Thursday, July 25, 2013

WEIGHTY MATTERS

I see these American Family Kitchen Scales all over blogland.  Plus, there is a plethora of them on google images, ebay, and pinterest.  Judging on the numbers that have survived, every housewife in the mid-20th century must have had one in her kitchen!
What am I missing here?  I've been married (and cooking) for almost 55 years, and have never had a need to weigh anything in my kitchen.
I don't have a clue what everyone was weighing?
So, why do I have one of these scales?  Several years ago when my Mother-in-law was downsizing, Bob brought this scale home to me.  Evidently my Mother-in-law was through weighing whatever it was that she was weighing!  Now what was I suppose to weigh?
Cans of tomatoes?  It already says on the can what they weigh.   So, that wasn't it!
This one is a lovely shade of green -- some call it Jadite green. In the quilt world, we call it "THATgreen indicative of the 
shade of green fabric often used in 1930s quilts.
Maybe when I was young, I should have invested my change in American Family Scale Company -- then now I would be a millionaire, and could buy vintage kitchen scales and have a true collection. 
These scales really are rather endearing though, aren't they? 

 In the meantime, I'm still trying to figure out what to weigh on mine.
I'm joining the following parties:
Pieced Pastimes for Saturday Sparks
Creative Home Expressions for The Creative Home and Garden Hop Sunday
Sunday View for Vintage View Sunday
Creatively Living for Monday Funday
Better With Age for Give Me The Goods Monday
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Vintage Tuesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't remember weighing anything, way back when, nor do I remember Mother or Granny weighing anything. There was a scale in the barn, perhaps for weighing...what? I don't know...it had a hook and hung from the rafters.

I had one of those scales, like yours, at the farm...just because...not for weighing anything. It disappeared about the time we moved. J was giving stuff away like nobody's business! Guess that is what happened to my scale...went to a friend along with a lot of other stuff.

I like your green scale. Mine wasn't as pretty.

Marilyn said...

Never had one at our house when I was growing up. Some English recipe measure ingredients in grams, but this seems rather large for that. Maybe they weighed the babies in the house?!♥♫

NanaDiana said...

I love that old scale. My mother had one that she "purchased" with S&H green stamps. It sat on her counter for years. xo Diana

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

Ok....I got this. Baking is not supposed to be measured like cooking...it is supposed to be by grams. That is why kitchens had scales....It is supposed to give you a better texture in the batters!

Gail @ http://biblelovenotes.com said...

I never thought about what housewives were weighing : )
But I think the scales are a neat piece of nostalgia.

Tea in the Library said...

Baking & canning! Great pics, fun post! Visiting from CE Blog hop. Angels to ya!

Okio B Designs said...

Ha! Great post! I just found my 5th scale at a garage sale. I use them to display cloches and such. I never really sat down and thought about what they weighed back in the day.

Jeanine

thepaintedapron.com said...

haha, I have been thinking, I guess I need a scale, everyone has one! Thanks for saving me from cluttering my counter! Yours does look really cute though!
Jenna

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Love your scales and such a cute post. You are so clever. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

sweet violets said...

I have that same scale and bought it brand new at JCPenny's about 1972 I think.....part of the country look at the time. I still love it, I weighed fruit for canning on it. My mom always used the scale for baking and for home made pasta....needed to know how much equaled one pound. Also for pound cake, each ingredient had to weigh one pound. I have cookie recipes that call for one pound of eggs!!! One calls for one pound of brown sugar......those were the days!!!

amy of studio four corners said...

can't believe what good condition your scale is in...I have a scale in my office...it holds a lovely set of old books and a French postcard...and in a pinch can weigh a package before I head out to the post office...stopping over from Knick of Time...

Anonymous said...

Love the post Sally! I use my scale, or rather used to all the time when I canned in large quantities!

I have been on bear watch for the past few weeks. Witht the fire a few weeks ago which has caused bears to come into town and they are trying to get to my honey. Am hoping to harvest the large hive which has about 60 lbs. this weekend. I hope he doesn't get in to the hive before I have time to harvest!

bee blessed
mary

Unknown said...

Pretty funny and a lovely little scale! I love the green! Thank you for sharing at Give Me The Goods!

Amber@ Dimples & Pig Tales

Anonymous said...

Good question! I see good answers in the comments, though. We almost bought an old scale the other day, but house is too full now! Great photos and styling.

Sarah said...

You have a beauty, and it has a family history.
Interesting question. My husband who is much more of a serious cook than I am, actually uses a scale frequently. I suppose it is more scientific than using a measure. What ever the reason, it's nice that there are so many pretty ones around.

Little Susie Home Maker said...

Haha! You are so funny. Because you are so right! What do you really need to weigh! Love you scale, just as charming as all the others I have seen. Now, you know, I still need one!
Blessings
Susie

Laura Turner said...

I HAVE one of those scales! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! It was given to me by a distant relative who was from Iowa. It's more of a turquoise color. When was turquoise popular? Such a clever, clever post. Enjoyed it so much! Thank you for joining inspired Sunday.

Art and Sand said...

I never thought about it, but I never saw my mother or grandmothers using scales. But, I had to have one. It was dull gray, but I painted it red.

Mary Smith said...

It looks really cool! The only reason I use a scale for at the moment(and it's digital) is to measure out sprout seeds for resale.

Thanks for sharing at the Creative Home & Garden Hop. Looking forward to seeing what you share this week.

http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-creative-home-garden-hop-3.html

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Oh you made me laugh Sally. I too have never found the need to weigh anything. Especially not this body! lol! That didn't stop me from loving these scales. I have three and two vintage baby scales. I would have a hard time passing up another if it was quite different than what I have. The only thing I can think they might have weighed is their garden produce. Still, not sure! I know what 'that' green is and I love it! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann