Corning Ware’s wheat pattern dates back to the 1960s, and is the subject of much speculation among collectors. Evidently it was originally intended to be one of the first Corning Ware patterns, but was supplanted by blue cornflower for whatever reason, and then released later on. The details are a little fuzzy. In any case, I was excited to find one in a thrift store recently, as I’d never seen the pattern in real life.
There was just one problem: I was thrifting while visiting family out of state, and anything I bought would have to make it home by airplane. I could wrap it in dirty laundry and lug it in my carry-on, or even ship it to myself, but that all seemed like too much trouble. I convinced myself that taking a picture would be enough, and moved on.
Fast-forward a couple days: Back at home, I was reorganizing my Corning Ware cabinet and discovered the very same wheat dish on the shelf. I thought to myself, “Good thing I didn’t buy that dish in Washington, because I owned it already and must have forgotten!” I told my husband about it and he laughed — typical me, my brain is a sieve these days and I’ve been known to experience thrifting amnesia.
Then I told the same funny story to my uncle, who had been in the thrift store with me back in Washington. “That’s funny indeed,” he said, because he had gone back to the store, bought the dish, and colluded with my husband to sneak it home for me. They were wondering how long it would take me to notice it. At first I didn’t believe him — he’s a known BS artist — but after calling my husband to confirm, I had a good laugh. It’s been a long time since I’ve been truly surprised by something, and this surprise was a pretty good one.
The whole experience made me feel so loved — people going out of their way to do something special for me — and that’s something I will forever associate with this dish.
Thrifted Kitchen 