(But want anyway)
I've been collecting Blue Willow dishes my entire life. Our German Grandma Dutzie had a set, and I was entranced with the pattern as a kid. Way back in the day, children had to sit quietly through long, slow meals, and I would imagine the story of the little figures on the plate while the adults talked on and on.
However, I'm at that stage of life when I should be scaling back on stuff and simplifying my life. Or so they say. (Have you heard of "Swedish death cleaning?")
The West Seattle Senior Center runs a thrift shop and I always stop in on my way to ukulele practice. For the last month, I had my eye on this Blue Willow antique demitasse set. They called it a "tea pot," but actually it's for coffee or chocolate. Each week, I hoped it would be gone and out of temptation.
The pieces are stamped "Japan," so it was made right after WWII, when the occupied country was in shambles. The Japanese started producing mass export goods to rebuild the economy. "Made in Japan" was once synonymous with "cheap."
Anyway, the Senior Center store probably didn't realize it, but that stamp makes these pieces highly collectible. Yes, I finally succumbed and paid only $30 -- money to a good cause. When I got home, I found an identical set (below) on ebay for $135.
Of course I don't throw hot chocolate, demitasse parties very often. So in the cabinet it goes with all my other pretty, useless stuff. I'm thinking though, wouldn't it be fun to have a fancy lady tea party when Nova and Maya come to visit?
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