Ever stumbled upon a colorful piece of Pyrex in your grandma's kitchen and felt a wave of nostalgia? That's precisely what hooked Rebecca Scott, our guest and Pyrex connoisseur, on the art of collecting vintage kitchenware. Our latest episode whisks you into Bex's charming world, from her family-inspired beginnings to her balancing act as a graphic designer, social media butterfly, and vintage reselling maestro. Amid stories of her lively household in Innisfil, Alberta, Bex peels back the curtain on the thrills of the hunt for those coveted Pyrex pieces that evoke memories of a bygone era.
Did you know that the search for Pyrex can lead to personal transformation? Bex's journey is a testament to this. With anecdotes about starting her own podcast "Pyrex with Bex" and diving into the Whatnot live auction scene, she illustrates the rich tapestry of the collector's community. Our conversation extends beyond the joy of discovery to the strategies that snag elusive finds, the emotional rollercoaster of collecting, and the personal growth that accompanies stepping into the spotlight as an introvert. This is a story not just about Pyrex but about the resilience of passions that flourish even amid snowy climates and pandemics.
Wrapping up our kitchen table chat, Bex and I share insights on the beginners' blunders in collecting and the heartfelt connections people forge with these vintage treasures. We tackle the nitty-gritty of reselling, from deciding which pieces to part with to embracing the quirks of moving an extensive collection. Listeners are invited to a feast of tales ranging from the heartbreak of shattered Pyrex to the triumphs of rare finds, all seasoned with a generous sprinkle of camaraderie and community spirit. Tune in to find out why every Pyrex piece, like the rooms of an old house, tells a story worth preserving.
Ever stumbled upon a colorful piece of Pyrex in your grandma's kitchen and felt a wave of nostalgia? That's precisely what hooked Rebecca Scott, our guest and Pyrex connoisseur, on the art of collecting vintage kitchenware. Our latest episode whisks you into Bex's charming world, from her family-inspired beginnings to her balancing act as a graphic designer, social media butterfly, and vintage reselling maestro. Amid stories of her lively household in Innisfil, Alberta, Bex peels back the curtain on the thrills of the hunt for those coveted Pyrex pieces that evoke memories of a bygone era.
Did you know that the search for Pyrex can lead to personal transformation? Bex's journey is a testament to this. With anecdotes about starting her own podcast "Pyrex with Bex" and diving into the Whatnot live auction scene, she illustrates the rich tapestry of the collector's community. Our conversation extends beyond the joy of discovery to the strategies that snag elusive finds, the emotional rollercoaster of collecting, and the personal growth that accompanies stepping into the spotlight as an introvert. This is a story not just about Pyrex but about the resilience of passions that flourish even amid snowy climates and pandemics.
Wrapping up our kitchen table chat, Bex and I share insights on the beginners' blunders in collecting and the heartfelt connections people forge with these vintage treasures. We tackle the nitty-gritty of reselling, from deciding which pieces to part with to embracing the quirks of moving an extensive collection. Listeners are invited to a feast of tales ranging from the heartbreak of shattered Pyrex to the triumphs of rare finds, all seasoned with a generous sprinkle of camaraderie and community spirit. Tune in to find out why every Pyrex piece, like the rooms of an old house, tells a story worth preserving.
You're listening to another episode of On Our Best Behavior, and today my guest is a fellow Pyrex addict, Pyrex collector, vintage seller and potential hoarder. She also hosts her very own podcast, the Pyrex with Bex Podcast. Welcome, Rebecca Scott.
Speaker 2:Awesome Thanks, Kelly. I'm so glad to be joining you today.
Speaker 1:You know, I kind of summed up who I think you are. Tell me who you are. Tell us a little bit about yourself Sounds good.
Speaker 2:I think what you said was exactly right. I'm definitely a hoarder I've just gotten through the denial phase and come into acceptance of this and definitely a hoarder of Pyrex and vintage. So I hadn't always loved vintage, I've always loved antiques, but Pyrex has kind of become part of my life in the last four or five years. So it really came into being for me at the beginning of the pandemic. And I'm from Canada and right now I live in a small town in it's called Innisfil, alberta, and right now it's very snowy and it's going to be minus 51 degrees Celsius on Friday here, so I'm preparing for the cold weather. But that's a little bit of our piece of Canada. I'm from a town called Calgary it's a bigger town in Canada, if any of your listeners know where that's from and I have three kids, three dogs, two Chihuahuas and a King Corso Mastiff.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, what a funny combination you have two little dogs and then a huge dog.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the little dogs think they're big dogs and the big dog thinks she's a little dog. So it's a weird combination.
