Moving my Johnson

Part of the process of moving is to pack up the dinner setting. This meant i will get to see just how big my Johnson is.

Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin i marched through the house playing my flute, and the Johnson followed me.

ok, really, i went from room to room, searching through the wardrobes, cupboards, and sideboards, searching for where i had stashed pieces of the setting.

The final result was staggering.

but wait, there's more,

and then hidden in another room, overlooked in the first sweep, i found another box.

damm, my Johnson collection is big.

Free Steak Knifes

In my previous post I left a couple of things out.

While at Salvos Fyshwich, I also found a Vase in my pattern.

Ok, it’s not strictly in my pattern, but its close enough.

It is near enough that in the middle of a table setting, with flowers in it, you would not notice that the differences.

At Tinys tip shop, Mugga, hidden in the crockery we found a fair bit of my Pattern.

• 2 plates
• 6 side plates and
• 8 cups and saucers.

I have a plethora of cups and saucers. Mostly I use the coffee mugs, and I have only used one of the tea cups, once. So I left the cups and saucers behind.

The Best of the Platters

I have had a good couple of weeks of hunting through op shops.

At Tinys, Mitchell, I found a platter in my pattern.

Yippe, this now gives me three platters in my pattern.

Taph picked up the first platter at Vinnes, I got the second at a salvos in Sydney. Now I have three.

But wait, there’s more, and that will be in a later post.

Mad Hatter - move over.

After Christmas, I was in the Vinnies at Dickson, when I spotted a teapot in my pattern.

So I had to get it. But there were many reasons why i should.

1. It was in my pattern and to leave it behind would be wrong.

2. It had $5 on it, and they were having a half price on Bric-a-brak sale, so it only cost me $2.50.

This presents me with a problem. I now have four teapots, and one coffee pot.

Is this too many, I hear you all ask? I say not, and Taph, says it’s no coincidence that they are in Hat Boxes.

International TOF

My search for pieces for my dinner setting has gone international.

I used to sit and look at the pieces on international ebay sites and drool, but when the Australian Dollar reached parity and beyond with US dollar, the price of getting these pieces became much cheaper, so I figured, "why not".

So i have had several weeks of fun on US and UK Ebay site, and i now have several years worth of presents for my mother.

Oh, and a few bits for myself too.

the johnson search continues

A recent visit to Vinnies in Belconnen found me these items.

I left the saucers, but i picked up the Tea set. When fate hands you something like this, it is best to grab hold.

Oh My God Moments

In my search for a new dinner setting I have had several "Oh My God, Oh My God" Moments when i have found items in my search for the new dinner set, but i have had two recent events that are worth putting up here.

The first was while up in Sydney with Taph. In the vinnies at Summer Hill, i spied this little collection of Johnson Brothers china on the shelf. And even better it was half price. There were four cups, eight saucers and six dinner plates. I left four Cups and Saucers as part of a "catch and release" program, and took the Plates and the other four Saucers.

Then a couple of weeks later on another visit to Salvos in Mitchell i suffered a major OMG moment. On at Table, just inside the door, was a Johnson Brother Setting for eight (including the Dinner plate, Breakfast plates, Side (or salad) plates, Cereal Bowls Cups and Saucers, Teapot, Sugar dish, Milk Jug and a Gravy dish and Gravy Plate. These were all new, still with barcodes stuck on them and most also had boxes (like i said it was a major OMG moment).

it was not for sale until the following morning when it would be sold to the first person who was able to get to the counter and say i want to buy these, and according to the shop assistant, it had caused a considerate interest.

I made a quick phone call to my Father (whatever used we do before we all had mobile phones) and he and mum came out to have a look at it too. Their decision was they were not going to try and get it, but if Taph and I decided to use our bulk to Jostle, or even Maori sidestep, the other buyers in the mad rush to the counter, then they would take them.

I felt it would be fun to go and see how much interest there was in these pieces, but ended up sleeping in and having a leisurely breakfast instead.

Stop Press: I found some pieces in my patten that came up on E-bay, I decided that i should scale back the search to a watching brief (if i found any bits in op shops i would get them but otherwise i had enough) however the search for matching bits would continued. On a recent visit to Vinnies in Woden, Taph found a Johnsen Regency Platter.

Once i pay off some debts I will be buying some bits from the US sellers on E-bay.

Growing My Johnson - The second pilgrimage to Sydney.

