Hong Kong Toys Vintage Plastic Fantastic and Identification Tips

VINTAGE HONG KONG TOYS: FUN FOR ALL THE GIRLS AND BOYS

Grok and I agree, this would be my toy factory.

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These are a good example off a quick production run of 17 Jewel kid's toy novelty Hong Kong Watches. The imprint of "HONG KONG" can be seen on the back. They are flexible bendable plastic sloppily done but to a ten-year-old in the1970's, stunningly beautiful.  You can see if you look close, some uncut plastic parts, as they were molded hastily and not really quality checked for perfection. For Sale at RetroChalet.etsy.com

Not many people today might actually realize that Hong Kong produced so many wee plastic novelty items and charms.  Everything now is made in China. but it's important to note, and if I could give them a title, I would crown Hong Kong "The Original Kings of Trinkets and Charms". 

Things Made:

• Gumball Machine Prizes
• Charms of all Kinds
• Barbie and Fashion Doll Accessories from tiny suitcases to doll combs
• Toy Cars and Trucks, Planes and Trains, Boats and Ships
• Plastic Whistles 
• Gag Gifts, bugs, etc.
• Little Plastic Toy Puzzles 
• Little Army, Military, Police Figures
• Small Miniature Pinball Machines
• Plastic Animals
• Pencil Erasers and Pencil Toppers
• Carnival Prizes and Novelties
• Play Make Up Sets 
• Dress Up Accessories and Jewelry (like the watches above)
• Play Food Sets 
• Halloween Decorations
• Christmas Decorations
• Valentine's Day 
• Knock-Off Character Toys

The three wise men were in a package and came with the tag Made in British Hong Kong.  It is rare to find the original tags like this.  This is a hard plastic.  For sale at RetroChalet.

The list goes on and on.  In the 1960s Japan was making a lot of tin toys, which transitioned into Hong Kong's plastic of the late 1960's and early 1970's. Hong Kong, at that time, were under British rule which continued up until 1997.  Most of their novelty toys stopped coming into the US by the mid to late 1980's when China started producing. I wonder what happened to all the toy factories. Where are they now?

As a kid growing up in the 1970's into the early 1980's, I was living the dream of buying the cute little trinkets with my allowance. A dime bought me some really nifty retro things! I grew up on a small street called Dale Avenue in Baltimore County, Maryland.  My elementary school was right next door to my home, and my mom enjoyed making me often walk to the top of the street to the market with my friend Kelli (older, and more like a chaperone to me back then) to get her something by foot. For me it seemed like a long way, but in reality, it was two blocks or so and I had to do two steps to Kelli's one. 

The coffee set, above, is an example of the marking on the package.  Adorable little trinkets. The picture and item are from LongAndDrew on Etsy.  A real bargain today for $14.95 for the vintage plastics collector.

In between Jack's Market and my home, used to be a tiny candy and toy shop. run by a very lucrative couple who lived there. I'm pretty sure you've seen this type of set up, where there's a two-story house and the bottom is a business window and entrance. It was not by chance or by accident that the owners soon realized to put this set up to good use. All of the neighborhood kids who went to school there would be walking around the neighborhood and word quickly spread that they had the goods we wanted. 

An Example of the doll accessories, in RetroChalet.  Note the "mold lines" and excess plastic on some of the bottles, sloppy glue, discoloration, etc. 

I always made Kelli stop so I could go in and she hated it. She wasn't a candy or plastic girl, so I had to make selections quick. I remember trying to collect all the toy car erasers they had. When they heard the bell on the door, (I can still remember the jingle just like it was yesterday), the couple would come down from upstairs to wait on us. They had ice cream, sodas, candy (from Pop Rocks to wax cigarettes), 1980's rock band buttons, trading cards, baseball cards, school supplies, chips, popcorn, and a crap ton of Hong Kong novelty toys.  It seemed like such a huge store back then, but in reality, it was the size of a large living room cramped by the drink coolers and freezers that lined the walls on the right side, and massive toy shelves on the left. They had a counter and a push button cash register.  

I probably should blame them for my early love of all things plastic, and I probably was considered a valued customer. For just five to ten cents, I cleaned up on junk. They knew, when my allowance came, I would be back. I was going to buy them out of their Hong Kong toys.  So they kept getting fresh stock.  They had the whole neighborhood hooked. 

Now some of the things were just going to break over time like kites, or little plastic whistles.  However, the small "bugs" and "spiders" lasted the stomping on when you scared your friends.  Good for multiple uses, so I figured it was a good investment in some of the items.

These are the bugs I was telling you about. Source: My Pinterest, was in my shop.

