At A Thrift Store? Look Out For This Must-Have Vintage Kitchen Find

Sears dominated the retail industry in the 1970s, and while its heyday is behind it, many of its products have become iconic. One such kitchen must-have is the Merry Mushrooms collection, which retailed from 1970 to 1987. The original collection contained over 250 pieces, including teapots, jars, salt and pepper shakers, cannisters, plates, and much more. If you always wanted to get your hands on a couple of these gorgeous pieces, you may have some luck at the thrift store!

Mushroom designs gained notoriety in the 1960s and 1970s for ... various reasons, and Sears saw the opportunity to hop on the trend. The kitchenware line featured whimsical, cartoonistic designs of toadstools and leaves, and the jar lids were fashioned as mushroom caps. The wide variety of crockery and uniformity in the aesthetic allowed people to transform their entire kitchens into garden dreams. In recent years, people have rediscovered their charm, and it's led to a very expensive treasure hunt. On sites like eBay, small sets can go for hundreds of dollars, with one of the most expensive pieces on record picking up over $1000.

Thrift stores regularly house rare vintage kitchenware, right under shoppers' noses, and the Merry Mushrooms are no exception. The original collection was vast and on the market for almost two decades. Since then, many owners have given up their pieces, and some were passed down to future generations to enjoy (or profit from), but many have ended up on thrift store shelves.

Modern kitchen trends lean minimalistic and monochromatic, a far cry from decades past. As the Merry Mushrooms evidence, patterns and colors were all the rage, with many people now choosing to revisit vintage kitchen paint palettes in order to imbue their spaces with a different character. Many of the crockery and cookware pieces were engineered with great attention to detail. The Sears mushroom collection was hand-painted and kiln-glazed, making each piece unique — but still clearly identifiable as a set. At the same time, the collection almost certainly contained worrying levels of lead, which is a red flag among most old-school dinnerware, which may dim the nostalgia a little. It's best to use such containers for display or aesthetic purposes only, and keep food far, far away.

When modern safety practices and technology meet retro styles, magic happens. Modern cookware can look like your grandmother's favorite teapot, but not require obscene amounts of time to heat up. In fact, vintage-style appliances are making a comeback for this very reason. Many people wish to feel the warmth of their childhood homes, but in an age where architecture has moved on, you can recreate that feeling within your own walls, while not missing out on any of the benefits (e.g., safety) that the modern day has to offer.