As a collector I used to be quite the snob-- I loved pretty much anything from the Victorian Era to the mid 1960s-- but nothing produced after 1965. In my mind there seemed a descent into bad taste, loud patterns and 'fugly' colour combos in the late 1960s through the 1970s. Another reason I railed against items from this time period was the popularization of themes like owls and toadstools by mass market stores like Urban Outfitters.

Though the 1950s still contains to be my favorite era, the two eras proceeding it have slowly grown on me. There seems to be two reasons for this shift: 1) Items from the 1960s and 1970s just appear more often in thrift stores. Due to the abundance of items there's something I'm bound to like. 2)I've started wearing 1960s and '70s dresses because they are less delicate than those from the '50s and are also a lot cheaper/easier to find in Chicagoland thrift stores. While looking through photos of finds from my last trip home to Fayetteville a common theme emerged: colorful items from the '60s ad '70s. It seems as if I no longer can deny my love of items from this era. :)

I can't remember if this casserole dish is Glasbake or Fire King but I fell in love with the cheery flower motif. Found at the Rogers Council of the Blind Store when the entire inventory was half off!

A little set of plastic canisters, I'm not sure how many there were originally... I wish the smaller one still had its lid! I'll probably use them for holding utensils in the kitchen.

A collection of items from a few different thrift stores... the little book is for stickers and was produced by Hallmark. The tin recipe box's lid doesn't close all the way but I loved the design so I'll have to find another use for it! I'm not sure what the green tin was originally used for, maybe candy or cookies?

I'm starting to build a collection of Made in Japan '60s mugs...I especially like the stacking ones. Unfortunately I only found one of the shakers on the right but I thought it went well with the blue & green flowered mug.

Psychedelic wrapping paper still in its original package. I found this at The Attic and paid less than the original 1960s price of 35 cents.

Pyrex cinderella casserole dish in Crazy Daisy/Spring Blossom Green pattern. The pattern is from the 1970s. I'm not sure how old the Fire King mug is but I assume it's from the '60s.

A very 1970s crocheted owl potholder. Though this borders on tacky I thought it would be fun in the kitchen. I think he used to have googly eyes at one point

I started wearing dresses like this about 2 or 3 years ago... the patterns and colours of my vintage clothing slowly began to show up in the other items I pick up at the thrift stores. You can see another shot of this dress on Flickr.

Yes, every good thriftaholic should match their furniture. ;) This summer I was surprised to discover that this yellow couch at the Oak Park Brown Elephant thrift store matched the material of my dress! If only I could have taken that couch home with me.