Quirky Collections: Vintage Airline Dishes
What’s Your Quirky Collection?
Do you have a quirky collection? Something just a bit out of the ordinary?
I’ve written about quirky collections in the past. A collection of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head toys, vintage tin globe bank collection, paint by numbers art, and thumb push toy puppets. This time I’m sharing my quirky collection of vintage airline dishes.
Vintage Airline Dishes
Airline memorabilia is popular with collectors and with many airlines of the past no longer operating, and the interest in all things mid-century (Mad Men – TV show) it’s created quite a market. During the mid-century there was a big increase in airline travel. Along with significantly more expensive tickets, airlines offered in-flight amenities such as full course meals, pillows, blankets and hot towels. Fancy!
Airline food was served on little ceramic dishes with small metal cutlery (no plastic or styrofoam in sight). Even coffee and tea were served in ceramic cups with saucers. Most of these airline dishes were embossed with the company logo. Some just stamped the airline name on the bottom.
Simple & Functional
When I first came across these vintage airline dishes at a thrift store I was attracted to their simple functional size and shape. These little vintage airline dishes are also durable – which was probably helpful during bumpy flights. They stack nicely and come in handy for all sorts of uses.
Whenever I find these at thrift stores and flea markets I can’t resist bringing them home. I’ve used them during parties for appetizers and dessert plates.
The small size makes them perfect for small snack dishes. Little kids really seem to enjoy using these instead of big plates.
I’ve found some vintage airline spoons which fit perfectly when using these airline dishes for my tea.
Did I mention how much I love their functionality? These little vintage airline dishes make great soap dishes. You can even wrap one up with hand-made artisanal soaps to give as a small gifts.
Their uses are as wide as your imagination. I’ve even used them to mix paints in and to hold small beads for craft projects. They work great for wrangling small trinkets and jewelry.
If you’d like to find out more about collecting airline memorabilia I’ve included a few sources below. If you want to buy some vintage airline dishes keep checking thrift stores and flea markets as well as Etsy and Ebay. I didn’t pay more than a few dollars for mine, but some plates and cups will go for much more depending on the airline, condition and how rare they are.
Have fun and let me know if you have a quirky collection – I’d love to share it here.
