Rooster collectibles continue to attract collectors of all kinds , especially folks who adore "country farm" accessories. You can be sure that if you are a dealer and have rooster figurines or patterned items in your shop....if they are priced right...they will be scooped up very quickly. You will find rooster objects or designs associated with kitchenwares, vintage advertising, glassware, egg cartons, textiles, figurines and more.
Did you ever wonder why so many people today continue the tradition of decorating their kitchens and dining areas with rooster designs? In my book, "H
ot Kitchen and Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s, I included a small section on this topic. My theory is that many women today secretly wish for a return of the days when life was simpler. Yes country life was very difficult, but manageable because family members lived on the farm and everyone pitched in with chores. If you wanted to eat or have clothes, you needed to do your job!There were not the typical distractions of today such as cell phones, computers, televisions, iPods, blogs etc. Women (and men) were not disrupted with modern conveniences. Leisure time was spent quilting, sewing and mending practical items need for home life. Evenings were generally a time for family members to gather around the fire together, unlike the habits of modern families who tend to disperse to individual rooms. Or go out to dinner and be more interested in texting friends than talking with each other.
My sense is that by bringing symbols of country life back into today's home, collectors are trying to bring back the good ole days, when life in many ways was less complex. Families were accustomed to feeding chickens, gathering eggs, milking cows, churning butter, and enjoying the fruits of their labor. Women did not have to stand in front of the dairy counter and figure out which brand of butter or margarine or substitute product to choose from.Ii can say the same thing for bread.
Please return me to the days when I looked for the colorful packaging of "Wonder bread" and I was done with that aisle. Now I literally spend 10-15 minutes trying to figure out if I want thin slices, with calcium, low sodium, multi-grain, whole wheat, sandwich size, wheat free and on and on. I JUST WANT BREAD! And the same goes for milk, eggs, juice. It takes so long to go grocery shopping now.
So to me, the desire to have roosters hanging on one's walls, or to keep sugar in cute rooster canisters or to drink from glasses with rooster designs are all efforts to return to the country farm days when life may have been physically hard but actually quite less complicated.
C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link:
C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff
Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com
Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com
Dianne is a member of:
The American Society of Journalists and Authors
The Authors Guild, Inc.
There's something irresistible about Roosters and Hens for the kitchen. You'll see them throughout my kitchen, even though I've vowed to move to a more modern motiff.
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