The Dishes

We'd only been married a few months when we discovered The Dishes. Joe was an E3 Navy man and I was hoping to get a civil service position. We were struggling to make our $65/month rent and on a waiting list for base housing ($47/month including utilities). 

When we'd made the plans for our small wedding, I was urged to choose a china pattern. So I did. It was plain white and people gave it to us for wedding presents. We had "everyday" dishes, too, so when Joe found the picture of The Dishes, even if we could have afforded them, we had no reason to buy them. But we both fell in love with them.

Over 56+ years, we've been through several sets of daily dishes and eventually my sister helped us to acquire a beautiful set of Mikasa, our "good china" that I've promised to leave to Caroline in my will.

Last spring, when we were visiting a small town in Belgium, I saw some lovely organic-looking dishes in a shop. I took photos of them, and when we came home, Google helped me find them and also helped me to know that if we lived in Europe it would be no problem to acquire them, but since we live in the U.S. . . . .

A month or so ago, when I noticed that some of our current everyday dishes were chipped and that there were 5 of some things and 6 of others instead of 8, I started thinking about replacing them. I don't know what led me to remember those gorgeous Dansk dishes from 1968, but having nothing to do one afternoon, I looked around eBay and there they were. In abundance. Including one offer of several six-piece place settings. The seller was in northern New Jersey in a town where Joe had done work, and the sale was "buyer pick up only." When we got to her home, June offered us fresh cranberry bread and coffee. During our emails to arrange the transaction, I told her how long ago we'd discovered the dishes and she told me she'd just been taking care of them for me for the past fifty-six years.

Sherry and her family are coming for Christmas dinner tomorrow and the Mikasa is safe in the china closet. I thought this was the right day for The Dishes to make their public debut.