What a Crock!

Most of my readers probably know how much I like to go to thrift stores in search of treasures of one kind or another. I keep my eyes peeled for that certain item that I have my heart set upon. It  can take months or even years to hit the right place at the just the right time to find it--that thing I have been searching for without having to give up an arm and a leg to make it my own. I post today about one such item I have been looking for.

A week or so ago, I stopped by a little shop that I sometimes forget about. It is tucked away in an inconspicuous place and I glanced down and spied something that looked very much like something my heart had been desiring. It was sitting on the very bottom shelf of one of the displays. I figured it was a flimsy reproduction of some kind. I reached down, expecting to quickly lift it up to check it out. To my amazement, the thing was heavy--very heavy! I finally managed to get the thing on to a higher shelf, more at eye level, so I could examine it more closely.

It had a design on one side that I think is called "gaggle of geese" but when I turned it around looking for a maker's mark and a price., I saw a stamp on the reverse--a crown with an encircled number "1" and U.S.A., which I later discovered was the reason the item was so heavy. Such items made in the U.S.A. are very sturdy and heavy. The number 1 stands for one gallon. I was then wondering if there would be an equally heft price tag. When I found the price sticker I had to wonder if it was for real.

I asked myself,  "For the price they are asking, is this thing for real or is it a real crock?" It took a couple of minutes to soak in, but I decided, it is both. Seriously, it is not a "crock" as in not for real (an impostor or cheap reproduction). It is, however a real crock.  This seems to be a contradiction in terms.  It is not a crock but it is a real crock. Enough of the conundrums! A picture speaks a thousand words.

One Gallon Butter Crock 

I am one of those cooks who keeps a lot of kitchen utensils at the ready. I do not like to spend a ton of time digging through drawers as I work in the kitchen. I have utensils corralled in two different containers, one of which I was looking to replace. I had now found the perfect replacement, but was I prepared to pay the sticker price for this one? Would you pay $1.99 for it? That's right people, $1.99! Can you believe it?

You can visit some of the links below to see some similar crocks. There are vintage and antique ones out there. However, there do not seem to be many examples of the one gallon type for sale online.

Pinterest is a good place to find some good source to find ideas for using this type of crock for organization and decor.


Here is a comparable crock on Amazon.

Ebay is also a source for looking for some of these crocks and this antique one.

Well, I can tell you, I was not about to let it sit there a minute longer. I had been waiting a long time for this one and I could not get to the check out counter fast enough!

One Gallon Butter Crock to Hold Kitchen Utensils

I realized only after I was almost done with posting about the crock that the photo I had taken of the opposite side of the crock with the geese is one that I was planning to use for a future post. The other side does not particularly appeal to me and I will probably be using it with the maker's stamp side showing most of the time, anyway.

Granted, I discovered a vintage find, not an antique. It is probably not nearly as old as some old antique ones I have seen on some sites. It is not all cracked, chippy and crazed like those. It is, nonetheless, "genuine" and a true American-made product, something increasingly difficult to come by these days. For less than $2.00, I genuinely like it and am satisfied it will serve my purposes. Now, that's a real crock and what a crock!