Retro Saturday

I have always loved 'old things' ever since I was a kid. Be it people, movies, or artifacts from the past, I have an interest and desire to learn more about things with a little history.


I remember as a young teenager being in 'Gus' Grill', the local diner, and ordering a coffee just for the thrill of appearing to 'look older than I was'. In all likely-hood the coffee would come in a mug, usually a white one but sometimes green. And they were heavy, thick mugs too, much like this one:

These are the classic 40's and 50's 'Fire King' coffee mugs made by the Anchor Hocking Glass Company that were everywhere at the time and even given away as incentives in 'rolled oats'  boxes. So when I started to 'collect' in the early 90's, I began to see these again at flea markets, auctions and shops. I have collected a few and will share them with you.

As you can see these are not mugs but are included in my wall display because they are from the same period and colour....besides not everyone drank coffee! These are 'Jadite' Fire King  oven ware tea cups. 

These are not even coffee mugs or tea cups but a creamer and sugar from roughly the same time  and I do not know what glass company made them. I loved the colour and they look great with the others along the wall under the high cupboard in the kitchen.

As you can see this has a sort of 'ray' design and no name. All I do know is that it is what they call a 'fired-on' colour....to distinguish it from the translucent items.

These Jadite mugs are much thinner ones than the first one above. They were made by Fire King and were popularized by Martha Stewart in the mid 90's which caused a 'rush' on them....much like what is happening to old Pyrex bowls today. Last year I did a blog on more of the Jadite I have,check it out here.

Both the creamer and the mug above are Fire King and are called Delphite and sometimes Chalaine Blue.

Here's two more Fire King mugs, the one on the left is Fired-on yellow and the other was sold as a 'blank' to a design company called 'Gay Fad' who painted the fruit motif on it.

I have noticed that some mugs from this period have the usual 'ridged' bottoms and some, like the two above, have a very flat bottom. I am not sure why they were produced this way but have heard that the 'flat' ones are harder to find. They 'feel' a little heavier than the regular ones....more stable maybe.

See how flat the bottoms are?

The last one in this line-up.......a 'fired-on' creamer.
So next time you see any of these old coffee mugs and they are for sale at a very reasonable price, why not buy it, take it home and enjoy a nice cup of your favourite hot beverage. I swear it always tastes better in these mugs!
Have a great weekend all!


PPS.......As requested by 'Chitown girl' here are a couple pics of them all in a row.