Here's a few things you can really notice about Hong Kong toys when identifying them: 

• MOLDING LINES PROMINENT - Anything plastic from Hong Kong, has really prominent molding lines.  They must have made them fast, and cheap, and rightly so as back then they didn't cost very much. The five and dimes needed stock and needed it quick, as did corner stores, toy stores, and the carnival booths. Every time something new came out, the trinkets and novelty items from Hong Kong would come pouring in. 
• NOT SPOT ON, LOOKALIKE - Items that look very much like a character, but something is off.  Most every carnival prize was a really cute Hong Kong Toy. One of the ones I can specifically remember was a "knock off" Snoopy.  It was actually a Lucite plastic. I've found one on Etsy and am listing their pictures here.  Many times, the character didn't look exact or quite right, and you could tell it was a knockoff.  This was in the time before iPhone and WWW so no kid at a carnival was going to call the Snoopy people and complain about such a thing as a knockoff toy (the nose was too long, etc.)  I really don't think that the Hong Kong toy companies did this on purpose, I just think some of them were very bad artists. 
• OFF CENTER, AWKWARD - Even the words "HONG KONG" when stamped in the back can look awkward or out of alignment. The faces on the 17 Jewel watches above are a bit off center.  Toys will look funny or awkward (as if they had to meet a million-toy deadline by the morning so they just let the machine do its own thing.).  I bet that exactly what happened. 
• HARD PLASTIC, OR SOMEWHAT PLIABLE, ONE EXTREME OR THE OTHER - I can distinctly remember two types of toys. The first being hard plastic, like a lot of the small dolls, whistles, little figurines were more of a hard plastic, toy pellet guns, etc., much like this Nativity Set below. Today when you find them, they have a very hard feel and almost as if you are scared to drop it and it will crack them.  The other end of the spectrum was very soft pliable toys. If you have ever seen a "record player" made for Barbie dolls, it is a small plastic record player and has little plastic records.  Many times, the record is hard plastic that which we are speaking of, but the player is bendable, and on the underside, you can read HONG KONG. More pliable items included toy car erasers, and pencil toppers, plastic insects and slightly bendable items.
• HONG KONG will be embossed on most things with usually raised lettering or indented, and sometimes even the words "HONG KONG" are all out of whack. Not perfectly straight, or printed offset.  If you don't see any marks, then there would have been original labeling on the packaging or box, such as the small tag insert letting you know it was made in British Hong Kong such as the nativity set above.

This picture demonstrates how characters resemble but look "off".  This Snoopy knockoff is from 20thCenturyStuff on Etsy, and currenly little Snoopy is for sale there.

These little boats are awkward, they open but what did they hold? Made in Hong Kong. Find them at RetroChalet.etsy.com

Now NOT ONLY were they manufacturing, but they were working for other companies. For instance, TYCO had moved production to Hong Kong in the 1970's and they were producing toys for them.  If you are interested in seeing a few more tidbits:  

Here is a great article I found showing dolls inside a Hong Kong factory:  HERE.

Here is another good two-minute read showing the inside faces of a TYCO toy Lab HERE.

Thanks for reading about vintage plastic.

I really appreciate you!

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This article was last updated on December 29 2025

Vintage Blow Molds Venture Plastics and Falcon Plastics

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Blow Mold Easter Eggs by the General Foam Plastics Company in Norfolk, Virginia

For Sale at RetroChalet

Don't  Put All Your Eggs in One Basket!

What if I told you to picture a vintage blow mold, would you comment below the very first idea that popped into your mind. I'm going to wager that it would either be something vintage Christmas (maybe Santa or a giant candle) or Halloween (maybe a black cat or a witch.)  Maybe even something marked Empire plastics, or something other than the two companies I'm talking about today.  Hard to find are the really well-made thick blow molds pre-2000's by companies who made them. Today's yard art and garden decor has taken on a whole new lighter plastic and sometimes the eggs blow clear across the lawn.  I understand and support the whole "eco friendly" movement, but still, it's not fun at all to chase them all the time.

Pic: RetroChalet

I'm pretty certain that the Easter Egg was not the first thing on your mind.  However, easily overlooked and underthought as a glorious blow mold. It's hard to imagine that the garden decor and vintage yard art "big eggs" of decades ago were made so well. 

These examples, are indeed, blow molded. So. let's dig deeper. These eggs above came from a late 1980's estate and are marked General Foam Plastics Company, Norfolk, Virginia, yet they are not actually foam at all. They are hard plastic with distinct molding lines.  Heavy for an egg if you will. The small ones are about 8" long and the large ones about 12" long. The company is still in business and has been producing fantastic plastic and blow molds since 1957!  The good news about these decorations is they will implant and stay put in your yard.  Easy to clean and durable, they have lasted almost 40 years now. 

My personal favorite: this big egg with the 3-D Bunny from Venture Plastics. For sale in RetroChalet Etsy shop.

Now these smaller eggs look exactly like the egg molds used in Norfolk, but they are marked Grand Venture (circa 1998) and are actually a line from Falcon Plastics of Washington, Pennsylvania. The larger eggs definitely stand out versus their competitors, as they have a bunny on the egg!  Falcon made a crap ton of holiday blow molds however this "division" of the company was short-lived lasting only ten years. Well, technically speaking--there is some confusion as to this matter. 

There is , I'm happy to report, still at the time of this writing, a Falcon Plastics on Wylie Avenue in Washington, PA, which I'm assuming is the main central hub for the six or so molding factories they still do own across the nation, (and their website at the time of this writing boast they have been in business since 1975).  The words "blow molding" can also be found on their sites. 