Speaker 1:I'm such a dog lover so I had to chirp in there.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, and then you have two cats, yes, a very overweight cat named Jack and then a little kitten named Maggie. So she was my husband's Christmas present to help with the mice in his shop that he has. Nice, nice, that works so good. Yeah, and for my day job, I am a social media manager and graphic designer, so that's my nine to five. I have a company that I've been running for about 10 years now, and my side hustle is reselling vintage as well as collecting and keeping the Pyrex.
Speaker 1:Which it doesn't always pan out on being a hustle. I mean money-wise.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely not. I think I've lost more money having this addiction than made. Yes, I know.
Speaker 1:I know I struggle that too, like there's been a time where I'm like, oh, I think I'm ahead and then sometimes I'm, like you know, questionable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've listened to a bunch of reselling podcasts and they're like. You need this software. You need to keep track of what you're spending on gas and mileage and what you're buying at the surf stores and what you're selling.
Speaker 1:I don't do any of that I don't honestly don't want to know like right. Yeah. Ignorance is bliss. Yeah, you also. So it was funny. My husband the other day. He was like hey, have you heard of this website called what Not? And I'm like, yes, my friend Bex sells Pyrex on there and I've actually never been on there. So he was like kind of telling me about it and I'm like I know about this from you, so tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what Not is relatively new for me. I got into it because of an Instagram friend that I met who was also selling on what Not. So it's really big in the States. It's not as big in Canada just because of the shipping prices for Americans. So most buyers are American on there and the shipping ends up being like $24 just for one little item. So it's not the easiest to sell on, but it's really fun.
Speaker 2:You go on live and you have all of your items ready to go and you hold them up and it's an auction, essentially, and people slide, kind of like online dating, but you're sliding to win the items and it can get pretty heated if somebody really wants the item that you want as well. But it's super fun to sell on it and you get to chat with people in the comments and there's a pretty decent growing community of vintage sellers on there now. It started off mostly with people reselling clothing and buying palettes and overstock from Amazon and department stores so you can get really great deals on clothes. But it's fun to sell pyrex on there and kind of meet people and make some money at the same time.
Speaker 1:Is it nerve wracking to like show up and be live and then you hope people like are going to come and watch you. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so in my first few shows I had, I think, two or three people in the sale and you have to keep the dialogue going. So you're essentially talking to yourself. And I remember it dropped down to one person in the room and I was like, oh no, what do I talk about? So I just started rambling. But the more you go on there, the kind of easier it gets and the more people start following you. So it's definitely one of those things where if you're doing it, you have to commit and keep doing it to see some results.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that sounds intimidating to me. All right, so what sparked your interest in collecting pyrex?
Speaker 2:So I blame it on my grandparents and I'm very grateful that they kind of led me to this.
Speaker 2:But it all came about because of the pandemic happening and they needed somebody to help them clean out their garage and they have a double and a single garage and it was full from floor to ceiling of just things they'd collected over the years brand new appliances and furniture. So my family finally convinced them to get in there and start clearing things out, and one of them was this big rubber made bin of old items from my great aunt and inside were three pieces of pyrex and at that point I'd always thought pyrex was like the measuring cups and that kind of thing that my mom used and that's all it was to me. But I saw this lasagna pan and some of the primary bowls in there and I kind of fell in love instantly just with the colors and the shapes, and I took them home and started doing research on them and found out that they're actually valuable. And not only were there these few colors that I found, there were hundreds of different types of casseroles and dishes and pans and it kind of just spiraled from there.
Speaker 1:So you have the hoarding gene in your blood? I do, yeah, yeah, because your grandparents had all that stuff. That's amazing. I wish someone in my family had a girl. A garage is just full of stuff, like, go through this and see what you want, yeah, but it's not in my blood. I might be the first one to start the addiction in my family and if anyone is, they're really good at hiding it.
Speaker 2:I always say my kids have no hope. If it's not Pyrex, they're going to collect it.
