by Nancy Baggett
If you’ve ever considered trying to locate replacement pieces of a discontinued china, stemware or flatware set, it may be possible to find them in time for the holidays! Not only are there dozens and dozens of vintage tableware dealers selling via the Internet, but it’s easy to locate them using a handy, free website called www.setyourtable.com.
I recently discovered this great resource while searching for replacement cups, saucers and dinner plates for a set I’d inherited from my grandmother. I’d been searching a long time in antique shops for pieces in this charming old rose, foxglove, and primrose bedecked pattern, but never had any luck till I tried the Internet.
The setyourtable.com site features an up-to-date directory of dozens of dealers and matching services who sell discontinued china, crystal, and silverware. These sources are listed by tableware manufacturer, making it very convenient to go right to the places that may carry the particular items you want. The directory provides not only phone numbers but hot links to instantly e-mail the individual dealers and matching services listed.
The owner of the website is Susan Ranta, who started her directory of dealers eight years ago. She says she first got interested in the idea when she tried to find pieces of the vintage Syracuse china her sister had inherited from their grandmother. “I wasn’t having any luck with an old list of replacement china dealers and matching services a department store tableware department had given me. Many of the companies on the list weren’t even in business any more.” So, she decided to put together and publish her own directory using information she obtained in magazines for antique dealers.
A year later, she printed 5,000 copies of her first Set Your Table Directory, which listed about 30 different dealers and matching services. Her current directory includes more than 50 dealers, and her 30,000 copies (which sell for $8.50 apiece) are almost sold out. Three years ago she also decided to expand by going on-line. Access to the on-line version of her directory is free and now sometimes gets more than 150,000 hits a month!
For some of Susan’s very helpful directory of dealers, go to www.setyourtable.com
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