🚀 go-pugleaf

For those who are willing to pay someone else to do their thrift-store
and garage-sale shopping, or to do the networking that turns up estate
collections, there are a few dish and pottery dealers who can be great
sources of rare depression-era (and earlier) wares.

You're not going to turn up a piece of vintage Bauer or Fiesta for
50-cents, and you're not going to experience the thrill of striking a
vein of Tepco commercial plates buried underneath some 70s Correlware
in the back of the bottom shelf of a Salvation Army (the one that you
said to yourself at nearly 5 o'clock, "Okay, one more and then home").

But neither are you going to spend an entire day looking at nothing but
ugly, cheap 70s pottery and worse.  You won't have to contend with some
long sought-after piece, the one that's been on your want-list for
*years*, the one that's right there in your hands... with a gigantic
chip in it.

It's a trade-off.  The prices are high, and the "sport" of collecting
is, well, different.  It's still collecting, but it loses the
prospecting aspect.  Personally I like to use both strategies -- comb
the thrifts and junk shops when I'm in the mood, and hunt through the
dealers' stocks when I'm not.

Which brings me to local pottery dealers.  The one I'd previously been
familiar with, Naomi's, has a great stock, but I've found the prices to
usually be beyond what I'm willing to pay for working china.  That is,
I could afford it, but I wouldn't have the nerve to actually use it.
As for Naomi himself, well, you'll just have to visit and experience
that for yourself.  On my first visit I made the mistake of asking if
he carried any Fiestaware, and was rewarded with a cranky lecture about
Homer Laughlin's recently renewed production of Fiesta, and blah blah
blah.  I wanted to ask why he didn't carry those pieces that H-L wasn't
reproducing (e.g., the tumblers), but never got a chance.  Oddly, on my
last visit to Naomi's, I noticed he was carry some repro Western-motif
china.  A bit, uh, *ironic*.

So, with several bad experiences behind me, I found a new place to
shop: Dishes Delmar.  D-D is run by Burt Tessler, in the lower
apartment of the house in which he lives in San Francisco.  The
Examiner did a nice piece on this shop in the November 30th edition.
To recap: Tessler and Jim Wentworth began collecting depression-era
pottery for their own use, and eventually found themselves in the
vintage dinnerware  business.

Where Naomi's has a cramped, overstocked feel, Dishes Delmar has the
bulk of its stock shelved in two rooms, nicely lit and available for
closer inspection.  Various smaller rooms (the bathroom, the furnace
room, the closet) house extra bits and pieces, and Tessler is forever
walking you from room to room to show you this or that.

And Tessler, really, is a lot of the reason this store is such a fun
shop.  Here's a warning: don't visit if you're in a hurry.  Well, okay,
we did see a few people dash in for pre-arranged packages (some of
which had been gift wrapped for them!), but mostly this is a place to
schmooze.  Tessler is obviously more a collector than he is a
marketeer, and he enjoys taking the time to talk about the pieces he
has for sale, the pieces he's had for sale in the past, the pieces that
his customers are looking for, or whatever else may come up in
conversation.

The stock features an excellent selection of Homer Laughlin's Fiesta
and Harlequin china, as well as several other full lines.  And even
better, Tessler stocks both vintage and new Fiesta.  The sense of
appreciation of the *pottery*, not its collectibility, is great.
There's no stigma attached to wanting Fiestaware for *use*, rather than
for collecting.

Besides the pottery, there is a smattering of related items: kitchen
utensils, "Dishes Delmar" dish towels (really nice quality and only
3/$10), glass dishes and cups, and so on.  The focus is kept strongly
on the dinnerware, but other things creep in.

The prices at Dishes Delmar aren't a bargain (except for the bargain
closet, where pieces with miniscule chips or hairline cracks are
reduced and priced to move.  The full-priced pieces are *immaculate*,
and if you want the dishes, and don't want to spend the time combing
the countryside to find 'em, the prices are fair.

Dishes Delmar is open by appointment only - though an appointment can
often be made on a moment's notice.  For information, telephone: (415)
558-8882.  Dishes Delmar also has a mail order service, and they keep a
computerized database of its customers' needs.  For Fiestaware
collectors, they'll also give you a free checklist.  Collect all the
pieces in all the colors!
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"I interpret the First Amendment as outdated, archaic, and ignored."
                                               -Michael John Falkner