Speaker 1:It'll be something else that they're going to hoard Because your husband collects, like cars, or that says hobby, and so it's expensive. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so between the two of us, the genes we've given them, something's going to happen.
Speaker 1:So when you're collecting, do you focus on specific patterns or time periods in Pyrex history? What did you start looking for and where are you at now?
Speaker 2:I started looking for the primaries. I kind of fell in love with the colors of them, and I'm not usually drawn to colors, except you can see my bookshelf in my background.
Speaker 1:It's beautiful, it's going to make me a liar, it's all rainbow colored. And it's all coated yeah.
Speaker 2:With exception to this bookshelf behind me. I usually wear like black and darker colors and color kind of scares me when it's in a house. So the primary bowls I have them all displayed and those are the first ones that I started looking for and then I discovered that there's the primary bowls without stamps that are even more special to collect. So I think I ended up with five or six primary sets at the beginning of my collecting and I kept them for a few years and eventually parted with them and sold them. But those were always the first ones that I kind of gravitated towards, and the reverse primary as well, just because they were so pretty and I could picture somebody in the 50s using them in their kitchen and it's a nice nostalgic thing to think about.
Speaker 1:How come you collected so many sets of the same whatever. It wasn't really a pattern, but the same. I can't think of the right word collection.
Speaker 2:That's a good question. I think it kind of became a game for me. It's like oh, I can get this set for this much money and then can I get one for cheaper, and then just kept hoarding them. And here where I live it's about $100 Canadian for a full set of primary. So I don't know if that compares.
Speaker 1:That's about what? Yeah, 100 American right and I think Canadian money is more than American.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so in Canada it sounds like it's harder to find Pyrex than in the States.
Speaker 2:I think so. Yeah, I've been to a few places in the States where I've found things that we would never find here. So I think, depending on the pieces that you're looking for, we have a lot of certain ones here in Canada, but even just on my summer vacations, I was able to find some really awesome Christmas pieces in Portland, maine, and I always have family members in the States looking for me. So I think you guys have a great selection.
Speaker 1:Canada's on my bucket list to go to. I haven't been there. I really want to go to BANF. Yes, I don't know, I don't really have any association with Canada, but I want to.
Speaker 2:Well, now that we've met, you can come and hang out with me. Yeah, we can go to BANF. Yeah, we can drift together. Yes, I'll take you to all the spots.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you know all the hot spots because you check them frequently. Yes, now how do you go about finding rare or vintage Pyrex pieces for your collection?
Speaker 2:Mostly on Marketplace. So there's quite a few good resellers on Marketplace in my area and we kind of all have gotten to know each other, lots of people who I just keep track of and I follow them and then we'll message each other and then just kind of either trade or buy pieces, and it's a lot easier than having to go to an antique store where the prices are going to be jacked up a ton. I've also found a few on eBay, which is great. I'm always more wary of shopping online because you can't tell if something is authentic or real or if it's going to arrive broken. I've bought a few things on Poshmark and they're described in one way and then you get them and there's big scratches or chips or cracks. So it's always nice if you can go and take a look at something before you buy it.
Speaker 1:Today is really good at. The buyer is always right. I've sold on eBay. A lot Is Poshmark like that, so when you've gotten something that isn't as described, are they pretty good about having your back and protecting your purchase.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're pretty good. The only downside is if it's something breakable, they have a disclaimer now that says if you're going to be selling this, know that we're probably not going to cover you. So if you're a seller, it's a bit risky. But yeah, for the most part, if you're buying something on Poshmark, they usually they're pretty good that way, yeah.
Speaker 1:I know eBay. If anything is wrong, like you, get your money back, like they don't even ask the seller anything. It's just like if the buyer is not happy. Too bad, so sad.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've read a lot of that.
Speaker 1:I've bought a lot on eBay too and if I've ever had an issue like they are just 100% of both the buyer, I didn't know if you were going to say anything else about that. So you said that the primary set is kind of your favorite. Over time since the beginning of your collecting to now. Is it still like the timeless piece for you, your favorite?
Speaker 2:I've kind of moved away from it a little bit. I've kept one set of each, the reverse and the regular primary and then the fridgey set. But now my main focus is on the pinks. So I have the four piece mixing bowl set, the refrigerator set. I'm missing the covered casseroles though, the 023 and 024. So I'm on the hunt for those. Anybody out there has them.