One day while surfing the net I revisited the Peters of Kensington website. I had not visited their site for ages as i believed they were out of Regency White Patten. However i was wrong, for there, on their site was a listing for a setting for four.

It was not the fact that they had a setting for four on their web site, but when i was there before, i thought i had bought their last set, and if they had found another set, then what else did they find. I felt this was worth checking out.

So several weeks later Taph and i set off for Sydney. Our first stop was to the Tempe Salvos Store. It is a massive store, well by Canberra standards, and Taph and i left with armfuls of stuff.

Leaving the shop we saw the Google Streetview car going down the street on the opposite side of the road. so when Streetview comes out we will have to check and see if we can see ourselves in the photos.

Our next visit was to Sydenham. I wanted to visit the Wine Society shop there as i owe my father a couple bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label, and i wanted to see how much it was there. Taph wanted to visit the Bonds outlet shop, which is 50 meters away.

Walking back to where we had parked the car, we saw a sign for a garage sale. We had to visit it. as it was in the direction of our next stop, and we felt it would offend the op-shop gods if we did not. Taph had some luck and picked up several Storage bags.

Our next stop was at Victorias Basement in Alexandria. When i was in Sydney before they had some accessories in my Johnson Brothers patten, so i figured it was worth a visit.

From there we headed to Peters of Kensington. They had some stock, in the Regency White patten, but nothing that took my attention. However i figured i should not waste the trip and picked up four more coffee mugs. They also had some coffee mugs in my parents patten (Summer Chintz) so I made a quick phone call to them, but they said not to by any as they had enough coffee mugs.

As we drove away from Kensington, we saw a Vinnies Store in Kingsford that was open. We had to stop in and after parking the car, we walked past a Salvos family store around the corner from the Vinnies. When we got to the Vinnies we discovered that the Vinnies shops in that region were having a half price sale.

This resulted in us going to the Vinnies store at Maroubra. Needless to say after visiting that many op shops in one day, we returned home that evening with a boot.

We picked up many items that day. Some of the most notable were:

• Vintage sheets for fabric stash $4 at Salvos,
• 4 x Ikea storage bags $2 at garage sale, and
• several half price tops for Taphs Mum and myself at the various Vinnies we visited.
  

Growing My Johnson

I have had a couple of successes in my Johnson challenge. To start with, i was in Salvos Mitchell a couple of weeks ago, and i was gobsmacked when i saw a Coffee pot behind the counter. My heart was set racing when i as i looked at it and saw, that there was no staining inside it, so it must have been unused. And it had no price tag on it.

My conversation with the sales staff there went something like this.

"damm, it does not have a price tag on it, how much do you want for it?"

"About $7."

Put my best poker face on, and count to five. "mmm, do you have any other matching pieces back there?"

She has a quick look, "Nope"

"Well i guess i will take it."

So i now have a Johnson Brothers Regency White Coffee Pot for my collection.

I have picked up some other bits, but i will talk about them in a later blog.

My Teapot (that i bought retail) and my Coffee Pot.

Johnson Challenge update

Taph has to get the best girlfriend award. She was in Salvos in Tuggeranong last week and she picked up a set of Johnson Brothers Regency White. This addition to my collection now gives me a table setting for 15 and i have the following pieces:

• Dinner plates 27 cm 15
• Dinner Plates 22 cm 4
• Side plates 17 cm 17
• Side plates 18.5cm 4
• Cereal bowls 17
• Soup plates 3
• Soup Touraine 1
• Saucers 24
• Tea cups 25
• Coffee mugs 16
• Teapot 1
• Sugar bowl 2
• Milk jug 1

Of course the search continues for some other bits, like the serving platters etc, but the main search can now be scaled back into a watching brief.

Out of bed early on a weekend - it had better involve Snow or Surf

It was a cold morning that required me to be out of bed on a Saturday well before Sparrows. In fact when i stopped for first breakfast at Marulan, it was still before Sparrows.

My quick trip to Sydney was to pick up some stuff for my parents. While searching for bits for my Johnson I found bits for their Johnson . If you know my parents, then please do not mention this to them. One piece is being held for my mothers birthday, the other for mothers day. However, they already know about the teapot as i had to find out if they wanted a second teapot, but they do not know about the other bits.

After picking up this stuff i went over to Victoria's Basement at Alburn (due to a major stuff up i did not have a Sydney street directory in the car and the Alburn shop was the only one i could find without using a map and that had free parking), When i got there, all they had was five tea sets. I figured i did not need another tea set.