That leave two theories.  First, according to the website "Blow-Molded" these particular style holiday molds seem to have disappeared after 2005.  This could mean the company is correct, but the actual molds of the holiday lines were sold or parted off to another plastics manufacturer who at least, acquired some of the molds.  The second theory is that it's an altogether different company with the same name in the same town, who was around the same time, yet, I don't believe in such coincidences, do you?

The one thing that's great to see on the Blow-Molded site is the fact they have digitized the actual blow molded catalogs from this company and the one above of Christmas, Halloween, and of course the Easter Egg molds as for the nifty eggs above. I'll link these great eggs below for you to visit their site and relish in the glory of the blow molds!

This acquisition style information is not that unusual.  Often times due to the market growth and either demand or lack thereof for said plastics, it wasn't uncommon for one manufacturer to merge or acquire another. This holds true with molding machinery dies and presses and the molds. The molds must have been the diamond in the rough.  If someone was facing financial crisis, the most economically sound thing to do was to call a competitor to sell out what you could.  In this case, I assume maybe it was no longer profitable for the Grand Venture line of Falcon Plastics to continue, so it may have used some decision making. 

What's interesting is to think if the company was only around ten years, how many eggs marked Grand Venture are still in existence in people's attics or basements?  Does your grandma have these on her lawn? If so snatch one up and look at the markings!

The backstamp of the Grand Venture line of blow molds. Source: RetroChalet , Etsy

How many have ended up in landfills?  Too many, probably, to count. That's why I'm offing my eggs to someone who can appreciate them. 

So, tell me, what fond memories of blow molds do you hold? Do you have any in your home or decor now? What is your favorite all time blow mold? 

Further Reading: 

 You can see them on Blow-Molded.com here.

Happy Collecting!

Cindy

Editor and Owner of Melmac Central

Plasco Plastic Art Corporation Toys, Play Plastic Tea Set, Welcome to 1940

The front of a box, or an advertising signs, with colorful graphics for sale at RetroChalet. 

In the 1940's. the PlasCo name was synonymous with great toy kits for kids.  Little girls could obtain a plastic tea set or dinnerware set just like Mommy's china ones!  They can still sometimes be found in the original boxes which were colorful lithographic designs of the 40s and 50s.  Often lithographed with bright vibrant colors, these sets were just lovely for collection and display. Some had matching forks, knives, and even napkins!  Not all pieces were properly marked but once you familiarize yourself with a few mint in box sets, then you can surely recognize it. 

Inside of the tea set box, from Geraldine's Toys, this set for sale on Ebay. 

Surely a must have for the little girls of the 1940's, who would spend hours playing tea with dolls and bears.  They even made a lot of dollhouse furniture, I am unsure if each piece was marked properly, so some may be hard to tell, but it is out there, and you can search for it. 

A Plasco Dollhouse furniture backstamp courtesy of GamGlamVintage on Etsy.

Buy this at GamGlamVintage on Etsy!

For boys there were western sets, farm animals, toy soldiers and more.  Most of the information that I have found about this company comes from the Toy Soldier HQ, which you can peruse here:    TOY SOLDIER HQ INC <P> REL PLASTICS TOY SOLDIERS AND FIGURES FOR SALE (angelfire.com)   who has a great history on PlasCo and many little boy toys for your perusal, a quite comprehensive list.  This will be helpful next time you are out thrifting or estate sale junking, you will know what to look for.  

The Name, So Confusing!

In fact, the name PlasCo wasn't really the name of the company per se.  It was the Plastic Art Corporation, a subsidiary of REL plastics molding that was created just for the manufacturing of a toy division.  So the name PlasCo was somehow obtained from the Plastic Art Corporation (how, I do not know because they left the Art word out completely, just sayin'.) 

The company thrived in the hey dey making towns for twenty solid years from the 40's to the 60's but later things slowed down and according to Toy Soldier HQ, they were defunct in the 1980's.  

A tea set in the original box is still appealing to plastics collectors who collect tea sets, plastic dishes, melamine dinnerware, or doll and bear themed collections. Mint condition can go from $30-$80 depending on piece count, style and rarity.  Many of the soldier and military collectibles are still popular among male collectors today, and are cute and detailed for small plastic toys. 

How cool it must have been to have toy set like this to play with your dolls and bears in a time before technology of today existed. Life was so simple then. 

Thanks for reading. Support my blog by perusing my shop:  RETROCHALET

Stetson Marcrest Melmac Plastic Dinnerware

This set, for sale has all the pieces from Etsy seller EddyEtcetera

In the 1940's every housewife wanted a new China dinnerware set, for her family or for entertaining, ceramic was pricey and often kept in the corner china closet for special dinners.  By the 1950's, melmac was the rage.  At first, companies selling plastic had to do some hefty marketing to compete with china, can you imagine the fact that their claim to fame was that it was "unbreakable" or would be replaced if broken or stained (coming from the person who worked at Meladur, she was in the replacement division, and had so many coffee cups weekly that were stained by coffee to replace.)  