Speaker 1:I think I have an 024. I think I have a handful of them, so I'll have to show you later.
Speaker 2:And then my husband loves the white snowflake on the black charcoal, so that's been my next pattern to collect, and there's only six pieces in the whole pattern. You'd think that would make it easy to find all six, but it definitely isn't. The price of them is pretty high here. So I have both of the oval casseroles I still need the 575, the ones that come with the cool metal lids the freezer dishes, the space savers yeah, those ones are great. And then I have the oval divided dish and just need the open baking dish. So those are on my list.
Speaker 1:I am blessed I have the blue, the black and the white space saver snowflakes. The space savers are kind of like my weakness and I have, I think I mean except for like the Starburst the turquoise Starburst one I mean that's, but for Christmas last year I think I got the. My husband got me the music staff.
Speaker 2:Oh nice, yeah, that's a great gift.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I have all of them except for the Starburst, and then I don't have the I just got. The pink scroll was my most recent one, but the pink daisy one is the one I don't have. Oh, it's been tricky to find for like a fair price. But yeah.
Speaker 1:So I know I have them all. In my living room I have two hutches, and one of my one hutches like all my all time favorites, and then the other one. I try to like rotate like through this, like every month or something like try to swap them out for kind of like what, what the the trend is, so like if it's wintery or if it's, you know, 4th of July, or if it's Easter or whatever, I'm going to try to put those colors out, yeah, otherwise.
Speaker 1:I just feel like you can't display all of them at the same time. Yeah, have you ever attended any Pyrex related events or conventions?
Speaker 2:I haven't. And I see in the states that there's pyrrhic swaps all the time. Yeah, and I've always been curious about what they were, because in my mind pyrrhic swap was you go and everybody brings all their best pyrrhics and then you just say, oh, do you want to trade? But then I realized it's more like a flea market, which is great as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I think I've done so. We there's one that they do every year here near me and if you're a vendor, I think the vendors can kind of will swap amongst each other, like hey, you know, kind of before everyone gets there, kind of check out like what do you have? What do you have? I really want that. Do I have anything that you want that's comparable? Kind of do this swap. But then if you're not a vendor, then you get to go buy and I do agree, like I think, what did I get? The last one? I went I got the fetus bowl, yeah, and I was really excited about that. And then I got like a, the yellow 401 striped rainbow bowl. And I was really excited about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so, yeah. So it's fun. I do feel like they have more of the stuff that you don't see very often in real life. I always tell my husband, justin, I'll be like I've never even seen that in real life. Oh, my gosh, it's a dish, it's so rare. Yeah. Or my son will be like is that rare mom? And I'll be like no, it's not rare, but it's hard to find. Yeah, all these different categories that they have.
Speaker 2:I think I might have to start a Pyrex swap.
Speaker 1:Where. I was you should and you have. It sounds like you've already built a community, you know, on marketplace and in such, so you would already have like a good base of people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there's so many little thrift stores and antique shops and all the small towns around me so that I could just rally everybody together and we could all swap yeah.
Speaker 1:I created. So it's funny. I don't have a lot of good ideas. I like to always take claim for them. But my husband is a genius and he's like you know what you should do. You should start a Facebook group, and we live in Minnesota and it is mini snow to right now. We got snow today as well, but it is not going to be negative 51. It was 32 today, which is really warm for January. And anyway, he's like you should start a Minnesota Pyrex Facebook group and then you're the admin and so every time people post in there, you have to approve it, and so you get to see what's coming through first and then you get first dibs at it. That's smart, that is so smart. And now I have well over a thousand members in that group. So yeah, it's been great.
Speaker 2:Oh, I should join in secret, even though I don't live in your area.
Speaker 1:Well, you can join, I'll let you join. You know the whole the shipping situation sucks but you know we do a lot of like the front step pickup or whatever, and that works out really good. But, yeah, it is awesome to be able to be like okay, I you know some people will let their groups be open and just let people post whatever they want to. But I'm like, oh no, I am gonna look and see what it is first, because if I want it, then I get it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't even have to prove it.
Speaker 1:I'm just like nevermind sold.
