I remember using them, however, at my grandparents' place .... a long, long time ago. Because of that, for me, enamel plates bring an old-fashioned feel to things.
I searched at home, and .... found 2 enamel plates. One regular-sized one with floral pattern. It's really old as it's already chipped and the parts of the smaller flower petals had already faded ...
And old enamel plate ...
The other one I managed to locate at home as a huge plate, which seemed almost like a rounded tray. That one was not used anymore. It was kept high up on the shelf ... so I did not bother to take it down.
I accompanied Mom to the market the other day ... and was searching for enamel plates to buy .... There were some sold at a small shop there. An elderly couple manned the shop. I saw some coloured enamel ware ...
"Any floral patterned ones?" I asked.
"No, only these coloured ones. The flower ones are out of fashion," the elderly lady replied.
Lols. Exactly why I wanted to buy them. But since there wasn't much choice, I bought one beige-coloured piece.
My new beige-coloured enamel plate, RM2.20
I ate my lunch with it the other day. Mom had cooked me my favourite rice vermicelli and cangkuk manis stirfry. But then, the plate exuded a very pitiful feeling ...... lols .... so instead of enjoying my noodles, it made me feel sorry for myself!
I think I know what u mean! xD
ReplyDeleteTht steel kind of plate is normally associated with people who r very poor, like kampung folks, or in harder circumstances probably by beggars, although the steel mug is more common I think. Hmm.. I seem like an expert on this matter eh? Haha. I think I rememebr some footage on some poor countries have kids using this eating by the streets or road sides..
Anyway, we shouldn't prejudice this plate. It's still a plate regardless of the common things it may be associated with..
My own household used to have this as commonplace utensils up until the 90s when it was replaced by a whole batch of melamine resin plates, which became the status quo until today. I think most of those has been gotten rid of in my household, or hidden somewhere for the next generation to behold as antiques..hehe
ReplyDeleteHello Hans, you are very right indeed. The plate certainly feels old-fashioned and pathetic. Using it immediately transported me back to the olden days. Nowadays, it's more commonly used for food setting purposes or photography purposes. Do keep those enamelware in your house .... they may fetch a certain value later in the future. :))
ReplyDeleteYeah, thts right, probably it'll fetch some antique value in the future. My household also used to some of those big vases with dragon designs and looks green on the inside, which I was told is used to store salted eggs. Really big, enough to store water for multiple cycles of baths..hehe.. but it's dangerous if filled with water and having kids unsupervised. It's also a mosquito breeder if left outside the house with water. My family used it to store rice when I was young. We also have one of those traditional food cover made from rattan. It's quality was way better than the current cheap plastic version we have now, that is wobbly and easily slips of the table. By my family retired that cover because they thought it was very old-looking and seems to trap food smells from over a few decades. xD
ReplyDeleteBesides this, my grandparents used to have wooden chopsticks, the really black looking kind that is void any designs, it's just pure wood that's polished to it's shape, not bamboo like nowadays, and it's a little heavy. It actually gives a very 'plain' kind of taste to it when you use it, as least that's what I think. The last time I saw that was many years ago, at the open air beef noodles in town, they love using those. I wonder if they still do, or have they caught up with modern times..hehe..
Oh yes, now you got my memory triggered. At our old house, my grandfather used those salted egg dragon-motif urns to store water. At the back of the house, he had at least 5 – 6 urns lined up in 2 neat rows to catch rain water. I remember also at least an urn in each bathroom to hold water for baths, and a few rendered as flower pots placed at strategic areas around the house. I asked my mom about the urns .... but she did not remember what had happened to them since we moved away from the old house. Mom has one in the garden though, and she grows an adenium plant in it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rattan food covers, we are still using them daily at home, though they looked very old-fashioned indeed. Not sure about trapped smells though.
Check out a pic with food cover in the background :
http://inid2tell.blogspot.com/2013/04/second-aunts-homemade-goodies.html
The chopsticks ... hmn .... I don’t remember having them at home .... I suppose for a large part of my childhood, I ate using fork and spoon. Lol.
Hello! Wow, I've forgotten the word urn since it's so rarely used in modern life these days, and I call it vase. You even know the species of that flower, hehe, I had to google image it and find it, I actually was thinking of that same flower before I searched, because memory surfaced and it confirmed my guess when I found it out. Yes, many folks here use that urn to pot their adenium, I only knew that before as Mei Hua as the Chinese called it. :) But it's a little strange, since it has no holes, the flow of water is like stagnant inside, like a swamp, I wonder if that's very plant friendly. But Mei Hua looks like a resilient plant regardless.
