Nostalgia is a powerful thing—and nowhere is that more true than with our own families and the familiar places they inhabit. At Grandma’s house, memories of home-cooked meals and favorite recipes might sit right alongside colorful tablecloths and pretty plate racks, or perhaps thoughts of helping with chores have you pining for her more analog tools. Either way, the objects that made up daily life in decades past have a way of sticking with us. Take a walk down memory lane with these eight old-fashioned antiques that will take you straight back to Grandma’s house.
Egg Beaters
Before electric mixers became a kitchen mainstay in the mid-1960s, these small-but-mighty tools, often referred to as egg beaters and featuring colorful wood or plastic handles, made it easier to beat eggs, blend dough, and whip cream. Look for brand names like Maynard and Flint, and for some extra-special pink, green, and orange handles, search for devices made with Bakelite.
Plate Racks
Before built-in cabinetry and open shelving, homeowners looked to simple storage pieces to keep prized plates off kitchen countertops, yet close at hand. Enter: the unassuming plate rack. A hanging pine rack with a primitive slot-and-dowel construction was most popular with home cooks in the countrysides of Europe and Colonial America. These pieces also sometimes featured hooks and shelves to show off a small collection of teatime finery.
Transistor Radios
In 1954, music was made mobile with the invention of the portable radio. Early examples like the Regency TR-1 (not pictured)—the world’s first pocket radio—can sell to the tune of $1,000. Later versions like the late ’60s pocket-size player made by Omegas (red, bottom center) go for around $50 if still in working order. Pro tip: When it comes to transistor radios from the ’50s and early ’60s, hues like orange-red and powder blue really strike a chord with collectors!
Decorative Tablecloths
The postwar prosperity of the 1950s and ’60s sent homemakers on an entertaining spending spree. Decorative tablecloths became so coveted that companies constantly churned out new styles. Today, collectors seek out pieces from American brands such as Wilendur, Simtex, and Startex. Fruit and floral designs, often underlaid with graphic patterns influenced by midcentury modern aesthetics, run $25 to $75, while rarer barbecue and lobster motifs command as much as $300 apiece!
Pie Safes
These artful pre-refrigeration food-storage options did serious double duty as both pie protectors and decorative furniture pieces. They were likely introduced to American households by German immigrants (namely the Pennsylvania Dutch) and popularized between 1840 and 1870 in the Eastern and Southeastern parts of the U.S., especially throughout the Shenandoah Valley. Known for their primitive style and tin door panels punched with geometric or floral patterns for maximum ventilation, many safes were made locally and therefore remain unmarked. Despite a lack of brand-name antique cred, they can be worth thousands of dollars—think $1,000 to $2,000 for smaller tabletop versions or upwards of $6,000 for larger pieces in good condition.
Porcelier Sconces
In 1927, the Porcelier Manufacturing Company was founded in East Liverpool, Ohio (they relocated to Pennsylvania three years later) as a maker of all types of porcelain household items, from electric toasters to teapots. As bath and kitchen lighting fixtures became popular in the 1930s, Porcelier joined the trend with their petite 6- to 7-inch-tall porcelain sconces that came primarily in white but also in an assortment of colors and hand-painted floral motifs, as shown here. The Porcelier lines were sold through major department stores such as Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Montgomery Ward. Today, they can be worth up to $450 for a pair.
Coal Hods & Scuttles
From intricate carved wood to industrial galvanized metal, these coal storage containers tried their best to add beauty to what could easily be a 1900s household eyesore: piles of dusty black coal. The terms are essentially interchangeable, but hods are box-like (bottom right), while scuttles typically refer to open-topped, brass or metal, bucket-like containers (bottom left). Brass versions often feature ceramic handles and other molded details and go for $25 to $100 depending on size, while large wooden hods can cost $300 each.
Laundry Sprinkler Bottles
Before the widespread adoption of the steam iron in the 1940s and ’50s, sprinkler bottles were used to lightly wet garments and release wrinkles ahead of being pressed. Measuring up to nine inches tall and available in a variety of styles, ceramic versions were capped with a porous metal topper for even water distribution, while “wetter downers” (such as the Dutch woman, bottom left) featured a single large hole to provide more ample coverage for larger cloths. Because of their regular use, sprinklers in mint condition can be rarer finds and typically fetch between $40 and $80 apiece.
Laurren Welch, Natalie Schumann, Jennifer Kopf, and Anna Logan contributed to this article.