Speaker 2:Love it. I'm going to do that. Right after we're done, I'm going to create my own group as well.
Speaker 1:Yay.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 1:So, speaking of starting groups, what advice do you have for someone just starting their Pyrex collection?
Speaker 2:Oh, that is a good one. I would say, purchase the Pyrex passion book. That has been my number one.
Speaker 1:Bible.
Speaker 2:Bible yeah, bible. And then I just bought the second one to it. That's more of the table and plates and mugs in it. It's a really cool read, if you like. The other side of Pyrex and what else? Always research and check prices.
Speaker 2:My biggest downfall at the beginning of collecting was buying anything and everything that I saw.
Speaker 2:I had so many dishwasher damaged pieces and pieces that I spent way too much money on. And if I would had just taken some time to buy the book or research and not kind of get carried away, I think I would be further along in my collecting than I am now. But it's kind of all part of the journey learning and yeah, I don't regret it, but I think if you're starting off, that's a good way to go. And also, as we were talking about Facebook groups I was thinking of, another piece of advice would be join positive Facebook groups, because I found that there's so many out there that aren't positive that it can really deter you from wanting to continue to collect or really enjoying being a collector. And there's been a few times where I felt kind of embarrassed asking questions about Pyrex because there's some people who think that you should know or they kind of shoot you down because you don't know. So finding a good group of people is always a great thing when you're starting off.
Speaker 1:I would 100% agree with that. There is, I think with all social media there is always such a heavy negative side.
Speaker 1:And so finding that positive, right group, people who are willing to help you and not cut you down. And the other thing too is you know a lot of people I'll see on those groups and maybe you've had this experience as well where somebody will say I found this piece and they want this much money for it, and then everyone's like that's too much, that's a rip off, that's whatever, whatever. Or even if you post something for sale, some people will be like that's ridiculous, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I always say like when you're buying and selling antiques or collectibles, something that you can't just go to Target and buy, it is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it Exactly. So it depends on how much you want it, how long you've been searching for that one piece to finish your collection or set. So sometimes you know you do have to spend a little bit more, but there are a lot of avenues where you can find things very, very cheap.
Speaker 2:I agree.
Speaker 1:And if you, as long as you're not in a rush to get everything, I think patience, patience helps too with the patience and I think, like the part of the addiction that fuels our fire, is the thrill of finding something that you've been looking for is super exciting and just really gets you going, because you can't just be like, oh okay, well, today I'm going to spend $100 and I'm just going to go to the store and buy this, this, this and this. It doesn't work like that. You have to wait for it to pop up and it has to be the right price and the right location or the right shipping, or so many things have to align for it to work out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the thrill of it is, hands down, my favorite part. There's been a few times where I've seen something sitting on a shelf. That's where I got my last white and black snowflake. It was at a Goodwill and I think I almost pulled somebody over trying to get to it.
Speaker 1:I'm like no, I hope no one else sees that, because it's mine.
Speaker 2:And then I had to stop and be like wait, I need a video for my reels of me finding this dish. So I had to reverse like oh no, no, it's not going to look right, so I just gave up.
Speaker 1:I love that. I know I've done that too. I've been at Goodwill or whatever and I'm like looking at everyone's carts like what did they get? What? Did they? Get. They're going to not be anything in their cart that I really want.
Speaker 2:I've heard stories of people seeing things in other people's carts and actually stealing it out of it. So I'm always worried about that. So I keep my cart very close to me.
Speaker 1:I would never do that. I would just be like that was a good find, you got lucky. I'm lucky that you got here five minutes before I did it. Yeah, good job. Exactly Like come on, be a friend, right? Everyone's so mean and competitive and it's too bad.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's definitely not worth fighting over a dish, as much as I love them, it's definitely not worth it.
Speaker 1:It depends on what it is right.
Speaker 2:No, just kidding. If you have that Duchess I'm looking for out there, I'm going to say you want that.
Speaker 1:Duchess Like, maybe then you might go to some different levels, yeah.
Speaker 2:I keep talking about it, so hopefully it just shows up one day and putting it out there in the universe.
Speaker 1:Since we talked the last time, I Googled it because I was like what is this Duchess I don't even know about, but it's totally not my avenue. So if I ever find it I'll send it your way. Thank you, I like the more the milk glass with the paint and the patterns and the colors. I'm not as much into the clear with the because right, it's kind of is it clear with pink on it, like the pink.
