Collecting Vintage Graniteware

Hi.

I love to have a little of the country look in my home, especially in my kitchen.  If you like the country look, you can go all out or just use touches of country antiques to add some color and that homey touch.  Collecting graniteware or enamelware is a great way to add some color to your kitchen or your home, since it comes in a variety of colors.

A Brief History of Graniteware

Immigrants from Europe brought enameled kitchen items to the United States toward the end of the 19th century including their methods for producing enamelware.  American enameled items came to be known as graniteware,   Graniteware was made in this country up until the 1940's.  During the 1970's, newer graniteware pieces were again produced, but these pieces are typically lighter in weight and don't look quite the same as the early pieces do.  Many vintage graniteware pieces have chips from daily use, which I believe gives them more character than the newer pieces.

Collecting Graniteware

With a variety of kitchen and household items made in graniteware, in many different colors and patterns, it is very easy to start a collection of graniteware.  While some pieces that are rather scarce can be expensive, there are many affordable pieces still available at flea markets and antique centers.

My favorite color is blue and I collect graniteware pieces in blue to hang in my kitchen.  This pie plate hangs over the entrance from the kitchen to the dining room.

This kichen pan, in a different shade of blue, hangs on one wall of my kitchen.

Showing graniteware or any other antique items in groups of an odd number can be very visually appealing.

Graniteware mugs are great for hanging on pegs or using outdoors in the summer, since they are unbreakable.

I picked up this small bowl on a recent flea market adventure.  It is in great condition and my favorite shade of blue.

My mother handed down several gray graniteware items that were handed down to her, including a pitcher, a pan, and two lunch boxes.  I use the lunch boxes for storage and have the other items on a shelf in my dining room.

This summer, my sister brought me a planter made from a large gray graniteware pot, that had been rusting out on the bottom.  This was not a great collectible pot, but holes in the bottom are great for plant water drainage.  I still have it on my porch and will bring it in for the winter.

Please comment to let me and other readers know if you collect graniteware and what your fave color is!

Sincerely,

Lynn