tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5148048131502110089.post5730682473476828183..comments2024-02-08T03:37:01.136-06:00Comments on Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout: Getting Dishes the Old School Way—With StampsPatrick Murfinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05191688376908660270noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5148048131502110089.post-82753325021796343342013-12-14T11:31:32.680-06:002013-12-14T11:31:32.680-06:00I remember my mom doing the same. She was born int...I remember my mom doing the same. She was born into one of the richest families in Toronto, in a home that housed her brother and parents, while being kept up by a full time staff of ten. My grandparents were chauffeur driven in a Packard limousine, with two interchangeable bodies, for summer and winter. My mom spoke of the times she and my uncle would play in the coach house with the body not currently in use. Their next door neighbors were the Eaton's on one side and the Governor General of Ontario on the other side. This came to an end with the depression. The family business suffered huge losses and my grandfather was also heavily vested in the stock market. My mother never completely learned to live a middle class lifestyle. She did learn how to stretch a dollar, and we had our share of pots, pans, tableware and other items, purchased with those good old S&H Green Stamps. Sadly, my mom also never learned to cook as a child. Somewhere, she got a recipe for fried chicken. She cooked it, usually with disastrous results, in a Club aluminum Dutch oven that she had purchased at a forerunner of the flea market, in Grayslake. She would also cook beef kidneys in that pan. For years after leaving home, I could not eat chicken. <br /><br />My mom found her indulgence, in a big way, at Chicago's Merchandise Mart. She would find closeouts of expensive furniture; artistic pieces that she would buy on time payments. She grew a collection of fancy ash trays in ash similar fashion. Meanwhile, once back in the city, I learned about the Maxwell Street market, from my friend's dad. My first two wheeled bicycle was built out of parts purchased in the stalls of the market. It had two different sized wheels but I didn't care.<br /><br />Today, the old market is gone, but I love to shop at thrift stores. And no, I did not get the Dutch oven. I'm not sure where it ended up. I did get three Le Crueset saucepans, but those got pitched by my estranged wife early in our marriage. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13848177413008661353noreply@blogger.com