Convulsive Consumerism
12 February 2012 by realruth
With several errands to be done, we went to The Palms Mall. I haven’t been to The Palms for years, and rarely go to a Mall. I’d decided to buy some new wine glasses. Since the EQ we have only two good matching wine glasses and I wanted a set. In the olden days I used to buy glasses at Ballantynes, sometimes just one at a time, because they can be expensive. Much as I like good crystal glasses, there’s no point now in buying quality new ones when they might end up smashed in a quake.
We went to Farmers, where perfectly acceptable red wine glasses were four for $30. What’s more there was a deal where you paid for one and got another free. So, we ended up with eight glasses for $30. Now, when we have guests to dinner we’ll all have matching wine glasses.
The only trouble was that Farmers had a large range of enticing homewares at heavily reduced prices, and I hardly ever see a shop these days. I’m not usually an impulse shopper, but I was taken by this compote dish.
Our new fruit bowl
As I expected its Victorian look goes perfectly on our sideboard, and it was only $15, reduced from $40. It looks so good I wish now I’d bought two.
Clearing out the glasses cupboard, and washing all our glasses was the way I spent Saturday evening (sad isn’t it?). I ruthlessly discarded thirteen mis-matched glasses and three pottery goblets – they’re on their way to the City Mission shop. We kept a brandy glass with a chip in the base because it belonged to Stephen’s grandfather. Amazingly seven of my 100 Pipers whisky glasses survived the EQ. These are not evidence of a misspent youth, or at least not in the way you might be thinking. They are mementoes of a former life when I worked at Johnston’s Wholesale Wines and Spirits in Onehunga. The whisky manufacturers provided hundreds of these glasses which were intended to be given to customers who bought their whisky, but many glasses went home with staff members. I don’t drink whisky, but they make useful tumblers. We still have seven liqueur glasses (for
Sabra!), but they are of three different designs.
“When guests come round, it’s good to think
matched glasses will contain their drink.”
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I too love to have matching glasses and yet I go through an ethical dilemma collapse when I clean out the old mismatched glasses in the cupboard. I console myself by sending them off to the local St. Vinney’s and hope I have completed somebody else’s collection of mismatched glasses. And yes, I do think earthquakes can actually come in handy when some of my accumulated glass is discarded during an adequate, shallow one.
“Shame, shame, shame! said my inner voice,
All will come to naught if you ignore an ethical choice!”
Lucia, I hadn’t thought as far as the possibility that I might be helping someone else to complete their set. Makes more of a community service out of sending mismatched ones to the op shop – thank you.
Please let me know which is your local St Vinny’s and where is theCity Mission shop? I am now determined to have a collection of mismatching glasses as a post quake statement of chic!
Sue, some are born mismatched, some achieve mismatchedness, and others have them mismatchedness thrust upon them. Good luck in your quest to achieve mismatchedness.
Sheesh! I’ve had mismatched glasses for years and I don’t live in an earthquake zone! I never knew before it was chic. Yay me!
I’ve also got mismatched kitchen chairs… and some of my socks might not have started out in the pairs they’re in now. I feel I could be turning into a style-goddess…
Cathy it sounds like you might be a born mismatcher – definitely a style goddess. x x x