Wednesday, January 26, 2011

...Bucky and Becky.

I'm really going out on a limb and dating myself here... Does anybody else out there remember 'BUCKY & BECKY'? As in the mascots for W.T. Grant's little Restaurant/Diner/Coffee Counter - 'THE BRADFORD HOUSE'.... ANYBODY? ANYBODY? Made a quick stop into one of the usuals yesterday on my way home from work, and I spotted this stack of Restaurant China... PYREX... .

(Now, don't get me wrong, but THANK the THRIFTING POWERS THAT BE I have NOT been bitten by the 'Pyrex Bug'!!! I DO appreciate it for what it is, and will pick it up at sales when I see it for a good price - but am NOT tempted to keep it!. Living in Central Upstate NY - very close proximity to Corning, there is an abundance of it, and we all grew up in houses where it was used on a daily basis, and everyone knew someone or was related to someone who worked there...).

Upon closer inspection of the plates, I discovered the BRADFORD HOUSE LOGO 8-) . OH, the memories! I used to spend quite a bit of time with my Grandparents when I was little, and on shopping trips, we always made a stop at GRANTS - quite often eating at The Bradford House! Somewhere I have a photo of a Breakfast with the Easter Bunny that I won through a coloring contest sponsored by Bucky & Becky. To eat? ALWAYS the clam strips. Anyways, back to the plates - there were 9 plates - even numbers sell better, I picked out the eight best, put one back on the shelf... but I couldn't leave one lonely plate sitting on the shelf, so they all came home with me. They even inspired me to go dig through my 'stash' and see what other pieces of PYREX I had that I could put on at the same time...



Turns out I had quite a few. ( I WASN'T PLANNING on keeping them - REALLY!! I had just been too lazy, and needed some motivation...) but now those Bradford plates gave me inspiration ('cause I know if they hang around they may cause temptation!). PHEW! They are A.L.L. on ebay now (free listing of 100 items this week- YEH!!), and if they don't sell (shipping is WAY to expensive!!) they ARE getting donated and OUT.OF. HERE.! (one little blue snowflake fridgie without a cover has a small thin chip to the rim - I'm gonna toss it, anybody want it for the cost of s/h?)

These are my only PYREX 'must-haves'... In our family, Mac-n-Cheese just doesn't taste right unless it is made in 'The Large Red Bowl' - and THAT is the only thing that is allowed to be made in that bowl!!



But then there is still the issue of that Ninth Bradford House plate...

12 comments:

barbara said...

Sadly I do not remember Bucky and Becky. Just donated a load of, um, stuff to the SA today including Pyrex I could not stand to look at any more - make sure you don't buy it!

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

I don't remember Bucky or his friend Becky but I covet their Greek key patterned dishes!! They are AWESOME.

Back from an uber extended bloggy break and so happy to return to find this fabulous post! I pick up pyrex at yard sales an opportunity I get. In fact, I may need to downsize a bit. :-/

Vintage Christine said...

Ii remember the name but I don't think there were any in California--our thing was Woolworths. How funny--my mom also had a big Pyrex bowl that she used for specific things, but certainly not mac 'n cheese! The only way she made that was buying Morton's frozen and heating it up and we LOVED it!

Anonymous said...

Ok, Missy, where is your eBay link? Gotta go check out your Pyrex cause alas the bug has bitten me. Hard!

Anonymous said...

Hello! Saw the Bradford plates and your other eBay stuff. I laughed when I saw the (early GPS) notation for that atlas. It never hurts to advertise your shops on your page. You can use http://togo.ebay.com/ and put a widget under your Etsy one. Or just Google "ebay widget" there's lots of others out there :)

Mrs. 5C said...

That is so cool! What a find!

Thank you for your sweet comments on my blog! You made my day! :)

Tam. said...

Hey! Nice to meet you too! I love "meeting" bloggers from my neck of the woods!

I inherited my Gram's Mac & cheese pyrex...I'm starting to think every family has a dish like that!

Brooke(: said...

Hello! My name is Kim and I live in Idaho! I remember my mom and I shopping at Grant's and always stopping to have lunch at the restaurant. I remember Becky and Bucky, in fact, I still have the little hand puppets the servers would give to the children. I wish Grant's was still around, such a warm environment! Thanks for your post, it's fun to go down memory lane!

Unknown said...

Having worked for WY Grants for several years until closing... I had a full set of Bradford House dishes. I now have nothing save a coffee mug and teapot.

Anonymous said...

holy cow. just did a search as i have been conversing with my aging mother about growing up. mom cannot believe the crap that i remember and now i am beginning to wonder about myself as well. i am now 51. i am now happy to see that i am not alone in these memories that parents cannot believe became "important" parts of our lives. i do not have any of the glassware, the fine china, the table cloths or those weird hats or aprons the waitresses used to wear (weird to me as i was 10). fried clams and french fries were top notch with the basket of fried chicken a close second. cole slaw was always served but never eaten. after all, how can you go wrong with any food in a basket? but i am surprised that no one has mentioned the highlight of any trip to the Bradford House when going to Grant's with Mom and Grandmom. Does anyone still have their Bucky and Becky Bradford plastic hand puppets that made your hands all clammy due to sweat? wish i did. even so, i can still remember as if it were yesterday; and it's funny how it brightens up a parent's day when you show them that something so trivial is a treasured moment in your family life...for dessert, i'll have the vanilla ice cream in that short metal ice cold bowl...gotta go..i'm a guy and i think i am about to cry.

Anonymous said...

I just found some of their matches in my attic!

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