Speaker 2:It's solid, pink, yeah, solid pink.
Speaker 1:Little glasses that hang around.
Speaker 2:No, no, this one is like a rounded casserole.
Speaker 1:Well, maybe I was looking at the wrong thing, so I'll have to Maybe you do.
Speaker 2:Maybe you will like it and you won't send it to me.
Speaker 1:No, I will. I will send it to you because it's clearly not on my radar after all these years, so I will definitely have your back on that one. I know how much you want it. Do you have any other interesting stories about your Pyrex collecting journey? I was like sorry, it was good.
Speaker 2:My number one would probably be my husband. This is my husband's story, but I'm going to tell it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 2:And it is in one of my previous episodes, but I talk about where I had this bertha. And it was a butterfly gold bertha, my very first one that I'd ever found. I think I paid $120 for it and it had no flea bites or anything. I was so excited, brought it home and my husband asked me if he could make a roast in it that night. So I said, sure, go ahead.
Speaker 1:I cried when I heard this story.
Speaker 2:I still have tears in my eyes to this day. But I said as long as you take a video of it so that I can put it on my Pyrex account, because this is the first time we've used the bertha and I've never had one. So I went out shopping with my mom and I get this text message from him and it's a picture of the bertha and a bajillion pieces on the floor. And it ended up that he had taken a video, but he put the bertha on the stove top and turned the stove on to make a sauce with the roast and it exploded. And he was using red wine as well. So there is red wine on our ceiling, on our walls oh my gosh. And I'm glad he was okay. But after I found out he was, I had to every ounce of me was like oh no, it's okay, don't worry, it's just a dish.
Speaker 1:Oh, did he get hit with glass.
Speaker 2:He did. Luckily he didn't get hurt and nothing cut him, but it went everywhere and luckily as well our kids weren't in the kitchen. But every time now he goes to use a piece of my Pyrex he says is this safe? Can I do this? Can it go here? I think he has PTSD.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, good, I won't use. I have a handful of big berthas and I will not use. There's a lot of things I won't use.
Speaker 1:I used a lasagna pan one time and I was real nervous yeah, I'll use. If we go to a flea market or something and I'll see a dishwater damaged piece and it's like a dollar or whatever, sure I'll buy it and I'll use it in the kitchen. Or we use cereal bowls or soup bowls or all just the Pyrex ones that are. They're not pretty, they're scuffed up or they have a chip or they're faded, so then we just use those. I've been gifted a few pieces casserole dishes and I'll use those. But anything that's like $100 or more or super hard to find, I will not use it.
Speaker 1:I'm too scared of something happening to it.
Speaker 2:It's nerve wracking using them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we had a potluck at work not that long ago and somebody had like a 404 early American bowl that they brought with their food in there. And I was like, who is that? And it was this girl, kara. And she's like I knew when you saw it you were going to be so proud of me and I'm like I am proud of you. And then the next day I was cleaning out the dishwasher at work and it was in there. No, and I'm like who put this in the dishwasher? And she's like Kelly, it's been in the dishwasher so many times. And I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you can't do that. And it was still like you couldn't tell it had ever been in the dishwasher. Oh wow, it looked really great. But I'm like it's only a matter of time before that that's going to just all fade away. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I've seen some funny posts on Facebook groups where people are buying things from, or pyrex from people and they send them a message and say okay, I'll make sure to clean it and put it in the dishwasher for you before you come and pick it up and they're like no.
Speaker 1:Just sell it to me dirty, I'll do it myself. Yeah, oh my gosh, that's so sad. How do you display your pyrex or store your collection?
Speaker 2:When I first started I bought a bunch of IKEA cabinets, so most of it went up in China cabinets and then we moved and now, sadly, a lot of it is in boxes. But the ones that I do have, I cut out little cardboard feet for them and then I have them in the stacks in covers. So my pink ones, my primary ones, and then what else do I have displayed? I have some mugs displayed as well, so all my favorite ones are in the cabinets. And my dad even rigged up some LED lights, so I have a little remote. I love it. I love that it changes colors. That was his engineering moment for me, so I love that it was fun.
