Plum Crazy for Vintage Pressed Glass Relish Dishes

Maybe because it is winter, but I have found a new love.  Vintage Press Glass Relish Dishes.  I have always loved glass.  It must run in the family (my brother is a stained glass artist and my house is filled with his work).  Or perhaps because when photographed by sometimes look like snowflakes when you look at them under a microscope. 

I like the feel of the different shapes and sizes, bumps and crevices.  Best of all, I like the memories they evoke from holidays past.  Looking at these dishes reminds me of the whole nuts (walnuts, almonds and the deep mahogany brazil nuts) that were always available (along with the nut cracker) in these dishes on end tables as people sat in various family members living rooms catching up.  Or the various assortment of olives (always from jars, and always green with pimento or black) on one side, and perhaps some pickles (gherkins, bread and butter, maybe dill) on the other.  Then the dishes filled with various hard candies always available at my grandmother’s house. 

As a kid, I never really appreciated the shapes and sizes that say so much about when they were made.  Some, such as this square dish, just screams l920s or l930s.  Others just say l940s or l950s.  Either way, they say warm memories of family holidays to me.