656892 Sun Oct 04 04:12:53 -0700 2009 50 41 Cookware 0 5077652 We are planning a retro or 50s/60s themed shower for a friend and we want to start listing pces that we can look for in antique stores,etc. We want the gifts to NOT be newly designed great items, but ones that are so good they cannot be improved upon? (Thinking, electric coffee percolator, etc...) We'll take any suggestions and we have eight months to shop; many of us live in different cities. North American and European brands accepted. Sun Oct 04 04:12:54 -0700 2009 79652 itryalot 1 5077712 Since I did not get out of high school until 1967, I think of kitchenware of that era that included my mother's Revereware pans, a few Corningware pieces, and definitely a percolator. Then I discovered an altogther different kind of retro, the things you might have found in Julia Child's kitchen...tin-lined copper, carbon steel knives, tinned plaques and molds, Apilco porcelain. I far prefer the latter kind of retro. That said, one of the things that bridges the gap well is a Melitta coffee make (although a press makes better coffee). Of course Pyrex is eternal. I still use Corningware and Pyrex pieces for microwaving things. A waffle iron is a cool thing to have, too. Sun Oct 04 05:32:10 -0700 2009 5077652 170997 tim irvine 2 5079113 I like the carbon steel knife idea, having recently discovered them myself. However, they really do need to be taken care of. Sun Oct 04 19:45:57 -0700 2009 5077712 87837 RGC1982 1 5078072 12" Blue Michael Lax designed Copco cast-iron skillet. Sun Oct 04 09:22:50 -0700 2009 5077652 1109413 flyingpostman 1 5078074 A ball-bearing wooden rolling pin, similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/Kaiser-Bakeware-Patisserie-Wooden-Rolling/dp/B00004YW5H/ref=pd_sbs_k_1 with a "stocking" and pastry cloth, similar to these: http://www.finecooking.com/CMS/uploadedImages/Images/Cooking/Articles/Issues_81-90/fc81wa066-03_med.jpg Granny knew best! Sun Oct 04 09:25:13 -0700 2009 5077652 221993 Channa 2 5078112 A good old-fashioned waffle-style potato masher, not the squiggly nonsense most people have now. Wooden spoons Fun potholders and dishtowels An apron Uncoated metal bakeware (I don't care for it myself, but . . .) Fiestaware Sun Oct 04 09:44:56 -0700 2009 5078074 193049 pothead 1 5078109 Roto Broil and Rotiss-a-Mat electric rotisseries; the Sunbeam self-lowering toaster (the original one - not the similarly style one made today); a Westinghouse can opener that slit the side of the lid (In can't recall the name, but it had green sides); a glass coffee percolator with an internal light on the bottom (it doesn't make the greatest coffee you've ever had, but it's beautiful); an original Silex glass vacuum coffee maker (which does make great coffee) Sun Oct 04 09:43:50 -0700 2009 5077652 23411 embee 1 5078248 I love my vintage aluminum foil/ wax paper / paper towel dispenser! You can find really sweet versions online, like this one on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-RETRO-KITCHEN-WALL-DISPENSER-COLORWARE_W0QQitemZ120474304367QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0cd3ff6f&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 Sun Oct 04 11:21:49 -0700 2009 5077652 286326 katetheskate 2 5078614 Adorable; never seen one of those before! Sun Oct 04 15:13:37 -0700 2009 5078248 79652 itryalot 1 5078532 An aluminium star-patterned colander--my mom's--going back, for sure, ninety years. Sun Oct 04 14:08:33 -0700 2009 5077652 44591 GeezerGourmet 1 5078613 She loves Julia Child...we should incorporate that into the shower and that would bump it up a noth. Thanks tim irvine. I agree about the latter of the two retros. The melitta is a plug in? Sun Oct 04 15:12:47 -0700 2009 5077652 79652 itryalot 2 5146740 no, the Melitta is white porcelain, both the pot and cone. It is the same size as my brown Betty teapot and therefore fits well in a cozy, keeping the coffee warm. The press fits a cozy, too, but it is too tall, so I wrap a towel around the base before I put the cozy over it. Sun Nov 01 08:50:43 -0800 2009 5078613 170997 tim irvine 1 5078751 I found a 1930's era potato ricer at a garage sale. (Formerly) bright orange enamel over metal with a removable sieve for easy cleaning. Not a week goes by that we don't use it. adam Sun Oct 04 16:29:33 -0700 2009 5077652 154787 adamshoe 1 5078827 Cast iron skillets and dutch ovens. Le Creuset enameled cast iron cookware. Olivewood spoons. Pyrex mixing bowls. Crock pot. Maybe not really retro, but timeless. Sun Oct 04 17:20:14 -0700 2009 5077652 985040 tanuki soup 1 5078830 A vintage ice crusher like this (I love mine): http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-METAL-ICE-O-MAT-ICE-CRUSHER-NEAR-MINT_W0QQitemZ140349741337QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20ad7f1919&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 