i will be sharing this post with selena and her readers at apron thrift girl. every monday, you can visit her for other thrifty finds.

it’s been a while since i’ve been able to sneak away to the thrift store for a good look around. yesterday, i did just that and found a set of mikasa dishes: dinner plates, salad plates, cups and saucers. the bowls were missing, and i found out why as i was paying for my purchase. more on that later…

mikasa is often mistaken as a manufacturer of dinnerware and accessories, but they are more of a brand encompassing over a hundred different manufacturers. essentially, mikasa is a distributor. over the years, they’ve cultivated relationships with various manufacturers of china, dinnerware, flatware, glassware and ceramics. the american company began in the 1930s as an importer, and it wasn’t until the 1960s that the brand mikasa was associated with high quality, fashionable dinnerware. by this point, it had grown in popularity and was available at stores like macy’s and bloomingdale’s. {source}

the dishes i found were the california poppies (pattern #c9000), introduced in 1976. {source}

they were in like-new condition, not a scratch or crack in the glaze whatsoever. when i see something in such good condition, it makes me wonder why it was never used. was it a gift that wasn’t quite the recipient’s taste? was it too fancy for everyday use? or not fancy enough? was it boxed away in a move, forgotten about or passed over for some other pattern? that’s a possibility, the 1980s were looming with their soft pastels and geometric patterns. i can’t help but wonder though. in our home, everything gets its share of use. it will be a miracle, really, if anything survives for future generations.

i love the poppy motif, and the colours will work in my orange kitchen. if you’ve been in my home, you know that i’m promptly and entirely dismissing the fact that these dishes will actually be used in my dining room. the dining room is a bright apple green. lalala whatever. i can’t seem to help it. i gravitate to the earthy oranges and browns.

as for the reason the bowls in this set were missing? the girl at the checkout informed me that someone had just bought the matching bowls. i asked why the lady had bought the bowls but not the dishes. the clerk said “oh, the bowls were plain, just with the brown rim. the lady who bought them said the floral plates were way too gaudy…”

too gaudy! hah! some people. go gaudy or go home, i always say. i’m glad that lady went home, without my gaudy dishes.

(oh right, sorry luv. you’re really not gaudy at all. honest. have you seen your cousins from the ’80s? that’s gaudy.)

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to read more of my thoughts on interesting dishes i’ve come across, please visit:

14 reasons i love vintage pyrex

a rare 1958 pyrex piece

porcelana schmidt

franciscan of england

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