F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the feel of the air (Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall). Albert Camus describes beauty in the leaves (Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower) and Jane Austen describes the sentimental atmosphere that envelops September through December (Autumn.. that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness). Isn’t it wonderful how one season can inspire so much?
Over the past couple of weeks, we have been slowly transitioning from August to autumn over in the Vintage Kitchen shop. Excited to celebrate the cool, cozy cooking season ahead, we have been collecting vintage and antique heirlooms for the shop all summer that highlight the beauty of a season spent with food, friends, and festivity.
Above, is just a glimpse of a few fall-themed items that have recently been added to the shop. Below is a sneak peek of more cozy comforts that will be added shortly…
A sneak peek of just some of the new old heirlooms coming to the shop soon.
As summer winds down, and we gear up for our busiest months of the year, we just wanted to send out a quick reminder to let you know that the Vintage Kitchen shop sends out a weekly email highlighting new arrivals, seasonal inspiration, vintage recipes, and ITVK updates.
We send one email a week, and each week it’s a different theme or topic, so if you haven’t signed up yet please head to the shop and click on the weekly update button on the home page here. If you prefer to receive the weekly update via your mobile device, please text +1 (833) 244-2272 and include the keyword: JOIN to be automatically signed up. Mobile updates tend to be delivered faster, so if you are a “hot off the press” kind of reader you might prefer mobile vs. email.
Researching this antique vegetable dish led to uncovering a story about child labor during the Industrial Revolution in Victorian England. Read more about it here.
For those of you who are new to the blog and the shop, you might not know yet how crazy we are for history. Just like the blog posts, a lot of research (hours, days, sometimes weeks) goes into telling the story of each item in the shop, which basically turns each listing into a little mini blog post in and of itself. That means if you are a fan of the longer-form storytelling found here on the blog, then chances are you might enjoy perusing the shop and the weekly email for quick bursts of interesting historical insights as well.
We never want anyone to miss out on all the fun we have around here. We hope you’ll join us for a festive and fascinating time this fall over in the shop.
Hope your last few days of summer are magical ones. Cheers to new beginnings and happy endings.
Just as we are about to turn the corner into November, and ready ourselves to say goodbye to the entire climatic year of 2021, here in the Vintage Kitchen, we are also getting ready to wholeheartedly say hello to something entirely brand new.
If you follow us on social media this may be old info, as we announced our new adventure there yesterday, but I always feel like the blog deserves its own special day and time for such significant sharings. After all, this is where the whole love affair with storytelling began almost ten years ago. Since then, the blog has acted like a diving board launching us into history and the discovery of it from all angles and depths. It’s been habit over the course of the decade to save the best, most interesting stories for the blog, and this one falls right in line. After years of dreaming and planning, it is with complete joy, that I share our biggest (and best!) news yet. The Vintage Kitchen is relocating! Thanks to you and this wonderful vintage community, we have grown by leaps and bounds over the past five years and are now looking forward to expanding into a new (really old!) space that allows for more intricate layers of stories to be told.
Where are we headed? What does it look like? Over the next two months, I can’t wait to share all the details with you as we gleefully embrace this long-awaited and long-anticipated dream.
While we begin this new chapter in the life and times of the Vintage Kitchen, the shop will be taking a small break during November and December but will be back up and running in early 2022. We will truly miss not being a part of the hustle-bustle festivities of the holiday shopping season, but I am happy to say the blog will still be actively posting stories and recipes from history over the course of the next two months – not to mention sneak peeks of our new beginnings. I hope you’ll stop by to read about all things fun and delicious.
In the meantime, cheers to new adventures, to a holiday season that is full of love and life, and to being drunk in the best Baudelaire way…
“One should always be drunk, that’s all that matters… but with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue. You choose. But get drunk. – Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)
And P.S. If anything has caught your eye in the shop, the last day to place holiday orders for 2021 is Tuesday, November 2nd. Happy shopping and thank you so much for helping grow the Vintage Kitchen.
Exciting news fellow kitcheners! Our annual one-day-only shop sale is right around the corner. Mark your calendars for this Saturday, October 16th when everything in the shop will be marked 40% percent off.
This is our only sale of the year, and because of that we make it a BIG one. Traditionally, this sale is held every All Souls’ Day in November, but we have encountered a special situation this year that pushed the date up by a couple of weeks. More on that news front coming soon, but in the meantime, I hope you’ll have fun exploring the shop and finding that one particular treasure (or two!) that speaks to you.
