Recently I was lucky enough to appear in this Etsy treasury that is so dear to my heart I wanted to share it.
I began collecting tin and aluminum pie pans in 1985 after seeing a photo in a Martha Stewart cookbook.
Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts, 1985, page 22.
Now Martha is controversial, a kind of love her or hate her kind of gal. But this book came out at a time when my mother, sister, and I were heading to outdoor flea markets nearly every weekend. I was getting a bit bored (hard to believe, isn't it? My, how I've changed!).
At the time, I was working in a pastry shop, as a baker and decorator, an avocation that became my vocation. Pies were not particularly my specialty. Be that as it may, the picture resonated with me and I thought how fun it would be to collect pie pans! So I did.
By the way, these are pans with the name of either the bakery or the restaurant embossed into the bottom. When a pie was purchased, a small deposit (between 5 and 10 cents) was left and was given back when the pan was returned.
Little did I know how many are out there. Along the collection trail, I started to hang them up on my kitchen walls; eventually they were on all four and heading into the pantry. True dust-catchers, I must say!
After many more years, I finally realized I had enough and resisted the temptation whenever I saw one I didn't have.
I got married and when I moved in with my hubby, the pans went into three large boxes, ...
...now down to two because I have sold about 18 of them in my shop.
I sell them with a bit of reluctance but also with joy
because I know those who are buying them may have
the same passion for them as I do --three people
bought two each and two bought three each!
because I know those who are buying them may have
the same passion for them as I do --three people
bought two each and two bought three each!
“Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness” ~Jane Austen