Now, keep in mind melmac wasn't exactly cheaper than china dinnerware in a fancy department store, in fact, some lines were downright pricey at the time and would be on display at Macy's or Hecht's and a set for four or six would be just as costly as a high end ceramic set. Some housewives had to save for weeks just to afford a set of dinnerware.  

I have to give kudos to the marketing alliance that would make plastic dishes as expensive as ceramic, and make the housewives want them.  This however wasn't so easy on the china dinnerware manufacturers. It was direct competition to them and at first there was a whole ceramic dinnerware manufacturer alliance that plotted and planned on how to boycott the melmac and reinforce the fact their dishes were better. 

Note the tabbed sugar bowl in the Marcrest line is almost identical to the Stetson line. 

This set from Baxters Collectibles on Etsy.

By the mid to late 1960's the smart manufacturers like Stetson decided to have melmac dinnerware molded for them (by a plastics molder) and add their name to it. It was an appendage of their regular lines, so in fact if you opened a department store catalog, you would see their ceramic dinnerware plus their plastic lines too.   Smart companies like Oneida, Stetson, Russel Wright's designs, will be found both in ceramic and melamine.  Others simply refused to jump on the plastic bandwagon, and this was their loss of profits in my opinion.  At first in the 1980's when I was collecting plastic, most dinnerware collectors scoffed at collecting the plastic lines, because they thought they were junk in comparison to ceramic.  However, over time, it was realized that even the designers who designed the plastic lines put great effort into making them.  From the details and designs on the dishes to the box, marketing and promotional material. 

Stetson stems from it's owners Louis B. Stetson who started the china company in 1919 and was located in Lincoln Illinois.  It was a family business and his nephew worked there too.   It is said that early production included other companies "blanks" along the way, and an article on Worthpoint indicates Stetson manufactured both melmac dinneware and pottery dinnerware.  Now, no discredit to the author but I am unsure if this was true.  If Stetson manufactured their own plastic line (they would have had to have a moulding facility just for plastics)  in their factory, but perhaps they were like many companies who contracted another moulding company to do so . Either way, the history on it is minimal and one day I will delve through my plastics encyclopedias's and debunk this one way of the other, but today I do not have the time. 

History indicates that Marcrest products would buy them out, and this makes a lot of sense because later examples of Stetson melmac and Marcrest Melmac look similar in design.  Marcrest had a great marketing mindset, and would sell a lot of melmac premiums from grocery stores to magazine mail order and relatively affordable at that.   You can see the similarities in the covered tabbed sugar bowls and the funky S design divided round serving bowls. 

Even after Stetson was "out of business" Marcrest continued the solicitations and selling of the Stetson melmac products.  By 1963 the classic 1950's patterns were reworked into a new "Contour Line" which was super cool and hard this day to find.  Melmac collectors may scoff at the 1960's wheat and brown leafy designs but what's truly exquisite is the shape of the coffee cups.  They look like something out of the Jetson's. I personally call them cat eye cups. How fun it would be to have a set of just the cups and saucers in a 1950's kitchen! 

I have several sets of Marcrest and Stetson tucked away.  I always thought they were the perfect weight and design.  The 1950's pink Stetson sets will hold the most value if you are collecting them.  Everyone loves 1950's pink, and if you decided to collect only Marcrest or Stetson, you would be surprised just how many designs there are, many will remain unidentified unless you are lucky enough to search old magazines and find their official names. 

Collecting is fun, and keeps the items out of the landfill and at use in the home. 

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Hong Kong's Spinning Tops Gumball Machine Plastics Fantastic Era of Love

Rare color variants in spinning tops toys from Hong Kong find them at RetroChalet

I think my favorite vintage plastics are the tiny toy sized miniature creations that stemmed out of Hong Kong.  Most of these novelty gifts were just being phased out when I was growing up in the 70's. Hong Kong was big into making toys for the USA in the 60s and 70s, but by the 80's production shifted to China and seemingly, never turned back.  According to this article by Alisa Chau, she claims that Hong Kong was the largest toy exporter of the 70's. That must be true, because I remember seeing so many of these type toys growing up. 

Much like you see some of the manual gumball machines today, these things were everywhere. My parents could not go into a store, restaurant or mall without me seeing the brightly colored vintage gumball machines.  There were usually rows of them, the higher priced (25 cents) in the back and the cheapie ones in the front for only 5 cents or 10 cents.  The ones in the back usually had those plastic football helmets with peelable stickers on them.  For being a quarter, they were very detailed, stickers well-made and fun for you to put together. 

The toys were colorful and the size of acorns. I thought they were molded well. RetroChalet

I however, liked to spend my money wisely, and I could obtain five 5 cents gumball machine toys for the price of that one helmet.  So, I had a bunch of little novelty items come out.  Sometimes it was a pencil eraser, a mini plastic car, or a small replica of King Kong, (or sometimes I just wanted the Spree candies) however once in awhile I got lucky with a great quality molded plastic toy much like these, a plastic spinning top. 

I thought I did quite well for a quarter back in the day... Find them at RetroChalet on sale now.

