Even though I have lived in both Virginia and Texas much of my life, I never took to sweet tea. However, I will always take an Arnold Palmer as long as it is not artificially sweetened. We, too, had gas station and detergent box glasses and steak knives. My dad was shipmates with “Mr. S&H Green Stamps” in WWII, and they were lifelong friends. I used those stamps to buy a fishing rod.
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A law school classmate of mine used to augment her iced tea with a big spoonful of frozen orange juice concentrate. It was delicious.
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I think my parents’ glasses from Shell were an amber color. They’re long gone, but I can almost feel them.
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My 3 stainless steel skillets I acquired in the 2010s have been AllClad. I love them.
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I think that was the other color choice.
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Sort of like the choice at the time of privacy glass colors for door relights.
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I have one of these old mirror finished sunbeam toasters that I got from a similar place at a similar price and I’m fact it has a similar problem.
My wife won’t use it because it scorches the bread no matter how low you set the dial. Any ideas how to fix it?
I do love the sheath in the cord, although it makes me nervous that it might be some sort of a fire risk. The sunbeam toaster has a similar cord.
I just found the waffle iron recently and tried it out once but the waffles stuck to the aluminum grates badly. Anyone have any advice? Maybe season them?
I really wanted a thin crispy square waffle, as our usual waffles are made with a modern Belgian waffle iron with non stick surface. This and the rice cooker bowl are the only non stick items left in our kitchen.
I will season the grates.
I may look for a similar model with removable grates though. I think I had one a few years ago but sold it, foolishly.
Is the batter recipe the same?
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This guy linked below is someone here recommended to me in another thread (it might have been your thrifting thread). Specific to bread getting over-done even at lightest setting, he (only very briefly) mentions a way to adjust the control mechanism.
But it’s going to be model dependent - this one has the slider, which I think is a bit newer than the dial-adjuster types (and the adjustment mechanism is where the dial was on the older versions).
But it may still give you a starting point. The whole video is worth watching because he shows how he handled wiring in a couple of different models, but I’ve timestamped this link to his discussion about adjusting the controller.
This is another one talking about adjusting the heat control. But again, I think it’s going to be model specific, so if you can figure out your model (T-20, T-30, T-whatever) searching on a model basis might be more fruitful.
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I used my standard recipe (a cup of flour, @n egg, a cup of milk, 3/4 tsp. of baking powder, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of salt, two or three heaping teaspoons of turbinado sugar, a handful of crumbled pecans, and a tbsp. of oil or melted butter). I brushed the hot grates the first time I used (and thereafter) with bacon fat, no sticking. The grates are removable, but so far I have not seen fit to remove them.
Hot pan, cold fat, the way to go.
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Note: The old Corningware with the blue cornflower on the side is unsuitable for microwaving. It gets blazing hot.
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I just (finally) remembered the brand of my waffle iron. It is a NIB 1953 Landers Frary & Clark. Prior to buying the waffle iron, I had never heard of them. Too bad. It is a simple and solid item.
I have recently read some interesting things about people seeking out vintage clothing because it is better. Better is usually a hard assertion to define or defend, but in the case of clothing it is pretty easy. About 92 million tons of clothing goes into landfills in a year. About 60% of new clothing content is plastic. This is a significant source of microplastics pollution. Older clothing made of natural materials will at least biodegrade. Older appliances and kitchen items have had plastic in them for years, but it seems that the use of plastics has largely replaced metal for housings. Buying old may reduce the plastic going into landfills. I wonder.
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I’ve been there for awhile. Vintage hats (6X Stetsons ain’t what they used to be), Woolrich and Filson shirts and coats, especially wool, and cotton lawn aloha shirts. Russell Pro-Weight 100% heavy cotton tees and sweats. NOS gunleather by real saddlers with calluses. They’re all better than what’s available new today. Some articles come close, but you’d spend more on one garment than a whole lot.
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My family was in the business. The quality of materials and fabrication just doesn’t exist these days. I look for vintage stuff - online; I don’t shop. I know what I’m looking for and then I look for it.
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I buy some contemporary dresses made by local designers who sometimes use vintage fabric.
Around 70 percent of the clothing I’ve bought over the past 3 years has been made in Canada. I wait until the Italian-made stuff goes on sale. I don’t buy vintage mostly because
it is really hard to find vintage clothing that fits a current size 12-14 body (which would have been considered a size 16 or 18 30 years ago). Also, it’s hard to find vintage clothing that looks nice on apple-shaped bodies.
I buy clothing that lasts, then eventually consign it, donate it to a shelter, or use it for rags/future quilts.
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A fine menswear (and some womenswear) shop in NYC - and some other locations- called Paul Stuart, only sells clothing under their own label. I have items from decades ago - “made in Canada” so thumbs up. Italy, too. And France.
If only I hadn’t experienced a moth invasion a few years ago when I was sidelined by major surgery I’d still have everything.
My dad showed me how to check for good tailoring …. It’s not surprising (at least to me) that womenswear lags way behind menswear at almost every price point.
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Paul Stuart was always a place I admired tremendously. They had tons of style but did not have an au courant or high fashion look. So I looked them up. Sadly they are not priced for my ZIP code. 
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