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They don't make things like they used to, and it's a good thing - for the collectibles market!
Remember wood rolling pins with green painted handles? Or pairs of little corncob holders made of red Bakelite? And who could ever forget those sets of Ekco cooking utensils with the bright pink plastic handles?
Apparently, no matter how utilitarian or how kitschy a vintage kitchen utensil may be, there is someone out there who'd like to add it to his collection, or use it in her retro kitchen. And since most people don't appreciate just how collectible kitchen utensils are, they can be had for very little at most yard and estate sales. (I myself have found a number of items for 25 or 50 cents each.)
Of course, not every item is as valuable as the $200 "yellow ware rolling pin" or the $300 "banana ice cream scoop" (recent online auction prices), but many garner respectable bids of from $10 to $100 each. (That pink-handled Ekco set mentioned earlier sold for $85.)
Condition, as usual, plays a major role in determining value. Is the metal clean and mostly free of rust or corrosion? Is the wood or plastic cracked or scratched? Is any paint badly worn or chipped? If there are moving parts, does it work? And it gets even better if the item has its original packaging, especially if there are a lot of nice graphics.
Don't know the age of your piece? Check to see whether it bears a US patent number. It won't tell you the date of manufacture, but by checking the Patent Office website (see below) you can determine the earliest date it may have been made. For example, a food mill/ricer with patent number 2153321 could not have been manufactured prior to 1939. It is also possible to view actual patents by conducting a search on the same website.
Some collectors buy whatever looks interesting, but the field is so vast that most specialize. Green and red handled tools are always popular, as are cookie cutters, trivets, ice cream scoops, flour sifters, openers, and eggbeaters. Other collectors concentrate on manufacturers like Ekco, Foley, or Gilchrist, or magazine ads, booklets, and/or packaging. And, of course, there are always the collectors of Bakelite.
If you'd like to learn more about kitchen collectibles, the following resources are recommended:
Books
"Atomic Kitchen: Gadgets and Inventions for Yesterday's Cook," by Brian Alexander
http://digbig.com/4gegp
"Bakelite in the Kitchen," by Barbara Mauzy
http://digbig.com/4gdke
"The Complete Book of Kitchen Collecting," by Barbara Mauzy
http://digbig.com/4gdkf
"The Eggbeater Chronicles," by Don Thornton
http://digbig.com/4gdkh
"Kitchen Collectibles: An Identification Guide," by Kenneth L. Cope
http://digbig.com/4gdkj
"Spiffy Kitchen Collectibles," by Brian S. Alexander
http://digbig.com/4gdkk
Websites
Icescreamers.com
http://www.icescreamers.com/Collectibles.html
Collectors club (founded in 1982) website devoted to ice cream and soda fountain history and collectibles. Links, news, more
United States Patent and Trademark Office
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/issuyear.htm
"Table of Issue Years and Patent Numbers, for Selected Document Types Issued Since 1836"
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