This sale has become a favorite Fall tradition around here, as it marks a festive time for early Christmas shoppers and also for home chefs ready to jump-start their holiday cooking adventures. Whether it’s a casserole dish, a cookbook, a table linen, a garden pot, a plate, or a kitchen companion that carries your imagination away, we hope you find something to fall in love with this Saturday.
The sale runs from 12:00am -11:59pm on October 16th, 2021. Sales prices will be automatically applied at checkout for an easy-breezy shopping experience. New items are being added to the shop all this week, so keep your eyes peeled for favorites.
Happy May! Hope everyone’s new month is off to a lovely start. Around here, all the trees are proudly sporting their leafy greens and the city flowers are unfurling so many colorful shades each day brings a new sight of delight in the neighborhood. These long waited pops of color remind me of Janice in her book, A Paris Year, when she walked around the City of Light scouting out items of a specific color to photograph. Starting out at the onset of each journey, Janice would pick a particular color, say red or yellow or turquoise, and then look for things to photograph that were made up primarily of that hue during her walk. This past weekend, I did the same thing when I walked to the farmers market. Before I started out I decided on the color peach. This is what I saw along the way…
Blooming roses, a bright front door and a sidewalk cat named Lorenzo!
It’s too early for peaches at the market so there were no color-themed fruits to photograph in that department quite yet, but while we wait for summer crops and our next blog post coming out this week (a special Mother’s Day themed story and interview!) I wanted to share, in the meantime, some new changes that are occuring in the Vintage Kitchen, so that you can be kept abreast of all the latest news.
New Products
Most excitedly, the Vintage Kitchen is growing! Over the next few months, we’ll be expanding our vintage product range in the shop to include some newly made yet very classic kitchen essentials all based on historic designs or nostalgic stories that have been personally tried and tested for years. This is in an effort to introduce fun and unique finds to your space that will not only augment your love of the vintage aesthetic, but will also be of very helpful assistence in the kitchen. The first of these new products arrived in the shop this past week…
Introducing the French market bag! Imported from Europe, this is the best way I have found to tote vegetables home from the farmers market.
The bags, made of handwoven palm leaves, are light-weight yet very durable. The long leather straps rest comfortably on your shoulder and the funnel shaped design (wider at the top than it is at the base) allows for longer and more fragile items to be stowed away securely without being crushed or tossed about. No more broken baguettes or decapitated flowers with this beauty!
There are two different styles of the market bag available in the shop. One has long leather shoulder straps (pictured above) and the other has hand-held rolled leather handles (pictured below). Both are convenient for grabbing and going and they are both the same size as far as bag capacity. The preference, of course, is totally up to you, but I recommend the shoulder strap version if you generally tend to walk to your market or live in a more urban environment where you gather your groceries primarily on foot. It’s such a comfortable way to tote your items around town. The hand-held bag…
… I would recommend for shoppers who drive to their market since the bag sits up right on its own and stows away really well in the car. Tucked into the back seat or the trunk it does not topple over easily, and will keep all your market finds secure while you drive home.
In addition to being helpful, these market bags also bring a bit of Parisian style and joie de vivre to your shopping experience. Each bag holds quite a bit of items, so if you get carried away at the market, your bag will be able to handle all your whims. For example all this fits in one bag with plenty of room to spare…
I have used my market bag (the very same one with the long straps) for over 4 years now. It has become so indispensable, it adventures with me on a daily basis. At this point, it feels not only like a bag but also like a true and cherished companion! I can’t say enough wonderful things about it. I hope you will love the bags just as much too. There are limited supplies of each style and they are selling quickly, so if they strike your fancy don’t hesitate. You can find them in the shop here and here.
Email Newsletters
If you would like to be made aware of new items listed in the shop each week, along with special promotions and added seasonal content, then please sign up for our new email newsletter which will be going out once a week (starting next Friday). Unlike many of these blog posts, this newsletter is designed to be a quick read, featuring mainly photographs and a few links to some fun content. In response to many shoppers asking how they can be kept aware of new items coming to the Vintage Kitchen, and after testing out many avenues over the past few weeks, I’m excited to finally have a good solution that will help collectors find what they love quickly. Sign up for the email newsletter by clicking the subscribe now button on the left-hand side of the shop’s home page here. It looks like this…
Sold Items in the Shop
Another improvement for the shop this past week came in the form of relocating sold items to a new category all their own. This transfer, which removed all listings that were sold out from the general inventory of available items, came at the request of a few shoppers who were frustrated in not being able to easily navigate around the site to see what was actually available to purchase. But with many historians and researchers accessing the shop for informational purposes (due to all the history we include with each item’s listing) I didn’t want these sold items to be completely removed from the shop all together. In an effort to make it a pleasant experience for everyone spending time in the shop, I hope this new solution will help. From here on out, see all the sold items in this category (found in the header section) here…
Mother’s Day
I hope you’ll come back to the blog this week to read our upcoming Mother’s day inspired post about a talented seamstress in Minnesota who led a really an interesting and dynamic life. Through an interview with her daughter, who generously shared family photographs, their family linen collection, and many stories about her mom (including a recipe!) we’ll learn how one spirited woman lived a passion fueled life and defied many stereotypes that tend to be attached to women of the mid-20th century.
