recipes. It's a tangible piece of the past, part of someone else's life I can share. Someone else once loved the item I now own, and it feels meaningful to carry that on.