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If you are looking to see how much your melmac is worth, read this post. MOBILE USERS: Scroll down below posts to find a searchable directory of plastics and antiques.

Contact / Content Policy

Melmac Sample Chips from RetroChalet
Rare Melmac Sample Chips in my collection 

About This Blog & Content Policy 

Dear Readers, 

I did not realize when I started by blog Melmac Central  in December 2010 as a need to write about something I love while my mom was then battling cancer, She won her battle but died under mysterious circumstances in what should be known as one of the best hospitals on the East Coast.  The stress of it all kept me writing.

I wrote as a resource to share my love for plastics and share that with you.  I did not realize 
it would grow so rapidly and have over a million visitors to the site in just a decade.  I am so glad the readers use it as a resource and I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way, but I've actually considered removing my site altogether from the web, simply due to the fact I get inundated with a lot of reader emails asking what their melmac is worth sometimes hundreds in a month, of which clogs up my work email box , this was never my intent to run a melmac identification service or be an appraiser, but simply share a love for what I love to you.  

Besides, Melmac is subjective based on condition, style, who is collecting and when, and much like any style of fashion things ebb and flow.  RESEARCHING took me years and that's the supposed to be the fun part of researching what you have.  Here is an article to help you :   What is My Melmac Worth?

Cindy Fahnestock Schafer Texasware
Rare photo of me and mom, using our Texas Ware bowls circa 1978.


My Love for Plastics Started With Pink Dishes and a Group of Guys

I started collecting plastics when I was 18 not of choice but of necessity.  A pink dish here, a pink dish there, but why the pinks didn't they match, I wondered. Over time thrifting and decorating my first apartment on a shoestring budget made me fall in love with the fab 1950's dishes.  Assembling a collection, I networked with other local collectors such as Dennis Teepe which used to have the best resource for Branchell online and a great fifties basement full of vintage fifties palstic toys when he lived in Baltimore.  I met the late Derek Schultz  who then lived near DC who fell in love with Boonton and we networked over the plastics, his notes now somewhere in Syracuse. Then I started talking to the West Coast guys, there was the late Robin T Ptacek, who had storage units full, in Palm Springs, and was studying lines in hopes to write a book, now his notes are in Syracuse.  Alas, there is still Christopher who runs Plastic Living another great informational site! 

In the early days I went on to study plastics in general.  I visited Syracuse and studied the Russel Wright archives and assembled quite a large collection all the while joining an exclusive melmac group of plastic junkies.  It was fun, but now I do not collect it anymore.  

Content Policy 

The content is all my own, I choose what I like and write about it. I cite my sources and encourage you to share my blog and it's photos to social media. If you are writing your own article do not copy my text, thoughts or ideas without proper crediting me and LINKING to my site.  

Here is the links to use: 
https://RetroChalet.blogspot.com 

which is also http://MelmacCentral.com 

Of course, it's better to use the blogger as it's a secure site.  It took a lot of blood, sweat, time and tears to do this research.

Quality Content

If you have something to add to the content or I've made an error, my site shows dead links or photos, please let me know. Over time people's website disappear and the sources I've cited are gobbled up by the 404 error pages, and I hate that. 

Please report all broken links to me at RetroChalet@icloud.com so I can clean them up email or text 4109089241 and let me know what article you're reading.

Earnings Disclaimer


Rare times I will honor advertising or linking into my blog, either on the sidebar in the form of an avatar, or within the article itself, wherein if you click on these ads and or links I may receive some form of financial compensation for it or for having advertised the store or shop. I also advertise my own items from my  RetroChalet etsy shop (a girl has to eat right?) in case you'll find something you love :)

If you are interested in Advertising with me, you can contact me below.


Expertise:  

Although I consider myself an avid Researcher, it has been a happy accident. Pursuing what you love leads you to become a learning collector.  I did a lot of research work on Russel Wright plastics, in hopes to write a book, which has not ever materialized due to lack of time. 

I have taken part in exhibiting at the  San Francisco Airport Museum  featured in the Russel Wright Exhibit March-October 2009. 
 
I was interviewed by the Newark-Arcadia Historical Society in regards to my research on Home Decorators, and featured in the Newark Courier Gazette (NY). 

Then I was featured in Wisconsin, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter interviewed extensively by Marge Miley, one of my favorite reporters who has since passed. (Archived.) 

Here's a great article on Melmac I wrote for all to read: 


HobbyLark: Collecting-Melmac-Dinnerware-Vintage-Fun

Some of my Russel Wright collection was photographed in a book by  Russel Wright Studios.

 

I also sell some of my melmac in my shop RetroChalet.


I have been an Etsy seller since 2007 and was interviewed and featured in the book "Etsy-Preneurship" .
Etsy Preneurship
You can find this book here on Etsy.



Thank You For Reading my site. 
Shop my Etsy at RetroChalet


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Connect with me on TikTok, Instagram, I have removed some contact information due to spam. Thank you. 


last updated 2.24.22



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