The Tale of 2 Teacups....

Our story begins one Friday morning not too long ago...Last Friday to be precise...When I entered the thrift store with the intention of dropping off my eldest daughter who does volunteer work there and donating a pillow cover that was the match to one I had donated the week before but had been in hiding...Leaving my older daughter to watch Lil Sara in the kitchen wares while I popped the cover into the office to be re-united with it's mate...

On my return to kitchen wares I happen to glace at the cup rack and my eye was immediately draw to 2 cute little blue and white teacups.. Alas, what a shame they did not have matching saucers.

Images of having a lovely tea party with these cups nested in their matching saucers danced through my head...Then I reminded myself I was NOT buying anything today and gathered up my toddler and turned to my left to leave....and that is when it happened...


Not just the matching saucers but the ENTIRE dinner set (though only 4 teacups instead of 8) was sitting on the shelf calling my name...I turned to my daughter and asked her if she thought they would let me make an offer since I was sure the price tag they had on it was over my budget...but was too scared to look and see....Quickly I spoke to the manager and made her an offer of $20 for the entire set...she even more quickly agreed and sent the girls to fetch a box to pack it up for me...At the register the other manager rang up my naughty guilty pleasure and then gave me my daughter's discount as well...SO now I have the entire set for just $15...

What a lovely table I will be able to lay for our Thanksgiving dinner and one more thing to be thankful for...

Now it was not until I reached home that I took the time to look for a stamp...Remember I simply purchased it because I loved the pattern.

Interesting, even though they are the same size plates these 2 have different stamps on them...as do the other pieces...then some also have no stamp...Curious...I am a novice at this so anyone that can shed any light as to why this is so I would be very grateful.

This seems to be the most common stamp on the set

Then this one

This stamp is only on one piece and is super blurry in person...it is not just my bad photography this time lol.

I later found out they were glad to finally sell the set, as it had been tucked away on the shelf for months...Thank you to the person that moved those cups for me to see them...

What little research I did have time to do revealed that the set is Homer Laughlin and the pattern is called Sturbridge or also known as Blue Onion and it is a discontinued pattern from the 1980's...A quick glance at restore.com told me that I paid about 10% of what the actual value of the dishes are...So I think I am going to chalk this up as my best Thrift Store find EVER.

Little tip for those of you living in the Chiefland FL area, check out the Hospice Thrift Store next to Winn Dixie...You just never know what you might find.

Kelsie

PS: Today (Monday) when I took Daughter to work 2 more cups and 3 cereal bowls had come to light at the store...Bless the manager, she would not allow me to pay for them since they should have been with the other pieces when I purchased them and besides the bowls had chips in them...She is so sweet.

I will be joining the following tea parties on Tuesday to celebrate.

Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations - Tea Time Tuesday

Lady Katherine Tea Parlor - Tea Time Tuesday

Wander Lee and Pam's - Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

and party Co-hosts:

Martha's Favorites - Tea Cup Tuesday
&
Terri, Artful Afirmations - Tea Cup Tuesday

And lastly

Marty, A Stroll Thru Life - Table Top Tuesday