I feel that I must preface this entry by saying I'm not sure how anyone could regard these Shawnee pitchers as "trash", but fortunately for me, someone saw fit to let them go, and I am happy to report that they now reside with me.
If you aren't familiar with Shawnee, let me give you a little background. The Shawnee Pottery Company was a US manufacturer that actively produced pottery from 1937 to 1961. Shawnee Pottery's products are "much in demand" and are thought to be "extremely desirable" by pottery collectors. Perhaps the most well-known pieces of Shawnee are the Corn King pottery, produced between 1937 and 1942. In fact, I think there may be a few of these pieces still lurking in Daddy's cabinets. :)
But back to my sweet little pitchers... As I have mentioned before, we seem to spend a fair amount of time in antique shops, and over the years, I have seen the occasional Shawnee piece here and there- usually with a hefty price tag attached. But nonetheless, I know the pieces pretty well. So when I saw the Shawnee "Smiley" Pig pitcher for sale a few months ago in a little thrift shop, I knew exactly what it was. You must keep in mind that many of the Shawnee pieces are not marked as such. They usually are marked with the name of the piece (in this case "Smiley") and "USA". Sure enough, that's just how this was marked. Even the shop owner didn't know it was a Shawnee piece, and we walked out with a good deal and my precious piggy pitcher.
And if that weren't enough, we made our way back to the same shop a month or so later, and wouldn't you know- there sat the Shawnee Dumbo pitcher. Again, it was only marked "Dumbo" and "USA", but I knew exactly what he was. That said, Dumbo came home with us for a mere $10.
It is helpful to have your smart phone handy when you are antiquing because you can pretty quickly search for your pieces online to see if you are indeed getting a good deal (or if you need to negotiate a lower price), and confirm that your piece is in fact what you think it is.
Of course, if you love, love, love whatever you are looking at, it may not matter how much your item is worth. To me, it wouldn't have mattered if these pitchers were worth a fortune or worth nothing. I love them, and it's not as though I plan to resell them for a profit, so even though we got lucky with a really good deal on these, they are priceless to me.