Following Parramatta road into the city, i passed this Salvos (which i later found was at Ashfield), and i figured i would offend the op shop gods if i did not stop in.

It was a good litle shop. For $6 i got a Bodum coffee plunger and four tulip shaped wine tasting glasses.

I continued to Peters of Kensington, I figured the op shop gods were smiling on me as the Mitsubishi-Zero got Rock star parking at the door.

I got inside and discovered they had one dinner setting left in my style. I also grabbed six coffee mugs, and the assistant asked if I did not want the last four mugs, So i grabbed them too. All in all a good shopping day in Sydney.

Finally, I had a prophecy to keep. I told Taph ages ago that the only thing to get me out of bed early on a weekend had better involve Surf or Snow, So i went to Bondi for a late lunch.

My Johnson is Still Growing

It was a fortunate turn of events that saw me in Woden on Friday afternoon, with a few hours to kill. With this in mind I paid a visit to the local op-shops. My search of Salvos did not turn anything up.
However, when I visited Vinnies, it was as if the op-shop gods were smiling on me. For there, sitting on the table out back was a Johnson Brothers Regency White dinner setting. It was complete setting for five and had eight cup and saucers. It must have began life as a setting for eight and after some pieces were broken the owners decided to retire it. I was lucky to find it before someone else found it.
And I got it at a price that brings the project back on budget.
This bring the Johnson collection up to:
Dinner plates 9
side plates 17 cm 10
side plates 18.5cm 4
cerial bowl 7
saucers 16
cups 16
coffee mugs 4
Teapot 1
sugar bowl 1
milk jug 1

And I still have my pilgrimage to Peters of Kensington to go.


What I found at Vinnies Woden.

It is not a quest ...

...if you are only going to the shops for some tobacco.

When i first started my Johnson challenge Taph said it was not a challenge it i just go to Peters of Kensington. Well we spent a month scouring op shops and ebay, and all we found was one very chipped plate in an op shop.

So i decided to test the waters and see what was around that was new. Peters of Kensington had some stuff new and i will be making a pilgrimage there, but the shock to the system was the TV shopping networks' website. I was not able to help myself and bought a tea set and a set of coffee mugs.

I do not know what came over me, maybe it was the concept of finding an internet site in Australia who had some for sale. Maybe it was because i had been looking for matching bits for my parents set for years and had only ever found some cups and saucers, and i felt this search would go the same way.

Whatever the reason, i bought these items, and blew the budget in the process. Of course now i do have a teapot and associated items.

And a road trip to Sydney in the near future.

Growing My Johnson.

I have been doing the search for the pieces to grow my Johnson collection with, and i have had quite a few false positives as i spy plates that look like the set i am searching for, only to turn them over and discover that they are completely the wrong thing.

On their own the "Sheffield Bone White" looks like a "Johnson Brothers Regency White", but when you put them side by side you can see they are very different.

My reactions when finding these pieces (and one set) has ranged from an "oh dam-it" to one occasion where it took every bit of my self restraint to stop myself from smashing the pieces in disgust.

The plates at Salvos jammo

Having said that, if you are looking for replacement pieces for a Sheffield dinner setting in the Bone White Style;

• Vinnies Gungahlin have a setting for four (well they did last week),
• Salvos Jamison have 7 dinner plates (but one is very chipped),
• Salvos Phillip have a dessert fruit plate,
• as does Aussie Junk in Mitchell.

Oh well my search continues, and i hope this post helps in yours.

A quick update. Here is a photo of two plates found at Aussie junk.

And Salvos Belconnon have two cups and saucers.

The Johnson Brothers Challenge.*

My parents have used a Johnson Brothers dinner set in the Summer Chintz patten for over 20 years.

I stumbled over a Johnson Brothers dinner setting (well a nearly complete setting for four) in the Regency White patten.

I am now looking for the pieces to make a setting for 12, along with the other table setting bits (gravy boats, soup tureens, serving platters, etc) and I want to do this for around $2 a piece (well, i may pay a bit more for soup tureens and serving platters), so dear readers, if you see something, let me know.

As I find pieces I will post photos and the cost. The 14 pieces found today cost $25, and I got 4 dinner plates, 4 side plates, 2 cereal bowls, 2 cups and saucers.

*This is not to be confused with a “Johnson and Johnson Challenge”.