Restoration/Orphans/Satisfaction!

[Foofoogal]

As a lover of anything antique or vintage I was cleaning up some bakelite forks and knives. It struck me that this is about 50% of the satisfaction I receive of collecting and selling also.
Gently using steel wool to get rid of the spots that I knew if I didn't clean soon time would set in.
I also get great satisfaction of bringing sets back together. Recently I was thrilled to find the creamer to a set of china. I had the teapot and sugar bowl. I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted the matching creamer.
Is it me or do any of you have great affection for being a rescuer of antiques or collectibles? Seems the dirtier they are the better I like them.
Just love to restore them back to usefulness.
I was thinking of the chair Brinybay had written about recently or the bicycles I have seen on here restored or countless other treasures.
Protectors of quality. If you think of it there is a window really of maybe 1920s to late 1960s of well made general stuff still around. How much of it will be lost forever?
Doing my part.

 

[DeaconKC]

I am a sucker for the unloved/neglected whether it be an old razor, fountain pen or firearm. It saddens me to see something just neglected and I too, share the satisfaction of bringing one back.

 

[Dexter'sDame]

Orphan reuniter here

Although I don't have the time or energy to restore many items, I'm an avid reuniter of orphaned china and glassware. Recently I purchased a twin for a beautiful 1920's Spode Old Billingsley Rose dinner plate someone bought me from an antique store. Before its twin arrived, it had limited use as a cookie plate. Now it's dinner for 2.

(Kudos and thank you to those of you who DO have the time and energy, by the way!)

I should add that abandoned furniture sitting forlornly on the curb makes me very sad, and I've rescued a lot of it over the years.

 

[Minerva]

I think dirt is a preservative. The worse something looks like when I drag it home, the better condition it's in once all the dirt is off. lol

My best salvage to date is a 50s typing table from my mother's basement. She was going to pitch it due to rust and grime, but I dragged it home (over the husband's protests) and gave it a good scrubbing. The following week, the husband asks when I picked up the new foyer table. :eusa_doh: Sometimes I wonder about him ...

 

[dhermann1]

When I sold my 1878 cottage up in Chautauqua Institution a few years ago, which had been in the family 98 years, I went through all the dishes in the dining room. I discovered that among the silverware there were 43 separate patterns represented, of which 19 were unique individuals, the accumulation of over a century. I also have a few cream and sugar sets with one half of the pair missing. Somewhere in dish heaven they'll all be together in the great by and by.

 

[DeaconKC]

Just put an old Esterbrook fountain pen back in service, new J bar, sac and nib. Beautiful writer now and ready for another 50 years [I hope].