Retro Sweetcorn

We don't need sweetcorn dishes.  In fact, does anybody NEED sweetcorn dishes?! No, I thought not.  But I couldn't leave them on the charity shop shelf, I just couldn't.  I knew if I did, I would be kicking myself for not getting them and if I went back, they would be gone.  So I bought them - both boxes!  

I'm guessing they were probably a wedding present and have been tucked away in a sideboard since 1975, brought out just the once when the gift-giver came round for dinner.  They were made by the Devon glass manufacturer Dartington and designed by Frank Thrower.  We visited the factory a few years ago and I remember seeing, in a display of objects made by Dartington over the years, an avocado dish and remembering how exotic avocados were.  In the early '80s, back when I was a vegetarian, my family had a Christmas meal in a restaurant.  They all tucked in to the traditional roast and I was served half an avocado with some melted cheese in the hole left by the stone.  Glamorous!

Ahh, I'm looking forward to the summer when I can give these dishes a second lease of life.  We eat ours doused in butter and soy sauce so actually perhaps we DO need a purpose-built dish to contain all those tasty liquids!