Welcome to this week’s fresh to market vintage. We have thoughts.
“Form follows function,” the mantra of architect Louis Sullivan, is an axiom that continues to age well. According to the Guggenheim Museum, Sullivan meant that the function of a building should be the starting point for its design. That doesn’t just apply to buildings though. You would think that a dish drainer designer, for example, would remember that the dish drainer’s purpose was to hold wet dishes. And yet, that was not the case with the drainer at Casa Aunt Hattie, where the drainer often thwarted Mr. AH’s attempts to fill it. This week, it was replaced by a model where the form really does follow the function, meaning there is no longer a low hanging cloud of profanity in their kitchen at washing up time.
This week’s fresh to market vintage also has an excellent example of form following function in the Red Wing stoneware butter crock. When refrigeration was not available in many kitchens, thick stoneware crocks protected foods from rapid temperature changes. Surely those who kept the kitchen knew what would stay edible in them and what would not. The form of those crocks was exactly what was needed to function.
Now, of course, a stoneware crock is unnecessary for your butter. It would also be expensive for the maker and inconvenient in the fridge. Plastic tubs lack the charm of the crock, but they are entirely functional, economical and useful for leftovers and crafty things after the fact. It’s unlikely anyone will collect plastic butter tubs by themselves to display, but we do have a small purse made by punching holes in a margarine tub and crocheting a top on it that we are inordinately fond of.
And now that we’ve thought about that, we’re thinking about the rest of this week’s fresh to market vintage.
Red and White Rhinestone Starburst Brooch
This small brooch caught my eye due to its swirled design and sparkling rhinestones. The red and white set on a gold-tone background gives it a sophisticated look. Not too showy, not too fussy. I think it would look fabulous set on the collar of a blouse or pinned onto a fedora-style hat.
1950s Red and White Rhinestone Brooch, $24.95
-Pam, Vintage Renude
Josef “Happiness is…” Series
In this series, Muriel asks us to think of our childhood and what made us happy. For this girl, it is bread spread with a little butter and sugar sprinkled on it. Others in this series are eating something delicious, making music, riding a bike and playing with a dog as well as many more of the things that make us smile. Sometimes it can be as simple as a Tootsie Pop! Hope you will give your inner child a chance to be happy and forget everything else for a little while longer.
Happiness is…, $38.99
-Mary Ellen, AuntHattiesAttic
Red Wing Butter Crock, Highland Dairy, S. D.
Flashback to the days before refrigerators when stoneware crockery was used in American kitchens to hold foods like butter, pickled meats and vegetables. This Red Wing crock was issued for commercial use by the Highland Dairy in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and once held 2 lbs of sweet creamy butter.
Marked Stoneware Butter Crock, $65
-Linda, Selective Salvage
1950s Christmas home painting
Although knee hugger elves and aluminum trees are always in style, sometimes I like my Christmas a little more subtle. You could be forgiven for not noticing the tiny wreath and sliver of Christmas tree in the window of this 1953 painting of a cape-style home in Massachusetts. Titled Bright Christmas, it would be an excellent addition to anyone’s holiday decor. Imagine it flanked by a couple of tiny Norway pines on your mantel.
1953 Bright Christmas painting, $75
-Laurie, NextStage Vintage
That’s this week’s fresh to market vintage, wrapped up in a functional post for you to enjoy. If the pin makes your heart flutter, you might like our post explaining the difference between rhinestones, crystals and paste.
And if you like the form of our blog and our love of la vie vintage, please consider subscribing. One email a week with all our posts, that’s all you’ll hear from us. Unless you leave a comment on one of our posts (we love that)–we’ll do our best to reply.
