I also found several news articles about her and her collection, mostly from 1998 and 2002. Many other pencil sharpener collectors link to the page of her’s that I found as well.
But she appears to have no actual presence on the internet since that page was created. No Facebook, no other news articles, no updates to the website.
The guy who is listed as having made the website shares her surname and the link there does go to a more modern website, but it’s all in Dutch. Any idea what happened to Gemma?
I also have a small collection of postcards with a cartoon drawing of a mosquito and the caption “State bird of [state]”. I’d hoped to get one from each state, but health problems curtailed my travelling.
No idea. She used to put out a quarterly catalog (in Dutch or English) and send an annual subscription renewal notice. One year it all stopped, and I didn’t follow up.
Prizerware. Specifically the Pennsylvania Dutch flower pattern on white. I think I have all the pots and pans; now I’m trying to find things like the pie plates and large platters. I see them a lot in the turquoise or red, but so far not in my preferred pattern.
I started collecting it because someone gave my mom the 2-quart casserole as a wedding gift, and it’s the best pot for cooking rice, so I thought I’d try more enamel-coated cast iron cookware, and I love it.
I’m also on the lookout for a particular pattern of flatware from Towle. I grew up with it and still prefer it. It’s got heft to it instead of feeling like you could almost bend it in half with no effort.
I’m probably more of an accumulator than a real collector. I’ve always been irritated with kitchen equipment that quickly wears out or breaks, and/or just doesn’t work right, and I semi-obsessively troll for great deals and in secondhand stores for “the good stuff” that IS durable and DOES work.
It’s the kind of thing that sounds at the beginning as if you’re going to get “done” at some point. Ha. But at the same time, my kitchen really is a lot less frustrating to me than most are. The knives are sharp, the pot handles won’t fall off, and when I want something infrequently-used but helpful, usually I have it, and usually it actually does what it’s supposed to do.
The only things I can see myself collecting now would just be a wardrobe of lots of good clothing, and lots of towels in the bathroom (i.e., 25 different towels, all different colors), etc.
Colonial currency ---- my dream would include a 13 colonies collection all in UNC with signers of the Declaration of Independence where possible.
Meat cleavers ---- one from (made in) each state. We have a rather large wall where the steps head to the second floor and my goal is to have a US map with the appropriate cleaver hung from each state. Its possible with ones hallmarked by blacksmiths but its really tough. Hawaii and Alaska are tough of course but so are some of the other states.
I sed to collect the National Geographic magazine but I ran out of space for it. I had every copy from 1914 to the present, with all their maps.
I gave it away to a Doper who came almost halfway across the country to pick it up, and had special shelves in their house for it.
I am trying to complete a collection of cookbooks that was published here in Topeka. It’s called The Household Searchlight Recipe book, and was published from 1931 to 1958, going through twenty-eight printings. I’m missing ony the third printing and the ninth printing. It spread all across the US, so on the off chance your grandma or great grandma has a copy still, check out the printing and steal it for me! Just kidding!
But at the same time, my kitchen really is a lot less frustrating to me than most are. The knives are sharp, the pot handles won’t fall off, and when I want something infrequently-used but helpful, usually I have it, and usually it actually does what it’s supposed to do.