Speaker 1:Was it hard to move all your pyrex? It was.
Speaker 2:That sounds scary. I let my husband do all the packing, because I'm not good at it at all. He packs everything when I sell things and then he packs if we have to move anywhere. So we had a very big section of our moving van and trucks full of just my pyrex dishes and all my vintage stuff. And, yeah, luckily only three bowls didn't survive the move. But that was okay. They weren't anything special.
Speaker 1:I think about that, if I ever move, what a job that's going to be. Yeah, and then sometimes I think maybe I should downsize. No, nah.
Speaker 2:Why would?
Speaker 1:that thought ever cross my mind.
Speaker 2:There's always a way. Even people even move across states and to other countries with their pyrex. So there's always a way.
Speaker 1:There is a way I know. I just think of it like rattling around in like a U-Haul truck, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's usually how.
Speaker 1:I.
Speaker 2:Oh, go ahead. No, you're fine, go ahead. I was just going to say that's usually how I sound when I'm coming home from the thrift store Things rattling in the back. Everybody knows coming down the street that I've been to Goodwill or Value Village and it's like a little bell to warn my husband to hide.
Speaker 1:You might want to close your eyes, honey, yeah.
Speaker 2:Nothing's coming in the door Nope.
Speaker 1:Your husband is very supportive. You're very lucky to have him. He is, he is yeah, he is supportive and helpful, and he also has his own stuff. So then you guys have a good balance between each other and forgiveness and understanding.
Speaker 2:And I'm lucky that he enjoys cooking more than I do, so it kind of sweetens the deal. If he has a nice matching set of pyrex to put his cooking in, he wins a little bit too.
Speaker 1:I'll do that. We do a lot of work. Everybody brings something and I will use my brownie pans. So the crazy Daisy and the pink and I'm trying to think of other ones I've brought and everyone's like oh, we know, Kelly brought that.
Speaker 1:And I'm like just remember do not put it in the dishwasher. When it's done, I will clean it, if just don't put it in the sink. I got it the one and only rule. So my next question is you also host a podcast, and it is solely about Pyrex. It's called the Pyrex with X podcast. So what inspired you to host a podcast?
Speaker 2:So one of my friends is a podcast producer and when I met him it was always on my radar to start a podcast, and initially I'd thought that it would be something to do with my nine to five job, probably about social media tips and tricks like that. But it's so saturated with marketing podcasts out there right now that I figured why not do something about what I genuinely love and my passion? That's a hobby that I'll really enjoy. So I started up the podcast not too long ago. Episode nine is coming out soon and it's just been a great way to talk about it to myself when I don't have a guest and talk about things that my friends wouldn't necessarily enjoy. I haven't met other collectors and just learned about other people's collections and what they love about vintage, so it's been really fun just doing something out of my comfort zone, because I'm a huge introvert as well, so it pushes me to do something that's new and exciting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm really proud of you because you had said that you are an introvert, and I saw that your 2024 resolution was to post more of yourself on your social media, because it's always Pyrex and I am excited about that.
Speaker 1:I think that you are so cute, you have such a good personality and I love your posts. I just listened I think it was last night to your podcast when you were talking about the mushrooms. Oh yeah, yeah, I look forward to your episodes because I learned from them and you're into some different things that I wouldn't say that I'm not into, but are kind of off my radar, and so it's interesting to hear about other things vintage and their kind of story and where they came from and the differences between the states and Canada things that you just don't really know or think about. So I think that you do a really great job with that. Thank you, and I was going to say and I also think you just getting on and whatnot and selling things in a live auction is also amazing I don't think that I'm an introvert at all and I would be terrified to do that.
Speaker 2:It's definitely intimidating. Yeah, yeah, it's fun to find new things like that and trying to push myself a little bit more every year to do new stuff.
Speaker 1:Do you feel like it's getting easier, like your introvertness? Do you feel like you're kind of getting out of that shell?
Speaker 2:I think so. Yeah, it definitely helps recording the podcast and interviewing people and doing the live sales. You kind of get more confident in what you're saying and that you kind of know what you're talking about. So it's really good from a growth perspective that way. And my next kind of leap in the selling world was going to be to try starting Instagram lives, but I think the shipping issue is going to come up with the high price to ship outside of Canada.
Speaker 1:So I might try it, but not sure yet yeah, when I see stuff on eBay, I'll be like ugh, it's in Canada. It's so expensive to ship it. Sometimes it's more expensive to ship it than you pay for the item. That's tough.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've seen some items that are like $20, but shipping is $50. So it better be a great item for that.
Speaker 1:No. Then it's like is it worth the $70,? Right yeah, Anything else you want to share.
Speaker 2:I think, just for anybody who has a collection of Pyrex or you love collecting vintage or anything that's kind of out there and not what mainstream or what mainstream would be, I guess, just keep going with it. When I started collecting Pyrex my friends thought I was crazy. They always called me the old lady with the old lady bowls. But I think if you love something and you really enjoy it, you'll find your people and your community and that's all that really matters. And I think having a collection like this in my life has made such a huge difference just with, especially over the pandemic, not having anything to do, having something to focus on, and now that we're kind of out of that part of our lives, for the most part I still have that in my life and I'm able to teach my kids about different historic times and different dishes and recipes and kind of involve them that way and it's really nice.
Speaker 1:I think it's one of those things when people are like what's a fun fact about you that people don't know if it's a new group of people? And then when they find out that you're not 60 plus and you collect vintage dishes or anything vintage, they're like really it's surprising to them. And then it leads into stories like well, my grandma this or my parents this or so and so and so and so and so.
Speaker 1:Everyone has a story and then you get to hear about that and, as somebody who is a collector and is super into that, you want to hear those things.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, that's always fun hearing the history behind a piece, especially if it's somebody saying, oh, I got this for my wedding, or my husband gave this to me, or this was my mom's, and every time I use it it brings back those memories. And those are always my favorite people to sell to as well, because they've been searching forever for a set or a certain bowl and it kind of completes that memory for them once they get it, and it's nice being a part of that.
Speaker 1:I enjoyed your episode where you were talking about that gentleman who was trying to find the Mary Mushroom canisters because his mom had them and there was X amount of siblings and everybody. They were trying to kind of piece back together that set so every one of the kids could have one in remembrance of their mom and I thought, oh my gosh, that is so sweet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's one of. That's a great example of just somebody who really appreciates all the work that goes into finding these items. And if I can sell things to somebody like that all day, every day, I would, just because he was so happy to receive them when he came to pick them up and he was almost crying because he said he didn't have a great relationship with his mom, but it was just a way of remembering her and being closer to her and his siblings as well.
Speaker 1:I often think about that with actually every single piece of Pyrex. I think like what kind of life did this bowl live? How many families was it in? What did it see behind closed doors? Some of these were in the 50s and the 60s. They have lived a lot of life and I often wonder am I the second person that they've seen, or have they seen 20 people? And I just wonder, if you think about old houses, if the walls of the houses could talk. I always wonder about if these dishes could talk. The stories that they could tell and the things that they've seen and the changes is just insane.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, that would be just like your comparison to old houses. I follow a lot of old house Facebook groups and people always tell the story of the people they bought it from and the people before them, and every now and then you get the history of that with dishes as well, but it always makes it fun. What's next for you, bex? Oh, that's a good question. I think probably continue with the podcast and start hunting for some of my unicorn pieces, the rare, hard to find ones. I've been selling off a little bit of my collection every month, the ones that aren't as exciting anymore to me, just to be able to get some of the ones I've been searching for for a while. So that's probably next on my list.
Speaker 1:One of my things that I like to do is find sets new in the box. Never opened, or opened but never used. And so this past weekend that's one of the things I was doing is I'm like, all right, let me see what I have in the box and I am going to part with and resell the set that I have that's not new in the box, because I don't need five sets of everything. It's okay to let it go. Yeah, all right, bex, where can everyone?
Speaker 2:find you. You can find me on Instagram at Pyrex with Bex. I have a website as well, pyrexwithbexcom, and you can find me on what not to selling at Pyrex with Bex as well, and Poshmark. Yeah, everywhere I find me. Everywhere, I am everywhere.
Speaker 1:It's a good place to be. All right, bex, thanks so much for coming on the podcast and chatting about our mutual passion, and I'm sure I'll talk to you soon and I definitely will be listening to your future episodes. I love your podcast.
Speaker 2:Awesome Poshmark Kelly.