ReplyDeleteI've checked out the post on your old food cover. Looks similar to mine. Probably if one washes it frequently, wouldn't be smelly. It probably traps smell because the rattan woven is such a thick layer with lots of small crevices. But washing it might thin out the gloss on it I would think.
So you're more exposed to Western cutlery I guess.
There are a lot of oldish things I can still further recall actually. My house has one of those electric powered clocks from the 70s era. You can usually spot this at old coffee shops or some houses who still didn't change to a new one. It requires real AC 240V power to get it running. It's actually a little bit of a safety hazard now to think of it because it has no ground wire. Mine actually worked for around 4 decades until a recent power instability caused it to short circuit and thus, retire eternally. My grandparents used to have little urns too that they let us play with when young, an assortment of designs. They are clay urns and usually black or brown and has a glossy surface.
They also have a coal iron, boy was it heavy. And, they have one of those oldish set of cups and teapot. It's a collection, with all the cups and pot bearing a similar flower design, I have yet to find a picture on the net of it but will keep trying. They also used to have mechanical clocks with 2 bells, like alarm clocks in moden days that try to mimick those. But these are the more original ones. Two bells and a handle on top, and it needs to be constantly rewound, so it that it keeps running. It's quite heavy and makes one wonder if the quality must be really good, but no matter what, the metals and stuff are of really good variety, as with most older things, they manufacture using thick stuff, not the cut-down, budget plastic or thin metal pieces in modern devices. It can be adjusted to ring those bells at certain times I would presume.
Well, yeah ... i always call the dragon pot an urn. lol. And the flower is known at home as "Fu Gui Hua", and by the way, we drill tiny holes at the bottom of the urn for drainage. But you're probably right about the resilience part ... cause we've kept the plant in the garden for many years!
ReplyDeleteHmn .... well .... we still use the rattan food cover. As it wears, the crevices become bigger ... and that allows the flies to squeeze in. lol.
I cannot remember any of those clocks you said. I also don't recall the mechanical alarm clocks at home. But at my grandma's there used to be 2 grandfather clocks. They're gone now.
My mom has a set of teapot and cups on a tray. It's white and gold in colour .... I think it was used for her wedding ... for the tea ceremony. The tray and tiny cups still sit in the cabinet .... but the pot is missing. I asked Dad. He said it's somewhere in the house but he can't recall where.hmn ... wait till i ask him to find it. then i'll take a photo of it.
We have a coal iron too .... it's at my aunt's. she uses it for decor now.
i do agree with the quality of the material used last time .... just like old cars have uses very durable steel, compared to the milo tin cars these days!!
You're right. Fu Gui Hua that is. It's suppose to be some sort of lucky flower or something to the Chinese I believe, hence its popularity amongst them. Well, I've never heard of drilling holes on a pot, I was thinking it might break or something since its made of clay. This flower is a little bit like Bonsai. Sometimes in less water condition, it will just have a few leaves and still survive. It has those huge, stems.
ReplyDeleteHere is an image of the electric clock like mine:
http://images04.olx.com.sg/ui/15/29/34/1315146732_246972534_1-Pictures-of--Vintage-Diamond-Brand-Electric-Clock-10-inches.jpg
This page has some of those classic wind-up clocks I mentioned:
http://www.alexteo.com/timepieces/diamond-wind-up-clock/
Haha, cool, can't wait to see those if upload it. I think have some of those at home too. You know the chicken and rooster thing? It's a tradition for chinese newly weds to have this pair of 'statues'.
Coal iron is really a good piece of steel ware antique. I have been to some of those shops in India Street that sells antiques, they have a vast array of these along many other items like gramophones and such.
Yup, the modern market is always coming up with new things and as fancy as possible, hence foregoing durability.
I think the old wooden chopstick I mentioned looks a bit like in this pic:
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/design56/design561108/design56110800325/10388448-chinese-traditional-bowl-spoon-and-chopsticks-arranged-on-bamboo-mat.jpg
Hi ... thanks for sharing the pictures. I've seen some of the things when I was a child, but I am really not sure they're still around at home now. Too bad no one treasured them while they had them.
ReplyDeleteDad still hadn't found the teapot ... I'd remind him my next trip home. :)
Will post when or if we find them. Have a good day!
Hi inid2tell, can I kindly ask which market you went to buy those enamel plates? I'm trying to search for some, thanks and appreciate any leads!
ReplyDeleteHello, well, I've searched for it at the shops along India street here in Kuching. They do have the plain ones, but not the floral ones.
ReplyDeletehello, do they still sell the big urns in miri?
ReplyDeleteHmn ... I'm not sure actually. Does anyone know?
ReplyDelete