Most , if you looked closely enough, had the tiny words "HONG KONG" printed on them.   For the rest of you who were not even a thought when I was growing up, I hope you can see the cuteness that I see in these toys.  They were molded quite well for "el cheapo" toys and some have even lasted all this time. 

I would imagine some will still be floating around much after the kids of my era are long gone. Plastic is fantastic, and less and less of it will be in existence one day.  It's nice to think of the story of the item rather than just collecting it.  What are your favorite toy memories? 

This post sponsored by Vikings in Maine, and Living a Vintage Life Podcast. 

Steri-Lite Plastic STERILITE COMPANY Connections to Tupperware

Sterilite Box with full picnic set For sale at RetroChalet

The Sterilite Corporation

Kudos to Sterilite who is one of the few plastic factories who has withstood the test of time.  The Sterilite Corporation is still in business and started in 1939.  You may or may not realize originally the company started in partnership with Earl Tupper.  (One of the creators of Tupperware.) Imagine that!  All good things come from plastic.   According to the website at the time of today's post, I took this little snippet, . " Sterilite is the largest plastic houseware manufacturing company in North America with seven plants totaling over 12 million square feet'  

I'm glad as a small bbq business owner myself, that a family business has lasted so long. You may not even realize when you are walking through the Wallyworld just how many products they make.  From pull out plastic cabinets to totes and bins,(of which I'm looking at some now that hold my Etsy stock),  their presence in our daily lives is prominent.  For vintage collectors, you may find pieces marked Sterli-Lite or Sterilite.  For the sake of this post, I'm only talking about the picnic sets. They weren't made of melmac, but most likely a Polystyrene plastic.

Inside of an Original Sterilite Picnic Set  at RetroChalet

The picnic sets were quite popular in the 40's and 50's and are a hit with people who had campers. For the working families of the 1950's, having a travel trailer would be the ultimate family vacation.  Picnics were also a huge thing, whether it be in a park for the day or not, these sets were very popular.  Grandparents also enjoyed them, due to the fact they were light weight and pretty and easy to deal with making a quick snack for the grandkids. 

In collecting, some of Sterilite Picnic Sets you will find:  (often unmarked)  Steri-Lite 

1.  RARE TO FIND:  Actual Wicker Wooden Baskets full of Sterilite Picnic Sets - with dishes strapped in and places for plastic sterilite utensils.  Finding a set with all pieces and still mint is rare, but it happens.  I assume utensils would have been easier to break or lose. 

2. RARE TO FIND:  Boxed sets like mine, often called Picnic Sets , rare but out there.  Especially in primary or pastel colors will be most collectible. 

This item sold at LSVintageDesign but shows the snakpak, more common and what I often find in the thrift stores. Note the original silverware will be hardest to find.  The box is a rare gem.

STILL COMMON:  SNAK PAKS -(ABOVE) These pieces are more common and popular, and easy to find.  Often these were four rounded picnic plates with indents in the center to hold the cup.  A big hit with moms with kids.   Finding the original box is not as common and considered rare. I have not seen one in years. 

UNCOMMON:  The picnic sets still sealed in plastic bag sets.  Most often I think these were found in the dime stores of the 1970's and maybe into the 1980's, they came in a bag with graphics.  If you are lucky enough to find one unopened, that's impressive.  Often they were opened, and used, and floating around in flea markets. 

Other manufacturers of simliar vintage picnic sets: 

INGRID - Big for their party balls. 

TUCKER - Often looks much like Sterilite

JERYWIL - Often rectangular 

REGALINE - Simliar to the SnakPaks

This STERILITE set from HipFindsCo, is most likely a 70's-80's set, shaped much like INGRID party balls. This a prime examle of Sterilite staying on top their game!

Back to my set, the funky bright colors make this set a rare find and a real gem. You can see how the original set was packaged by the manufacturer, carefully thought out. In this original box, there is a premade slot for display and actually thin kraft like paper in between the pieces.  This would have displayed nicely in a retail store. 

Rare original stickers say this can withstand scalding water! Pic: RetroChalet

The rarest of rare, is the original stickers still on these little cups.  It says they can withstand scalding water but does say to avoid ovens and any surfaces with open flames.  As you know, tea was quite popular as was coffee back in those days and one of the problems in melmac collecting is often the unsightly coffee stains.  Additionally, when I looked closely at the yellow plate in my set, I could see swirling which is a super cool part of the molding process. 

This set is a rare find in the original box. I picked it up years ago at an antique mall in Pennsylvania. The dealer had cleaned out an old hardware store, and I assume these would have been sold in the picnic or camper section. It stood in a dusty attic of the store for years, and thanks to the strength of the plastic, it withstood the test of time.  I hate to part with it, but I'm making a huge move cleaning out some of my precious plastics. 

It's currently offered for $125.00 and free shipping but to my readers you can use code RETRO10 at checkout to take 10% off.  Find it here:  RetroChalet.etsy.com

Do you own any Sterilite? Let me know!

If you like this post, Read about INGRID's party balls here. 

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Vintage Garden Plastic Flowers Mettlesome Means Ivory Snow

Vintage plastic flowers on Etsy : Glory in the Cabinet has a small bunch for $29.72 note the stems.

