How Sweet It Is!

Ah, that illustrious line from the late Jackie Gleason...and so relevant to my latest thrift store adventure.  I was "cruising" my local outlet looking for more little bargains to re-sell on eBay when I was stunned by an item I found hidden in a sea of glassware.  As it happened, a few months ago I was doing something at my kitchen counter where I keep a group of circa 1970s glass canisters that I use for the usual storage purposes - flour, sugar, coffee, tea, etc.  I had purchased these Scandinavian-inspired canisters - sleek clear glass with cork tops and wooden spoons - new.  It was the 1970s and I think they were among the first items I ever purchased deliberately for my own home.  Prior to then, much of what I had used was inherited from the great aunts whose charming 1940s Cape Cod style house I had purchased and occupied as my first home as an adult.  Trendy as mid-century modern might be now,  the 1970s was the era of new, post-mid-century modernism and clean lines, simple, elegant design, and lots of clear glass and whites accented with bold solid colors were all the rage - think Marimekko from Finland, Kosta Boda from Sweden, Dansk - with a lot of natural elements - pottery, big green houseplants, etc. - you get the idea.  Well, I admired these simple glass canisters with their natural cork tops and wooden spoons at a local higher-end gift shop and eventually purchased them.  (I don't recall now what their cost was, but they were pricey even then, so I suspect I waited until they went on sale!)

Back to standing by my kitchen counter a few months ago - I don't recall exactly what I was doing, probably fumbling around to make coffee one morning and - whoops! - the glass sugar bowl slipped from my grip and broke into several pieces on the floor.  Dang!  This nice bowl, with its cork top and wooden spoon matched my canisters.  In fact, it wasn't necessarily intended as a sugar bowl - it looked more like a jam jar, with its straight sides - but it was the right size so I've used it for sugar for several years after I broke the bowl I originally used that was a small replica of the canisters' traditional milk can shape.

Knowing the canisters' provenance, the bowl was now a "vintage" item, so I wondered whether I could find an exact replacement.  I checked the listings on eBay just in case.  There were some similar pieces, but they weren't quite the same as these canisters or my bowl, so they just weren't right.  Not finding anything that pleased me, I resorted temporarily to putting a few cups of sugar in a clear plastic container just for convenience, while keeping the rest of the sugar supply in the larger glass canister for storage, as usual.

As I wandered about my thrift store the other day, I was looking for a small, clear glass votive candle holder for a ceramic candle lamp I purchased recently that lacked a votive candle when - whoa! - there it was...a small glass container with straight sides and a loop for the spoon that was literally identical to the one I had broken!  There was no cork top and no wooden spoon, but no matter, I still had those, and the price was maybe $1.99.  Ecstatic at my incredible luck, I quickly plucked the glass bowl from the myriad wine glasses, vases and crystal bowls that surrounded it and placed it safely in the basket of my shopping cart. 

Who would have guessed I'd ever find that particular bowl in my own neighborhood, at my favorite thrift shop?  How sweet it was...and is, yet again.

Merry Christmas to all!