Saturday, March 19, 2011

Vintage Finds: Got a Dishpan?






These old dishpans are a favorite of mine to pick up at garage sales and thrift stores, and I'll tell you why...










They're awful cute.


They come in many colors:  black and white, blue and white, red and white, green and white...all of them just as cute as can be!


But more than that, they're useful!


In so many ways!




I use them all over the house.













And for lots of reasons!


One, they make awesome popcorn bowls.  When I make my popcorn on the stove top, I melt just a couple tablespoons of butter for this whole big bowlful, and I can shake that bowl and mix it all in.  Popcorn just looks better in one of these big old "Bessie" bowls!


One of them holds my whole stack of red checkered napkins that I use on the dinner table. They sit right out in the open, and darn if they don't look purty cute that-a-way.  


(Did your daddy say "that-a-way", too?)  




One of the smaller blue and white speckled ones with a little (new) pitcher inside it.


At a party or a picnic fill it with ice and shove those drinks down in that cold ice for a nice cooler (just put a towel underneath to catch the condensation).


I also use them a whole lot during garden season...those Bessie bowls hold a whole bunch of produce...


Or, they work hard at holding all your vegetable peelings and cores when it's cannin' season, or they'll catch a whole bunch of apples when you're busy crankin' the corer/peeler/slicer.


When fall comes 'round, darn if they don't look right at home holding a bunch of bright red apples sitting in the middle of the kitchen table!





I'm loving how the cobalt reflects the quilt I have on the back of the couch...


At Christmastime, you can throw vintage bulbs inside, or hang candy canes all around the edges.


I've got a small one on the counter top holding potholders, for quick grabbing when the corn bread pan is hot comin' out of the oven.


Another is sitting on my buffet in the dining room holding a round white pitcher that in the summer will hold a nice bunch of zinnias I picked  from the garden.  


I've got a few blue speckled ones in different sizes, and then there's three or so in this red and white combination, one of my favorites to find!  


I bet if you look around...









You'll find a use for these old "Bessie" dishpans, too!  


Maybe you'd even like to do your dinner dishes in them one evening in June while you listen to the crickets chirping, wearing an apron and while 40's music plays on the radio, watching the fireflies dance outside on the lawn... 
just for "old time's sake"!

(And the best part?  Made in the USA!)




This is a lower, shallower dishpan, more rounded off and looks more like a basin.  
This small (new) pitcher is just the right size for it.
I find the pitchers on occasion, at TJ Maxx for less than $10, just lucky finds.


Have a wonderful weekend!




15 comments:

Artful Gathering said...

Enjoyed your post. I love my dishpans as well. I liked the ways you decorate and use yours. I think in will use your ideas. Thanks for sharing!

Debbie said...

My daughter has been collecting white with black trim enamelware for years so I started with the white and red trim. I love it for decorating and its usefulness. We are 'recycling' history!
Deb

Penny said...

Love this post! I, too, have several white with red trim pans, and I enjoyed hearing how you use your's. I will be stealin' a few of those ideas........ :)
And yes, I remember fondly many relatives saying "that-a-way!" Oh, for the good ole days.....

Cindy said...

I guess at a garage sale you and I would be clamoring over each other to get to theses...lolI found a yellow one with green trim on it last Spring..it is sooo old...but I love it.

Cindy from Rick-Rack and Gingham

lillie mae acres said...

Great pics and post, who doesn't love the old metal working bowls of yesterday? I have several and you're so right, they work great for the fresh pickings from our garden. We sit here w/ bowls full of peas, shelling in front of the tv.

~from my front porch in the mountains~ said...

I would love a few! I will be on the look-out :)
I did a post of all our vintage in our home this week! So fun.
xo, misha

adsgram said...

....and, even if you find one in rough shape, you can still enjoy it as a planter out in the garden, under a tree or filled with flowers on the porch!

♥♥
Lynne

Linda said...

Yes they are a great vintage piece of history to have around. I have a few pcs myself and I dearly love them. I grab up everyone I can find!
Thanks for sharing.....
Linda

busyascanbe said...

Dish towels are my favorite thing to make! So anywhere you can get them cheep then take them home and embelish them is wonderful in my book!

Laura said...

Ahhhh...something else for me to be on the lookout in my travels! You give the greatest ideas!!

Anonymous said...

Love the dishpans. Beautiful and functional and fun!

Vicki's Bit-o-earth said...

Loved your post. I love how you use yours. I have a few of those too, and I used them constantly. They sure don't make them like the old days. I'm keeping an eye out for at an old metal night stand that holds a pitcher and bowl set... maybe one day I'll find the perfect one. Great post. Nice to be round again and catch up with you happenings. (: xxVicki

Unknown said...

Hello! What a lovely blog you have! It truly does feel like Michigan! My husband's family is from the UP. What beautiful countryside. Thank you so much for visiting my blog. You love to write, and so do I. You are right, a built in audience for the love of word! Have a lovely spring! Elizabeth

Mary Jane Plemons said...

Thank you for this post. I hadn't even thought about these old dishpans. As I told you, I have an oval one my mother used, and just this week, I found a deep round one in a local antique store, both with red rims. Your idea to use a Magic Eraser helped clean them up. I plan to use the deep one to boil my canning jars and keep them hot. I also have two shallow, smaller ones, too small to be dishpans, one in palest yellow and one in pale green, that are mainly for "show".
Mary Jane

Old Centennial Farmhouse said...

Hi Mary Jane! I would love to see pictures of your pale yellow and pale green dishpans..feel free to post them on the facebook page, I have never seen them in those colors!
xoxo
Joni