Jim the Pyrex Man and the great Pyrex-palooza

Everyone has connections. Some people have a computer guy, some people have a car guy, when I was working at Disney World I had a free ice cream guy. Yesterday my mother and I met our Pyrex guy.

I was doing the requisite weekend searches for estate sales (on craigslist) and trying to pick one or two to hit up. A little bit frustrated with the lack of early postings close to my home, I decided to just search "Pyrex" as a keyword in all for sale.

It turned up a hit for a man listing lots of bottles, jars, pans, and TONS of Pyrex. He even had prices listed and they were GOOD. He didn't seem to know patterns but at least two things were pink. I just had to see his stuff!

I called the phone number he had provided but had to try a few hours later to get hold of him. When I got him on the phone he gave me the directions to his house and Mom and I were off - another trip over the river and through the big city (to Pyrex Jim's house we go).

When we got there he had his garage literally stacked floor to ceiling with boxes and boxes, mostly of canning jars. Right after we got there, he started to pull out the Pyrex (which he had stashed all over) and he had beautiful pieces. Most of them were patterns that I recognize because they're fairly usual but he had some pieces I had never seen before.

He told us that he goes to Estate Sales (only if they have pictures online so he knows what is there) and just buys all the Pyrex they have for about $1-$2 each and then sells it on craigslist for not much more.

Here are the things we bought from Pyrex Jim for a total of $24.00


1.5 QT White Daisy on Pink oval casserole, no lid.
2 QT Verde oval casserole, patterned lid.
1 QT Gooseberry Pink Bake-Serve-Store, clear lid.
1.5 QT Friendship (promotional?) divided serving dish, clear lid.
1.5 QT Promotional Yellow with Gold leaf Floral pattern, clear lid.
1.5 PT Delphite Blue glass with Gold Leaf Grapes Cinderella handled bowl.


The yellow oval casserole is a pattern not available at Pyrex Love and I'm dying to know what it's called. If someone can tell me, there may be a Pyrex themed prize in it for you!!


This lovely blue bowl, after some research, has been deemed a chip and dip bowl. Or half of a set anyway. What kills me about it is that Pyrex Jim told us that he'd had the 4 QT in that pattern and a woman had bought only the big bowl from him about two months ago. I don't get why she would have bought one without the other. And chip and dip sets aren't common, so I doubt that I'll ever find the big bowl for this one.

Pyrex Jim assured us that the red divided dish was just a primary color serving dish, but we were pretty sure it was the elusive friendship pattern, missing the decorative lid. Even without the lid we were very pleased to have it.

Pyrex Jim also said that if we just emailed him with a list of lid sizes we were missing (numbers and dimensions) he would hold them for us when he found them! We're also welcome back any time (as long as we call ahead) to check out his Pyrex finds.

After we left Pyrex Jim's we debated about stopping at a Goodwill that we don't often get to. We had gotten a pretty good Pyrex fix and were thinking that Goodwill prices were never going to seem good enough again. But we stopped anyway and look what we found.


My pattern - Spring Blossom!
4 QT Spring Blossom Cinderella bowl
Spring Blossom loaf pan
2.5 QT Friendship oval casserole, clear patterned lid. (there's some wear on the lid but it's the first piece of friendship pattern I've ever seen at goodwill!)

The large Spring Blossom bowl, by some act of God, was only $1.99 (usual Goodwill price would be $6.99) while the loaf pan was $3.99 (but obviously we paid that anyway). My mother was especially happy to find a piece of Friendship pattern with it's matching lid. The lid even fits on the Friendship divided dish that we bought from Pyrex Jim! (Well, it slides a bit - apparently the divided dish is just a bit different in shape, but almost a perfect fit.) How awesome is that?


And to think that we almost didn't stop!

Today, after getting all that Pyrex yesterday, I wasn't even looking for Pyrex when I went out to estate sales. I was finding great sales but not much that I couldn't live without. And then, at the third sale of the day, I saw them. They were just beckoning to me from the table in amongst the Tupperware.

The sale I was at was a late starter at around noon and I pulled in at 12:02. I got out of the car and as I walked toward the sale I headed for Tupperware (always looking for deviled egg plate inserts). There on the edge of the table was the Pyrex.


Daisy pattern: Lasagna pan, brownie pan, loaf pan, 1.5 QT oval, and a small round patterned lid (the matching bake-serve-store in the photo I actually got at Goodwill on Wednesday)
Spring Blossom pattern: 1.5 QT oval casserole with patterned lid.
Verde pattern: 2 QT round casserole (lid borrowed for photo purposes).
(the Butterfly Gold fridgie I got at a later sale for 10 cents!)

I immediately just grabbed all the Pyrex in sight and set it on a table in the garage (next to a large assortment of Pyrex mugs in Butterfly Gold and Autumn Harvest) while I called my mother on the phone to make sure she wanted it. Eventually, after she didn't answer for about ten minutes, I just bought them all anyway. Most of the items were $1-$2.


Do you ever have those times when you just can't stop finding the best stuff? And of course you're afraid that if you stop looking, you'll miss the most amazing thing of all? I'm still out there searching for a lid to the margarine tub. What is it that you've been looking for forever that you feel you're bound to find some day?

Don't forget!! If you can find out the name or more information (year, etc) on the yellow oval casserole with the gold leaf floral design on it, there might be a special Pyrex prize in it for you!! If you want another picture of that dish alone just ask and I'll take one!

I am thinking this post to:

The Garage Salen Party @ Debbiedoos
Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm