The plate was a beautiful pearl
white with a simple gold edge and small pink rosebuds with a tiny gold vine
connecting each of the buds to make a lovely trim.
There were additional pieces available for a reasonable price too.
 |
| Piggly Wiggly "Self Service Store" courtesy photobucket.com |
Becky saw it first, the Piggly
Wiggly advertisement for a Free dinner plate if you purchased a certain amount
of groceries.
 |
| photo by Hazel |
There were additional pieces available for a reasonable price too.
At that time we lived in
Oklahoma along with our two girls, and we often went grocery shopping at the
Piggly Wiggly; so each week Becky and I arranged it so we could each obtain our
free dinner plate.
We may have had help from
Robert and Judie, because as soon as we each had 12 plates, we began to
purchase salad plates, small desert bowls, cups and some serving pieces.
We enjoyed those dishes when
we had company, until it was time to move back to California. Becky and Judie continued to live with us,
and soon after Judie, joined the Air Force.
Becky had packed away her
Piggly Wiggle china, and when she married, she and her husband decided on a
different dish pattern, so she gave me, her Piggly Wiggly dishes.
About then is when I decided
to donate my Japanese
dishes with the large Orange designs to our Church Yard sale. I requested that if the Mexican couple at our
church wanted the Orange dishes to see that they were given to them for free. The Bride immediately fell in love with my
ornate dishes.
In the mean time, while Judie
was stationed by the Air Force in Korea, she purchased for me a set of Noritake
white china dishes with a silver trim and no other design. They were just what I wanted.
However we were moving again,
this time to the woods, because Robert had health problems and could not
work. So the dishes Judie obtained for
me are still in the carton, and the Piggly Wiggly ones are in my cabinet. It seems too easy to just use the pretty pink
rose trimmed dishes for now.
I really do not need so many
dishes, and one day soon, I am going to do some more donating.
Anyone need a nice set of
china dishes, hardly used?
Post Script: Before I posted my story I did some Google searching about the store. Apparently it was the FIRST store that offered Self service INSTEAD of giving your order to the clerk and the clerk would retrieve your goods. I am sure the customers enjoyed pushing their cart down the aslies and would purchase much more as they would see some-thing else they needed or wanted. These PIG stores are throughout the South, and the name was funny to us too. I don’t know if they still offer dishes, but this story was in the year 1977 and they did at that time.
This post has been linked to Michelle’s Thought Provoking Thursday
This post has been linked to Michelle’s Thought Provoking Thursday
This post is also linked with Ann
Kroeker’s Food on Fridays
(The food in my story is still at the Piggly Wiggly)
3 comments:
I first heard of Piggly Wiggly while in England serving with OM, when we were returning to the states due to my health. When I asked our interviewer what grocery stores were in the small town of GA where we were relocating he replied; Piggly Wiggly. I thought he was joking. It was the funniest name I'd ever heard for a grocery store. Sounded very English actually. Loved your story Hazel and it reminded me of a dish story of my own, when I was about a month old in the Lord. Just as soon as I feel up to it, I'll put my story on my blog and link to you as my inspiration. Thanks for the reminder and the memories. Plus, it just might help my writer's block! :)
I think you should pass down to your family that you got from Piggly Wiggly... It sounds good in a story! If I lived by a store with the name Piggly Wiggly I'd shop there for that reason alone! And maybe pick up some memory making dishes in the process...
Oh Hazel Moon - I couldn't be happier to have found your post about your experience with the Piggly Wiggly and their lovely pink china! The reason being that my family too has had this same china in our care for more than several decades. When my mom was a young girl either just getting married or shortly after getting married, she fell in love with this pattern. To help my mom grow her collection, both her mother and my dad's mother all chipped in to collect pieces for my mom's collection. As the years went on, the dishes became relegated to a box in the basement until one day when I moved out and was setting up my own home. My mom pulled them out and asked if I wanted them - which of course was a YES! I thought they were as pretty as could be and felt so fancy eating on pretty pink china. These have become my only dishes and have moved many many times with me in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, some dishes moved better than others so now I have a somewhat uneven place setting. I recently started looking for places I could pick up replacement pieces when I came across your blog. You wouldn't happen to still need a good home for your Piggly Wiggly china would you? I'd be thrilled if the possibility existed but I'd also be happy to know if someone else is enjoying them too~ Fingers crossed and happy to have crossed your path. KimBerly
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