I've had these Russel Wright Carnation Sterling China plates since the 80s because...
photo via Hoarder Rehab, available upon request
Back in the day thrifting Russel Wright was much more plentiful than it is now. We found his metal patio chairs, large heavy mugs, hand signed resin candle holders, pink espresso cups, wall clocks, not to mention my brother's entire collection of Iroquois, Steubenville and Sterling dish sets, which include servings for 12 and almost all the accessories in all the Iroquois colors, like the wine carafe and tea pots, etc.
We passed up so much Russel Wright thirfting! That would never happen now, but then again, now it's rare to find Russel Wright thrifting!
I found these in a thrift shop in Redondo Beach or Torrance. It was the year I moved over 10 times in one year and instead of taking stuff with me I'd have a yard sale, move to the next place and use the money from the yard sale to use. We finally settled down in Gardena and we lived in a garage that was huge!
It was actually a tri-plex, but not really. The garage was more like a bunch of rooms a dentist or doctor kept adding on for storage. On the property was his three bedroom house and his work place. We converted the work place into a studio and rented it out and moved into the garage.
It's been one of my favorite homes! I learned how to dry wall, dig trenches for drains, weld copper piping, etc and best of all find stuff for the garage! I found all kinds of huge large free salvage windows from the 40s with frosted glass with the turning in circle knobs, a double restuarant sink that could hide dishes unseen for over a week! A Cold Spot refrigerator with turquoise accents that went flush with the wall, glass block windows in the closets and on and on.
And with all the rooms added on it was like a little maze house! I think I was inspired by loft living in the movie, Diva. It felt like anything goes and it did!
photo via Hoarder Rehab, available upon request
I refound them and listed them on Etsy and when I did price comparables, I saw on someone else's description that these might have been made for Disneyland's Carnation Cafe back in the 50s and 60s.
So that debate has been open until now....
Someone bought one plate and asked if I also had the cups and saucers. We started negotiating price for the rest of them. It was cut throat dealing, but I'm used to that from real estate investing and just kept negotiating, which I learned from the documentary, "How To Draw a Bunny."
Anyways, I've kind blocked out what happened, but I started to have a panic attack from these leaving at a 10% discount, so I shut down and went on vacation to think about it. Nothing to do with this negotiation, but it was others that were ending up odd and not so pleasant.
Now I remember what was happening at the time and all I can say is that although sales are high during winter holidays the people are too interesting for me and most likely next year our shops will be closed for the holidays!
photo via Hoarder Rehab, available upon request
He said that his two brothers went to Disneyland in 1957. They ate at the Disneyland Carnation ice cream parlor on Main Street. His father enjoyed the coffee cups so much he tried to buy some. At the ice cream parlor they could not sell them but they gave his dad the address to write.
His Dad wrote and explained how the cups made everything taste great. The cups have a very unusual style. He still has the letters and receipts from his dad. He said, some cups have broken over the years and his Dad gave many away. Now the ones that are left sit in the china cabinet as a memory of days of his past.
He said his Dad never bought the plates to match the cups and saucers that his Dad first saw and loved from the Carnation Cafe on Main Street inside Disneyland, but would like to include them in the china cabinet. He wasn't born yet, but remembers his dad telling the story and how thrilled he was to get some cups.
photo via The Restaurant Ware Connection Network here and an article about it's closing in 1997, here. It has since reopened, March 2013 in it's original location sans the Russel Wright Carnation plates, see new dishes here.
So since about mid December I haven't been doing very well parting with a few choice items, which I don't know which ones they are until they are ordered! It's very dismaying and irrational to me, but now I just let the feeling pass through me and deal with my hoard and it's all it's array of feelings, memories and issues, as best I can.
I don't know what to do about and it feels like a huge backslide. I am trying not to judge myself and doing my best to accept it as a part of life and as long as I'm moving forward, it will take me some where.
Maybe it's time to try another type of therapy for myself and I'm thinking it's returning to my art and to not focus so heavily on dehoarding, since over 567 items have found new lives and home. I am only about half way through the hoard in my house and afterwards need to clear out my long bed truck with extra cabin! but there is enough space in the music art room to move through it more easily.
Maybe enough hoard has left to have cleared my mind to move on to the next phase into the unknown!
Saying Goodbye: It was difficult to part with one of these, so I put them back into the cupboard to use again for weekend breakfast. It's been a month now and we end up using our Fire King Azurite blue plates over the Carnation plates every time.
So I guess that means I will try again and part with these! Any takers? All offers noted.
What I Learned:
1. I am attached to "things" more than most people and I am certainly attached to particular "things" more than others. I'm sure from the outside it looks highly absurd, irrational and time consuming! And it is, but so are many other past times, hobbies, etc in this life.
So I'm either going to need to figure it out, work with it, instead of against it or find something to take it's place.
2. Working with each memory or past issue is time consuming, but well worth it. If I want my life to be different, I must do something different or how will it change?
3. I am starting to see a little tiny light, like a pin hole in a childhood that feels as though it's been erased. When I ask my brother about it, he remembers even less, so I'm on my own.
Anyone else out there missing parts of their childhood? What can one do to remember it? I'm all ears over here.
Thank you Etsy buyer from Hoarder Rehab for doing your best to help my hoarding habits!
Thank you Etsy for helping me find new lives and homes for over 567 hoarded items!
Thank you US, China, Germany, Finland, UK, Japan and Venezuela for your visits since last Wednesday and for taking part in my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!
Click on the shop names to visit my hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab, The Destiny of Things, VintageToGoEasy and now JunkDrawerLove! There are about 105 items listed on JunkDrawerLove and am adding new listings to each shop daily and will continue to relist 1-2 items at the other shops! Thanks for looking! Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!
Related Stories:
1. Read it here, my story from yesterday about the most "empathetic" Etsy buyer who ordered my Kanzashi, but later said I could keep it, if I had a change of heart! So I had to decide to either keep it or let it go to a Costume Director of the Madame Butterfly Opera. As a recovering hoarder, I am still in a tangled mess about it.
The Most Read Story of the Month: My soon to be famous paper clips and box will appear in the AMC show called, "Halt and Catch Fire," Read about it here
Most Read Story of the Week and All Time: My Louis Vuitton Collection: the end of my collection is the beginning for someone else. The last piece of my LV collection, my 80s LV gold cornered wallet is available here at The Destiny of Things!
"Onwards and upwards!" Thank you for stopping by!
