Plates

Above is the photo of the collectible plate Grandpa gave me and Kelli. Obviously I didn’t have to look this one up on the google pictures or search it on e-bay because Kelli had hers and I just photographed it.

But it got me thinking about plates. I’m not one of those collect plates and hang them on the wall people. And really I don’t have anything that I collect passionately (except as I just noticed old stuff from my family and Terry’s family!)

But I like plates. I’m drawn to strange shapes like square plates for dessert plates and rectangular platters instead of oblong ones.

And if I find a collectible plate that I like I’ll buy it and use if as a plate. I have three in my sidebar right now that have the little hook holder thing on the back. One is a big black and white one from Wuerzberg, another is from some city I’ve never been to near Prague, and the last is a tiny blue plate with a bird on them. All were purchased second hand. And it makes me wonder (for the first time) –did they once hang on someone’s wall? Were they part of a collection – a city plate collection, a bird plate collection? Were they searched out? Ordered by catalogue? Purchased with monthly payments?

Another risk of remembering is more remembering. I didn’t originally remember this on the list but I had another plate in that storage unit. It was one I never hung up. It was just tucked away with our wedding stuff.

Terry and I were married in the tiny town of Warrenton, Oregon. We picked the church because it was on the coast and available on the date we wanted to get married. It turned out the day we were married the church was celebrating a big anniversary – 150 years or something and they were selling commemorative plates. So we paid around $17.00 for a plate with a picture of the church we were married in and our wedding date on it. So cool.

Now I wonder… did that that plate get sold somewhere secondhand? Is someone using it as a serving dish?