Until then, of you are looking for any last-minute Mother’s Day gifts, there’s still time left to find something just as unique and treasured as Mom is. From the shop, I recommend these items…
From top left: Vintage 1950s Maurice Urtillo Art Print, Antique 19th Century Steamship Chairs, Embroidered 1950s Pillowcases, Vintage Peacock Wall Pocket Planter, French Market Basket
What makes these particular items so wonderful for mom? All of the mothers in our lives deserve to spoiled on their special day. These carefully selected items will add a little dose of symbolic beauty to her every day, while also presenting her with a unique bit of history. French artist Maurice Utrillo (1883-1955) learned to appreciate the beauty of flowers from his mother, Suzanne Valadon who was also a painter. The his & hers set of antique steamship chairs signifed luxury and comfort aboard cruise liners of the late 1800s. Breakfast in bed never looked prettier in the 1950s than with a pair of embroidered pillowcases, which were often gifted as wedding presents. Peacocks throughout history have been considered the most beautiful bird in the avian kingdom and signifies power, protection and elegance. And finally, the market bag will add chic Parisian style and a little extra joie de vivre to each and every one of her days.
It seems like a bit of a rush to talk about the holidays already. Autumn has just arrived and it’s not even Halloween yet. But time flies faster this last quarter of the year, and I didn’t want it all to blaze by without sharing some fun things that have been brewing in the Vintage Kitchen recently. Especially since they might be of help when it comes to celebrating the holidays this year.
Add to Wishlist
It’s here! It’s here! Your very own Vintage Kitchen wishlist is here! Launched just last month, you’ll notice a heartshaped icon on all product pages in the shop, both in the upper right corner and underneath every specific item’s title on each product page. If clicked, the item will be saved to your own personal wishlist where it will sit until you decide to remove it. Whether you are deciding about a vintage or antique piece for yourself, or you want to share your favorite gift ideas with friends or family, this will keep everything you love all in one organized place.
Shop Sale – November 2
Our BIG shop sale day is just three weeks away! Enjoy 40% off site-wide on Monday, November 2nd during our annual one-day-only All Souls Day sale! This is the only sale in the shop all year, so if you have your eye on something special, November 2nd is the day to capture deep discounts and get a head start on your holiday shopping. Discounts will automatically be applied upon checkout which means no coupon codes are needed. The sale begins at 12:00am, November 2nd and ends at 12:00am, November 3rd. Hope you find something that speaks to your soul or reminds you of a dearly departed loved one from days gone by:)
The Quick Cooking Chronicles
For all the busy cooks out there who are short on time these days, but still long for interesting, home-cooked foods, I’m excited to announce a new series of fast-acting heirloom recipes – The Quick Cooking Chronicles.
Not every fantastic vintage recipe I make in the kitchen actually makes it to the blog. This is a true travesty and something I have been trying to figure out a way to remedy for over a year now. So many marvelous heirloom recipes get left behind just because there is not enough time to research and write about their history in a thoughtful manner.
In an effort to continuously share good food, especially during hectic times, these not-enough-time recipes will now have a new home on the Vintage Kitchen Pinterest board, aptly called The Quick Cooking Chronicles. All the vintage recipes featured here are made with simple ingredients and simple steps. They are heirlooms that have been around for decades and have been sourced from old cookbooks, or passed down from family members, or shared between readers here on the blog. They are the good foods, the new (old) favorites, the time savers, the uncomplicateds. All made with just a handful of everyday ingredients yet arranged in interesting, unexpected ways. Super helpful, they are foods made for days filled full with gift wrapping and snow shoveling and turkey prep and hanging lights and decorating trees and clinking glasses and celebrating life. It’s a continual work-in-progress so check back often here if you are in the search for some quick, good recipes. I hope they will help bring ease to your kitchen and keep you fed and fueled! Here’s an example of such a meal… the recipe that instigated it all…
And finally,
The algorithms have been changing again on Instagram, which means that the Vintage Kitchen content is getting covered over. I have no interest in being a slave to these constantly ever-changing metrics with their unpredictable highs and lows and their peaks and valleys. I just want to bring good stories and good food to you:) The best way to help shed light on vintage kitchen history is to comment and to share posts if you feel so inclined or generally like the content. This will help our community of cooks and readers grow more vibrant each and every day and for that I’m so grateful! There are a couple of VERY EXCITING things in store for the Vintage Kitchen, all which will be unveiled soon. I can’t wait to share the news! In the meantime, cheers to Autumn and to appetites and to schedules that keep us on our toes 🙂
So excited to announce a very merry holiday sale in the shop! From now thru December 25th, enjoy 25% off store-wide. For the first time ever, you don’t need a coupon code as the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. Cheers to uncomplicated shopping!
