Advertisement But some of today’s hottest culinary collectibles — especially for those with less space (and cash) — lean to whimsy and nostalgia, such as red-handled egg beaters, polka-dotted mixing bowls and cutting boards shaped like pigs and rabbits.
“Either (buyers) grew up with the items or they grew up with mothers who had them. They have fond memories of the kitchen and they want to recapture that,” said Kyle Husfloen, editor of the Antique Trader Kitchen Collectibles Price Guide.
If you’re thinking about adding a few antique accents to your own kitchen or expanding an existing collection of old-time foodie gadgets, here are some tips on where to shop, what to get and how much to pay.
Look next door
Start with where. As ubiquitous as eBay has become, it’s not the first place antique experts send kitchen collectors, especially those just starting out. The neighbor’s yard sale is a better bet for bargains.
A highly collectable Fire King Jadeite bowl might sell for a dollar at a yard sale if someone’s only goal is to clean out grandma’s house. But the same bowl would likely fetch $40 at an online site targeted at collectors.
“You can get unbelievable stuff at a Salvation Army,” said Terry Kovel, who with her husband Ralph is at work on the 40th edition of “Kovel’s Antiques and Collectibles Price List.” “To them a mixing bowl is just a mixing bowl.”
Instead of shopping, use the Internet for research, said Kathryn Precourt, contributing editor for antiques at Country Home magazine. “Use it to educate yourself,” she said. “See what items are going for.”
Utility before beauty
When considering what to buy, consider utility as much as appearance. Many of today’s younger collectors, especially those on a budget, expect their finds to be useful, even if not for the intended purpose.
“We don’t want to buy something and just throw it in a drawer,” Precourt said. “A piece has to work twice as hard.”
So, retro pot holders not only look nice hung on the wall, but also can be called into duty for a hot baking sheet. Same for collections of animal-shaped cutting boards. And tiny nutmeg grates can be perched atop votive candles to cast pretty shadows.
Precourt says that two-for-one thinking is why today’s hot items are different from what previous generations collected. Egg cups are out because so are soft-boiled eggs. Egg beaters, however, are in. Vintage coffee grinders are out. Vintage pots are in.
Likewise, the Kovels say interest is high in food molds, citrus reamers, toasters, mixing bowls and glass refrigerator boxes.
But irony is good, too
Irony can be as appealing as functionality. Kitchen linens and advertisements have long been popular, but collectors now are looking mostly for those with decidedly outdated patterns or messages.
“Like a woman standing in her ‘modern’ kitchen with an ad from the 30s for an ice box,” Precourt said. “They are hysterical.”
Those bold colors and graphics appeal to today’s collectors for several reasons. They are younger, so their sense of what’s “old fashioned” is more modern, said Fritz Karch, collecting editorial director for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
Plus, he says, a colorful, fun piece can really pop against the monochromatic color schemes of today’s kitchens.
Even better: low cost
While what’s being collected today is easy to determine, experts say what’s being spent on collecting isn’t.
Many items trade hands at yard sales, flea markets or between collectors. “It’s an underground industry,” Kovel said. Pricing variations across the country add to the challenge.
The good news is that the items people seem to love at the moment don’t have to cost a fortune. Plates, bowls, linens and kitchen utensils with painted handles all can be found for $10 or less.
“Most of us don’t buy it as an investment,” said Shirley Juul, president of KOOKS, Kollectors of Old Kitchen Stuff, a group dedicated to culinary collectibles. “We buy it because we love it. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
For sisters Sheila and Marilynn Brass of Boston, who own nearly 2,000 molds, 2,500 other kitchen items and 6,500 vintage cookbooks, nostalgia plays a big role in their collection.
They featured their antiques in their first book, “Heirloom Baking,” and will do the same in the next, “Heirloom Cooking.” They don’t like to say how much they’ve paid for their highest-end items, but insist they don’t value their collection in dollars.
“A lot of kitchenware does not have a lot of tangible value,” Marilyn Brass said. “It’s memories. We have our grandmother’s blue enamel pot that she rendered chicken fat in. It’s not worth much, but it’s precious to us.”
Final advice
Before you hit the antiques trail, consider a few words of caution. If you want a true vintage piece, watch out for reproductions. Look for cracks and chips. If you shop online, deal with reputable sellers.
And be prepared to become obsessed.
“There is something you should know about collecting,” Juul said. “It’s a disease.”
She and her husband have more than 300 food choppers hanging on a wall in their home. They’ve spent from $3 to $600 on individual pieces, but so far have resisted a real beauty they’ve been eyeing for $3,000. (It has a hand-carved ivory handle.)
“You’ll say, ‘How the heck did I get here,’” Juul said. “You’ll swear off buying anything else. And then you go and see something, and you’re hooked again.”