Let's talk flowers!  All vintage plastic is fantastic!  Lately I have been happening across these really funky vintage plastic flowers at estate sales and yard sales.  Often stored in the attic or basement, it's hard to find them in good shape.   Today I'm going to tell you how to notice them and tell you some really cool history!  

Over time, many did not survive.  I've picked up some only to have the petals fall off in my hand. Over time they may have become brittle. Others, have been so dirty (no doubt from years of storage in dingy basements or hot dusty attics) that I passed them by, thinking the cleaning would make them fall apart.

Mettlesome Means on Etsy has this great vintage cornucopia. 

Imagine your plastic flowers in there. BOOM.

This post is inspired by Mettlesome Means Etsy shop.  They focus on super cool garden and home decor. Many planters, flower frogs and vases can be found in their home to mix and match with your plastic fantastic.   

Molded plastic flowers were primarily sold from the 50s to present, and often bought for decorations in the home, garden, or to put on graves. I can spot the vintage ones really well thanks to the following traits. Often people confuse the newly made molded plastic flowers with the vintage, but here's some hints on how to spot the difference. 

1. The vintage molded flowers will feel more brittle and look way more fake than today's creations.  The new plastic components give them more flexibility and some plastic flowers of today look just like the real deal.  This is not true of the vintage ones.  Often times when you find them at estate or flea markets they may be so brittle that the petals may fall off in your hand. This is due to the earlier plastics mixture used and storage in hot areas, you may also see discoloration in the petals, which is caked up dust from years of storage. 

2. The flowers may appear thicker in design that the ones you see today.  The petals will be thicker and often "chunky".

The Flamingo Meadow has these candle rings on Etsy.  These are most likely 70s-80s

3. Candle ring style flowers have an easy tell.  I group them into the 50's-60's or the 70's-80's era.  The flowers with either look a) completely fake and gaudy (70's-80's)  or b) have a more simplistic, gappy design (50's-60's).  For instance, a vintage candle ring which is to adorn a long sleek taper candle from the 50's will have unsightly gaps in the flowers or spots where you simply seen the green ring and not flowers, as if some were missing or the designer thought a candle ring would look good this way but in fact it looks cheesy.   They were made in my opinion not as detailed, more simplified, and have gaps in their designs. Fast forward to the 70's and 80's they became less gappy and gaudier, flowers flowers everywhere!  Totally more unrealistic.  Although lots of pinks and baby blues, they were cute in their own right, but mainly the middle or the flowers above, you can tell is really fake.

4. The stems aka stalks will be simply wire, coated in green plastic.  Over time the plastic may have chipped off . 

5. The plastic flowers of today are much more detailed, often having four and five sprigs to a flower, where the older ones may have one flower per stalk. 

6. Todays' flowers may make you look twice, to know they are fake!

Gorgeous flower frog for sale at Mettlesome Means Etsy Shop on Etsy. 

Ivory Snow!

Believe it or not, Ivory Snow used to give all kinds of free things away, back in the day, such as free Christmas ornaments in the box, but also FREE ARTIFICIAL ROSES in every box for a limited time. 

Limited boxes had these free giveaways.

The bigger the box, the bigger the buds, you can see a video which shows you all about the roses and how they look. This will not only help you identify vintage fake roses but give you a cool glimpse into yesteryear! Watch the full video here: 

LOOK:

These remind me of one of my favorite Home Decorators Melmac patterns by Russel Wright, they would make a cute go-with.  Find them at Mettlesome Means on Etsy.

I guess that's more flower power than you needed today. 

Happy Collecting!

xoxox

Cindy

last updated 1.11.25

Are Old LPs Records Worth Money or Will They Be Again? We Use the Bee Gees

Etsy seller StuffBuilt is selling stacks of vintage LPs'.  You get 150 45's for $30

I don't always answer reader questions because I am so busy, but a reader saw my post on old records death and rebirth and shot me this message "Do you really think collecting old records are worth money?"   My answer would be YES.  I believe with everything there is an ebb and flo. Case in point, the bell bottoms of the 1960's made their way back in fashion as flare leg pants just a decade ago.  Everything has a cycle and a recycle. Recently there are reproduction working record players for people who may start to recollect vinyl.  The issue with collecting old records is of course, the numbers and availability are now askew.  

For instance, there was a time when CDs came in that people discarded so many old records that thrift stores weren't taking them. Some melted in people's attics, garages, thereby having been warped making them unplayable, those ended up in landfills.  Then there's this: the greenies who recycle them for crafts, making them into book covers, record purses, and popcorn bowls.  Those LP's even if they were not collectible, are now taken out of the circulation .  Just from my geekified standpoint, I'll try to illustrate to you via an easy matrix. 

