Picnic cups | re:retro

Anodised beakers
made in Australia and Hong Kong, c.1950s

All these beaker sets were made in Australia, except for the set that comes in the red vinyl case [the beakers are adjacent this case.] The Hong Kong set has no maker’s mark, just their place of origin…but they do come with a handy bottle-opener concealed in the case lid.

The Australia sets come with exotic names: ‘Tahiti’ and ‘Caribbean’. The green case which encloses the ‘Tahitian’ beakers was made in Melbourne by Stokes & Sons, as part of their ‘Peacock Ware’ range. It too comes with a bottle-opener. Perfect for the retro picnic!

I can’t find much information on the last two sets – one made by Duchess Aluminium Ware and the other by ETA…so if anyone can fill me in, I would be most appreciative.

All the beakers are in fine fettle, ~ still shiny aluminium despite their age ~ I suspect they have never been near a picnic. For sale: $AUD75

Nally bakelite picnic cups
made in Sydney, Australia, c.1940s

I love bakelite and have collected Australian bakelite domestic and photographic ware for some time. Nally first started bakelite production in 1923 and was one of the first in Australia to do so. The factory was in Glebe, Sydney.

These picnic cups are unusual in that the cup sits in a doughnut-shaped, curved saucer, and the two pieces were priced and sold separately. Nally’s advertising blurbs of the time made much of the fact that replacement pieces could always be bought, and as the cups and saucers were ‘harlequin’ [ie: different colours] they could be mixed and matched. And it’s true- the cup and saucer sets don’t look half as attractive when they are mono-toned.

The cups -and saucers- ‘nest’ for ease of transport, and what about those funky handles! Very modernist for the 40s! And the colours seem more 50s to me: pink, powder blue, cream, yellow and vibrant red.

For sale: $AUD75