This Ordinary Item Has Extraordinary Uses You’ve Never Considered!
Each time I look at the bright red vintage glass dish which is now used in the living room, I recall all its functions over the years. From my grandmother’s parlor to my own contemporary living room, this dish has changed its purpose and is still a focal point of aesthetics and memory. It brings to my mind the evenings which I spent browsing through the catalogs near the fire, which at some point in time it may have had other purposes as well and this one.
May be it was planned initially to serve as a candy dish, but over time this glass dish has acquired many uses. In the course of the 1960s and 1970s, when people became more open and home entertainment was less formal, such items as this dish could be used in rather interesting ways. Now picture it as a great silver plate that has been used to collect ash during a lively house party with many people enjoying their cocktails. The material used was very durable and could easily be cleaned and thus suitable for such use while at the same time depicting the style that was in vogue at the time for home decorations.
When people stopped smoking in restaurants and bars, the dish was revived once more and this time maybe for a more fashionable purpose of placing magazines on it. If positioned near a coffee table or next to a reading corner, it would be perfect for holding up magazines or newspapers that are rolled up for the Sunday leisure. Its base was strong and had a large bowl to hold reading material in an organized manner with an antique look.
In the modern world, especially due to the trends of minimalism and Scandinavian style in interior design, it could have evolved one more time – this time, into a fashionable napkin holder during dinner parties. Due to its vibrant color and peculiar shape, anyone would turn a few heads when carrying it around; however, the innovation does not stop at the aesthetics as it is also useful in today’s society.
Just picture this dish, now as a decorative item on the dining table, which holds napkins or today’s letters. It not only increased the life of the item but also enriched its meaning, as it becomes a part of the development of the patterns of our lives.
This vintage glass dish is a perfect example of a piece that ideally can be used in today’s world, while still possessing a certain charm of the past. It is not about what it contains or was initially designed for; it is about what people come up with and the memories that it helps make. It is a beautiful illustration of the fact that good design, whether it is functional or decorative, remains relevant beyond the period in which it was created.