So let's do a faux example Matrix for all intents and purposes: 

There is a great chart of how many Bee Gees Albums were sold in history, find it here.  So let's take their most popular album as example.  The numbers are as follows   USA / UK / WORLD

Bee Gees First (1967)

450,000

200,000

1,100,000

So the first album sold 450,000 in the USA

Let's use this as a fake hypothesis using only the USA for example: 

USA SALES :    450,000

Broke/Melted      30,000   over time 

Landfills             200,000 due to clean outs when no one wanted records

Unplayable           20,000 scratched from use 

Crafted                 10,000 upcycled into clocks etc by artisans (see below for what I mean)

total unusable 250,000 Hypothetical 

According to this matrix,  somewhere  in the USA 200,000 * but doubtful in my opinion. This would indicate a huge decrease in original run now making an ebb and flow of supply and demand.  It's easily speculated that the original number is now cut in half. However, some of this 200,000 is still sitting in storage, waiting to be found, sitting in people's collections or attics, melting away. 

Now you may say,  "No one wants records, so what?"  If somewhere, somehow, sometime, someone makes listening to records hip and trendy again, the original Bee Gees album may soar in value. All we need is Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis doing something cool with records or Drake, Lil Nas X shown collecting them, and the rest is history. People want to emulate what's cool and trendy and so it's quite possible that this trend could come back around.  As for the Bee Gees, well, it's already a well loved album thanks to the likes of movies and just having a great disco theme.  

MARRYING is a big issue, too.  Then, we have the whole collecting marrying the cover with a record issue. If you want to know more about that, you'll have to listen to this podcast below which explains it.  I am just now starting to see more and more records returning to the thrift stores.  This may indicate kids are now cleaning out their parent's homes and getting rid of the 1960s relics, or that someone out there has realized that somewhere someone is still playing records. 

Music Goldmine on Etsy has done a great job using 45's in her work making them into functional purses, however, this Styx LP needs to get added to the crafting matrix above!

Stuff Built Artist Manny uses records in his art, go to his etsy StuffBuilt.etsy.com to see what this has become! And chalk up another 200 or so records into the matrix of crafting......

Listen to more collecting records tips below.  This website is brought to you by my RetroChalet etsy shop. Like and share this post so I will continue to write.  

Etsy Fee Increase Survival Guide Planters GI3DPrints Great Gift Ideas

 

These cute planters are made of PLA Plastic from Etsy Shop GI3DPrints

Recently I posted about Etsy sellers who are complaining about the fee increases to shops and how some sellers were going on strike.   Suffice to say, I still feel Etsy is the best small shop platform for sellers who want to take their art or craft or vintage business or art supply business to the next level.  Now it may be true that for the small business, there are a lot of fees, however, mostly if your item sells, which is the good part.  You don't have to pay much to play, merely a free shop and a listing of .20 (unless you buy the monthly shop upgrades .  If and when you sell, then they will come at you with (effective/ 4/11/22 the fee increase went into effect from 5 percent to 6.5% sales fee ) and be possibly hit with additional fees such as payment processing fees and/or offsite ads fees if they apply. 

A group of Etsians took to doing an Etsy strike to protest the fees, and the overall dismay was picked up by news sources such as The Verge, The Street, MSN Market Watch and more.  Etsy's CEO actually posted the increase in the forums in case sellers missed their emails,and explained that the additional fees will be used to help Etsy grow . What's even better?  Sellers can take a survey listed on the bottom of that forum post to express their thoughts on the matter.  I am wondering how many people missed the tiny survey link at the bottom of that post in the forum?  Find it here:  A Message from Etsy’s CEO Josh Silverman on our Co... - Welcome to the Etsy Community

Etsy shop:  GI3D PRINTS how cute are these plastic dino planters? 

Case in point, part two of the podcast I recorded gives ideas for the Etsy seller to survive the increase, and a few ideas to make up for this hike.  I even talk to Harry at Lightbringer Designs and discuss great business models to make you think.  I really love GI3DPrints who makes custom PLA plastic fantastic planters which make great gift ideas; and I go into the fact of how we can look at the "wow" factor in their shop and apply to ours....listen to the podcast below! 

Suffice to say, I won't be going on strike, I love Etsy and still think the platform gives makers an easy to list storefront, easy to list way to display items, gives you built in feedback and the customer's ability to "favorite your shop" (which enables repeat business) and ease in taking payments and paying out state taxes.  Starting with a Shopify store means you must start from the ground, and I tried it once.  No time for all of that.  I also know a few people who got "instafamous" and sell strictly with a standalone shop and drop their items on Instagram posts.  Crazy lucky....whatever works for you I suppose. 

Some Etsy Sellers Go On Strike With Increase in Fees

Great Boontonware Bread Bowl in White : RetroChalet

What? An Etsy Strike?

Oh no!  Your favorite saved items on Etsy which may include vintage melmac, plastics fantastic and melamine dinnerware sets may have to wait to purchase!  This wait could last a day, a week, or more, as some Etsians are organizing the "Etsy Strike" and will be closing down their shops temporarily!  I had to find out a little more about this..

Here is what we do know. 

I first learned about the strike from on twitter, as they were using a hashtag #EtsyStrike.   They have taken it a step further to create a discord channel, and their own twitter @EtsyStrike account, Even one step more, they now have a website called EtsyStrike.org, and so it seems more than serious.   The slotted "shut down" of shops is scheduled to directly impact the date of April 11, with possible a one to two week shutdown, which has not been confirmed. 

