What is BlueZinnia All About?
Blue Zinnias by Metlox / Vernon
If you are a “dishie” or “dishaholic”, you may be able to relate to me and my weakness. It is genetic and I have it from both sides of my family. It is an insatiable appetite for dishes. In my case I am particularly drawn to blue – and my favorite pattern (right now) is Blue Zinnia by Vernon / Metlox. So there you go – its a start.
As a way to allow me to bankroll my habit, I have started selling dishes on eBay. It is a way to be able to buy as many dishes as I want – and then after I have enjoyed them, I can list them and see if anyone else might want to offer them a home for a while.
Feel free to visit my eBay store, AuntJanesAttic. You will always find lots of dishes to look at. You might find something you would like to invite into your home! I will be writing about my latest finds and additions if you are interested. I would love to hear about your adventures with dishes as well, so feel free to join as a subscriber and share your photos and comments.
I have many fond memories of dishes from my childhood. One special one is from visits to my Grandparent’s house in Columbus, Ohio. We only went there in the summer – they spent winters in the south. Their house didn’t have a dining room and there were a lot of us, so we would eat out on the terrace. Three standbys on the menu were barbecued chicken, potato salad and some kind of pie. Grandma always made pie!
Grandpa would sit out on the terrace smoking his pipe, listening to the baseball game, talking with my Dad and the Uncles and grilling the chicken. The kids would be running up and down the stairs from the terrace to the wooded front yard, around the house, through the back door, and back out on the terrace again, stopping every now and again to see how the chicken was doing, or try to snitch a bite of potato salad in the tiny kitchen. When it was time to eat, Grandma, Mom and the Aunts would set the table with the Franciscan Desert Rose dishes. Those days are far in the past, but whenever I see those plates at my mother’s house, that is the first thing I think of.
Della Robbia by Metlox / Vernon
I am attracted to the dishes of the past mid-century. I like so many of the designs from Metlox, Franciscan, Taylor Smith Taylor, Harmony House. I recently listed a Metlox / Vernon sculpted set – Della Robbia. It is so pretty – especially nice in the summer – but it would also be nice in the winter to help bring back summer memories!
The Della Robbia pattern is a cream pottery with a sculpted, or embossed band of fruits, berries, leaves, and flowers on the rim. This colorful, hand-painted design was introduced in the 1960′s, and was produced until the 80′s. I ended up with 8 – 5 piece place settings and some servingware pieces of this set. It was really too pretty to pass up!
I wonder how it would look with barbecued chicken, potato salad and some thick sliced tomatoes!