If you are new to the blog or haven’t visited the shop in awhile, you’ll discover a new batch of vintage and antique treasures that will add a little one of a kind personality to your holiday kitchen this year. Some of my most favorites include these…
A very rare 1930’s carving platter made by Harker Pottery…
An antique 1800’s apothecary bottle that once held herbal remedies from the Aster family of flowers…
A rare antique vegetable cookbook published in 1892 by Burpee Seed Company and written by Sarah Tyson Rorer (1849-1937) of the Philadelphia Cooking School. Sarah was also known as America’s first dietitian…
A 1936 floral kitchen bowl made by Paden City Pottery which was granted the seal of approval by the Good Housekeeping Institute…
A very rare 1920’s era Nippon porcelain Japanese sugar bowl featuring a black dragon pattern that also comes with a photograph and story of the original owner…
A vintage French pottery soup tureen in the prettiest shade of green…
A collection of various 1950’s state souvenir serving trays that add an extra dose of happy to happy hour…
{A little note: The following states are available: Georgia, Maine, Utah, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Oregon, Nebraska, New Mexico, Vermont/New Hampshire and Louisiana. These trays are still being added to the shop so if you are smitten with a particular state but don’t see it listed in the shop, please send a message and I’ll be happy to reserve it for you.}
A 1950 first edition of the one of America’s most iconic and beloved cookbooks – Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook which includes a menagerie of scrapbook-style clipped recipes incorporated within its pages by a previous owner…
A set of four vintage embroidered grape applique linen cocktail napkins…
A beautifully detailed nickel plated vintage brass reindeer that handsomely sets the scene for snowy Christmas mantles, festive holiday tables and shiny holiday decor…
And a stunning antique hot chocolate pot set with matching cups. This set was made between 1911 and 1920…
That was just a little sampling of some of the items you’ll find in the shop. To explore more, please visit here.
Whether you are buying a little treat for yourself or gifting a piece of history to someone else, your package will arrive gift-wrapped in seasonal paper so that it can be removed from the mailing box upon receipt and head straight for a spot underneath the Christmas tree. Hope you find some treasures that make your heart sing with joy.
It’s a very exciting day here in the Vintage Kitchen! We are happy to announce that the kitchen shop is now up and running! As an ever-evolving retail site, with new items added weekly, there will always be interesting things to see whenever you stop by and visit.
We are just getting started on this big adventure, so there is still lots more to add in terms of items and some quirks that still need to be sorted out but it’s really exciting to see this long-term goal come to fruition. We are also super happy to bring you a site full of history and interesting kitchen stories told through the time weathered patina of carefully curated vintage and antique items.
In the shop, you’ll find pieces that have gracefully withstood the test of time, classic beauties that never go out of style and rare, one-of-a-kind pieces that will give your cooking space unique personality. Tackling all the varied elements that make up the complete vintage kitchen you’ll find a wide assortment from cookbooks to cutlery, glasses to gadgets, pots to plates and everything in-between.
Besides a fun shopping experience, there is also a spot to sign up for our seasonal newsletter, a page to connect with us in regards to procurement for those hard to find items or bulk needs and a page to connect with us privately for any questions.
Access to the shop is offered in a few different places here on the blog – by clicking on the ad in the right-hand column, by clicking on the shop tab in the header, or by typing shopinthevintagekitchen.com into your web browser. The same goes for the shop side of things – there’s a blog tab on the storefront that sends you directly back here so you’ll never get lost between these two places!
Now that we have this major design project launched and underway we will be back to our weekly blogging schedule which, from time to time, will feature shop items with especially fascinating stories. Up next is a vintage Summer recipe that serves a crowd up to 18. Hope you are hungry!
Cheers to a wonderful weekend ahead and to new beginnings.
In the Vintage Kitchen: Where History Comes To Eat 