There's also the classic nordicware aluminum bundt pan - I use the one my mom gave me almost weekly - and she bought hers in the early 60s. Sun Oct 04 17:20:57 -0700 2009 5077652 63569 flourgirl 1 5079130 One more: a carbon steel omelet or crepe pan. Sun Oct 04 19:56:58 -0700 2009 5077652 985040 tanuki soup 1 5079137 A hand crank meat grinder. So easy to clean, never jams, three different blades for fine/medium/coarse. Just clamp it on the table. Sun Oct 04 20:01:48 -0700 2009 5077652 69044 hsk 1 5079559 A dark stone mortar and pestle works in every type of kitchen. I used to used an old flat-iron as a meat pounder. I wonder what happened to it. Mon Oct 05 06:33:46 -0700 2009 5077652 154622 Paulustrious 1 5082095 I inherited a little glass Scottie dog teaspoon holder from my grandma--as I have a small kitchen with little drawer space it saves a slot in the silverware drawer. And you go through spoons pretty quickly! Looks like this: Tue Oct 06 05:23:57 -0700 2009 5077652 109573 coney with everything 1 5082114 An old-style mouli grater for parmesan cheese. Their newer styles incorporate plastic, are larger and aren't as comfortable in the hand. Tue Oct 06 05:35:09 -0700 2009 5077652 59951 thinks too much 1 5083789 Mirro cookie press. Magnalite bakeware, Wear-Ever bakeware, Guardian cookware. Don't forget the old aluminum ice cube trays with the pull handles. Maybe an old Hamilton-Beach milkshake blender? (single purpose though) And any electrics in Avocado Green (grin). Tue Oct 06 15:25:50 -0700 2009 5077652 103787 ThreeGigs 2 5084007 Those old aluminum ice cube trays were the worst thing ever. I HATED them growing up and was very relieved as a young adult to discover that there were much improved versions of ice cube trays out there in the world. (My father held on to those awful things for dear life...) I love vintage stuff but that's one item that I personally think should stay on the dust heap. Tue Oct 06 17:01:42 -0700 2009 5083789 63569 flourgirl 3 5086167 I agree totally. The old trays are good for baking mandelbroit, (biscotti), however. That's how my grandma made them. Rubbermaid makes the best plastic ice cube trays. We now have some Sterlite ones that are are pain in the tush. Wed Oct 07 13:01:05 -0700 2009 5084007 13038 p.j. 4 5086169 I love the rubbermaid trays too! :) Wed Oct 07 13:02:12 -0700 2009 5086167 63569 flourgirl 5 5087675 Oh, and it;'s good to know those old aluminum ice cube trays are good for SOMETHING. :) Thu Oct 08 04:34:57 -0700 2009 5086169 63569 flourgirl 1 5084129 A Kitchen aid mixer Tue Oct 06 18:07:03 -0700 2009 5077652 119411 paul balbin 1 5084339 Classic Ronco Vegamatic, if you can find one. Cuts home made french fries better than anything else on the planet Tue Oct 06 19:40:48 -0700 2009 5077652 10692 trakman 1 5085864 I reckon my granite counter top is about 240 million years old. Wed Oct 07 11:24:12 -0700 2009 5077652 154622 Paulustrious 1 5085929 The tin lined copper gratins my mother purchased way back when Dione Lucas (anyone remember her? She was *the* French cooking guru before Julia Child) had a shop called Bazar Français on Sixth Avenue in NYC. Nothing better for gratin potatoes or pommes Anna. Anyone else remember Dione? She wrote cookbooks & had a cooking school as I (faintly) recall. Wed Oct 07 11:46:03 -0700 2009 5077652 11069 fauchon 2 5146519 Hers was the first French cooking show on TV - I never saw it (don't think Canadian TV carried it) but did read her cookbooks when I first got interested in food as a teenager. You read about her in biographies of James Beard and other luminaries of the period. It would seem (as I recall) that she was not a very nice lady. Not that that's necessary to what she accomplished, perhaps the opposite. Sun Nov 01 06:54:17 -0800 2009 5085929 13709 buttertart 1 5086178 I still love my classic Farberware pots. Not expensive, better than Reverware, I think, and 30+ years old. My mom had some when I was a kid in the 50's & 60's. I bought a couple last year for my son's college kitchen. Wed Oct 07 13:03:36 -0700 2009 5077652 13038 p.j. 1 5089053 A very old apple-corer/peeler. Works better than any of today's new apple peeling inventions! Thu Oct 08 13:09:41 -0700 2009 5077652 1098694 rockability 2 5094485 Every single canister in my kitchen--and I use a lot, storing in bulk and needing six kinds of rice, etc. ---is vintage. Most are either the plastic Lustroware (Alton Brown used to have these in his first TV kitchen) or the hand-painted, towel ware style, metal Ransburg ones. Flour sifters! Especially the spring-loaded kind that let you sift just by squeezing the handle. Old wooden-handled poking forks....every kind of rolling pin under the sun...those nut chopper jars with the little metal chute on top and the handle that turns "teeth"...old mixing bowls of all kinds...vintage Le Creuset in the old shapes that aren't made any more...My entire kitchen is stuffed to the brim with old fruit crate labels, old advertising posters, knife blocks that hang on the wall with decal decorations, old copper pots and mixing bowls, funky tourist toothpick holders and lucite napkin holders filled with seashells and dried flowers and silly stuff. It's a bitch to keep clean but it makes me happy. :-) Sat Oct 10 23:29:15 -0700 2009 5089053 70211 Beckyleach 3 5094941 I love hearing from people who clearly love their kitchens - even though they don't sound like they look like the pictures in a high end kitchen design magazine. ;) (Mine doesn't either.) Sun Oct 11 09:17:27 -0700 2009 5094485 63569 flourgirl 3 5095896 I am visualizing your kitchen now - sounds wonderful! Sun Oct 11 17:57:04 -0700 2009 5094485 79652 itryalot 4 5129998 Well, I love it but it has a lot of flaws...like no counter space, for starters. You can get an idea of some of it by going here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Beckyleach2/Kitchen03# Sun Oct 25 16:11:44 -0700 2009 5095896 70211 Beckyleach 5 5146260 Looks amazing and functional. I can see why you adore it. Sun Nov 01 01:00:05 -0700 2009 5129998 79652 itryalot 6 5146453 Love it! :) Sun Nov 01 06:13:08 -0800 2009 5146260 63569 flourgirl 1 5126629 Okay -- I have the perfect answer. We needed to make a lot of coffee this weekend, and I remembered my mother's old Westbend 42 cup coffee maker in Harvest Gold. She bought it in the early 70's, I think. I hadn't used it in at least seven years. Guess what? After dusting off the box, it worked like a charm. It took about 45 minutes to brew 42 five ounce "cups" (which really is not what most people drink these days), and kept it warm without burning for well over one hour. What a great gadget. My recommendation is to pick one of these up. If you look around, you can probably find one in Avocado too! Fri Oct 23 19:21:02 -0700 2009 5077652 87837 RGC1982 1 5126801 Vintage cookie cutters. I have an old aluminum tin of old-fashioned cookie cutters from my grandmother. I also like the old hand-held egg beaters, vintage tea kettle, egg cups, ice cream scoop, citrus juicer, wood cutting boards with the Scandinavian dancers painted on them. Fri Oct 23 21:08:42 -0700 2009 5077652 173425 Jen76 1 5130362 itryalot, http://royalcoffeemaker.com/copper-classic-coffee-maker.html Sun Oct 25 18:11:53 -0700 2009 5077652 278068 Politeness 2 5146262 Holy smoly - That thing is a work of art. I am in search of that Westbend coffee maker mentioned by RGC. Would go with the theme of the party and I would let her keep it after we used it. Sun Nov 01 01:01:46 -0700 2009 5130362 79652 itryalot 1 5146490 Waffle pattern potato masher. Hands down. I have my grandmother's and you can't beat them!!!! Sun Nov 01 06:37:53 -0800 2009 5077652 49815 troutpoint 1 5147027 My wife Sun Nov 01 11:11:22 -0800 2009 5077652 154622 Paulustrious 1 5162592 A set of Griswold cast iron skillets. I treasure my set I assembled from my mother in law and ebay. They don't make that quality anymore. Fri Nov 06 19:54:21 -0800 2009 5077652 126101 Antilope 2 5181514 Nope they don't! I love my Griswold skillets too..and my big Le Crueset dutch oven. Here's two of my favorites.The B52 bomber and the Beast in the background. Sat Nov 14 12:12:05 -0800 2009 5162592 54330 i4details 3 5182523 What a wonderful stove/oven/range (never can figure out what to call them...I grew up calling everything "stoves.")! How happy it must make you, to see that every morning when you come out to the kitchen. Sat Nov 14 22:43:59 -0800 2009 5181514 70211 Beckyleach 1 5182729 My Tupperware jello mold ring and lid has a 101 uses. Never thought it would be a vintage, sought after item, but there you have it. Sun Nov 15 05:33:45 -0800 2009 5077652 36312 HillJ 1 5182917 My Sunbeam toaster. My grandmother purchased two of them in 1949, and she gave me one of them when I moved into my first apartment etn years ago. It's chrome, has a rounded top, and (most importantly) IT DROPS AND RAISES THE TOAST ON ITS OWN! No lever! You place a slice in the slot, and it slowly drops the bread into the toaster. And, it makes great toast. I just love the thing. If you can find one, you may need to clean it a bit, but it would make a lovely gift and last forever. Sun Nov 15 07:44:02 -0800 2009 5077652 220968 mattwarner 2 5183125 Something like this? ... http://www.adclassix.com/a3/52sunbeamtoaster.html Hint for some: To magnify the picture and read the text use ctrl + (ie Ctrl Key with either of the plus keys) I only mention this because I just found out my SO didn`t know Sun Nov 15 09:45:38 -0800 2009 5182917 154622 Paulustrious 3 5183461 That's the one! Although, after all these years, it doesn't toast quite that evenly anymore. :-) Sun Nov 15 12:31:06 -0800 2009 5183125 220968 mattwarner