Tuesday, July 5, 2011

the saucer pans have landed!

I was very lazy this past Friday and did not leave the house until late in the day.  I was driving in the Clintonville section of Columbus when I felt a magnet force drew me to the curb and me turn my engine off; I left my car to investigate what turned out to be a flying saucer base!  Here is photographic proof that aluminum saucer pans are living right here in my city!

Okay, it was just a garage sale that I hit at 3:30 in the afternoon (I was sleepy...) and that I'm certain had been packed with goodies when it opened at 9:00AM.
Oh well, at least I found these two cool pans.  They are Mirro "Medallion" pattern and aren't they full of space-age flying saucer goodness!   found out that the Mirro Medallion line was first released in August of 1958; it was designed by 29 year old Austin Munson, who latter designed for Ecko.  The Medallion line was conceived as a high end giftware line that ranged in cost from $8.00 to $22.00.

Dig on those cute lil' tripod legs with their gold feet and the lid knob almost makes me think a heat ray will pop out  and cook me George Pal style.  The Medallion line was made of a special aluminum alloy that was buffed then anodized and covered in a clear protective coating.  Austin Munson came up with the gold star on the lid when he noticed the stars in a backdrop of a television show.

The little scout saucer, I saw it refered to as a candy dish on eBay, is about six inches tall (measured from the top of it's heat ray to it's lil' pointy feet) and is six and a quarter inches across.










The big mother ship is thirteen inches from warp nacelle (wooden handles) to warp nacelle and stands eight inches tall, from heat ray to pointy landing feet.








Sadly, the Medallion line only lasted about two years due to the high retail price and very tight profit margins caused by the many extra steps involved in production.
Here is a link to a posting about the Medallion line on Modish.net.

Here is a link to photos of all the Mirro Medallion line pieces.


4 comments:

  1. I hit that sale, it was a good one! I remember checking out the big one but I don't remember seeing the little one... I thought about getting it, but snagged a 55 piece set of red bakelite handled flatware instead *happy dance* I'm surprised these were still there so late in the day!

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  2. Mitzi- Happy dance indeed! I'm draggin' my ass outta bed this Friday.

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  3. woooo those are super cool! Love them.

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  4. Omg! I found the tray, the large 13 inch piece no lid!, and the small piece with lid and the large pitcher with original mixing dowel all in great condition at Yard Sale! In great condition! Willing to sale!

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