Maybe don't put all your apples in one bowl, unless it's Boonton.  For Sale in My Etsy shop

I had to get hold of one of the shops who were participating, to find out just why the proposed strike.  I spoke in length on my podcast with Harry Burger, from Deer Park, New York (who ironically also ran for a green party congress in 2020.)

I connected with Harry to get his thoughts on the issues. Harry is an engineer by trade but also shop owner of Lightbringer Designs on Etsy, a shop that makes super cute wax seals. Being a small business owner, Harry explains how a 30 percent hike can hurt the small mom and pop. Harry also explains ultimately this increase will impact Etsy buyers are Etsy shops may have to raise prices to offset Etsy's fees. On initial inspection, I was thinking the 1.5 percent increase in sales fees wouldn't be so bad, until I really revisited all the fees that sellers pay on Etsy, which include listing fees, sales fees, offsite ad fees, etc.   

What will the scales of Justice do about the Etsy Strike?  This wax seal from LightbringerDesigns

Etsy's Fee Hike

So why did all this transpire?  Etsy recently announced they would be hiking fees from a 5 percent sales fee to a 6.5 percent fee, You can read the official announcement here, and Etsy sellers can take the survey at the bottom of the page to give feedback.  A Message from Etsy’s CEO Josh Silverman on our Co... - Welcome to the Etsy Community

It should be noted they have not raised these particular type fees since 2018, yet there are other fees involved with being an Etsy seller such as listing / relisting fees and offsite ads (which small shops have a way to opt out of) .  After a record 4th quarter in 2021 they wanted to keep on track, the forum post explains....how was this announced?  .  Sellers received an email from Etsy, as well as finding out about it on the website, and in forums.   Sources such as MSN NEWS quickly explained how people were upset.  Reference:  Sellers on This Site Are Livid After Another Rate Hike    Also appeared in The Street:  Etsy Sellers Are Livid After Another Rate Hike - TheStreet  and the Verge:  Etsy hits sellers with 30 percent transaction fee increase - The Verge

Listen to my podcast to hear the details on the price hikes and as for the strike, I guess we will see how that plays out., as it's developing now.  

Additional Reading Official Etsy Strike Site:  Why Discord? « Etsy Strike 

Forum Post Announcing the Etsy Strike: A Message from Etsy’s CEO Josh Silverman on our Co... - Welcome to the Etsy Community

Five and Dime Store Plastics Woolworths and More

ReginasStudio on Etsy offers this five and dime store display, these are hair barrettes.  

The Great Plastics of the Five and Dime Store 

 I recently spoke to my good friend Patrick, who remembers as a kid having a plethora of five and dime stores lining the streets of Baltimore.  Growing up in the Parkville area, he was able to take his allowance and shop the Murphy's, Chilte and Troddy, and Woolworth's often spending it on the "best toys" for little boys.  He explains how different things looked back then, and what was contained in the five and dime stores, some of it really surprised me.  

He visually took me back in time so that I could envision what he saw, and some of things they sold may in fact surprise you too.   We also discussed Woolworth's who got their start in 1879 and stood the test of a century with their five and dime model.

This is a five and dime store pack sold for $10 today at Etsy shop LOLARICHTER

Survival and Identification:

As for survival, five and dime store plastics he said, are harder and harder to find, but they exist.  Take for instance the carded barrettes at the top of this post, if you were to see one of those barrettes singly at a flea, you would not be able to recognize it for being a dime store plastic.  This makes collecting hard. 

Five and dime by PaperMoonMedia, this print found on Etsy for just $9

You are lucky to find kitchen housewares at estate sales and flea markets, often brightly or pastel colored plastics such as a kitchen timer, spoon rest, measuring cup, multi colored plastics measuring spoons, etc. Colored coasters were also a commodity.  They often were made in the USA in the fifties, then moved to Taiwan, Taiwan ROC or Japan on most Christmas decorations. Sometimes the key indicator is a round ink stamp. Many toys in the original packaging can be spotted by the ink stamp pricing, like the set of toy dogs above, if you look closely, has a 39 cent in a round blue circle.  Most notably, pricing itself was under $1.

A spoon rest like this may have cost .29 to .79 at one time! 

This from sicillyscloset 

Value Today: 

Expect that the item has held it's value and is now worth much more, the toy dogs above originally sold for 39 cents but are priced reasonably at $10.  The carded barrettes are listed for $46.95, mainly because collectors will pay for vintage graphics and ephemera and this set is complete.  Pricing my be subjective yet collectors will pay for something that reminds them of a happier time in life.  You will also see the largest values brought in from vintage Christmas.  I recently say a vintage pixie in the original pack that original cost 69 cents sell for $38.  People will pay for what they love, and if they are a collector, packaging matters.  Expect the highest profits will come from vintage Halloween or Christmas. 

Can You Believe They Sold This? 

I was in shock and horror they they sold dyed ______.  you will have to listen to my podcast to find out what.  Oh how it must have been shopping around during those days!

Enjoy: