Penguin ‘Ice Bucket’

Perhaps you have one?
Or maybe you had one?

Didn’t think much about this until Clare read a short story in the car on one of our recent trips. The author — a Carbondale acquaintance of ours — recalled a particular platter from her childhood: “[p]atented and created by the West Bend Aluminum Company in West Bend, Wisconsin in 1942, it is, indeed, a jewel.”

In addition to the platter, West Bend also made this seemingly ubiquitous product, decorated with embossed penguins. While most users have used it as an ice bucket, it was also expect to be used to serve spaghetti and stews, i.e., warm things. But who’s going to use something embossed with penguins to serve spaghetti or stew, right?

You’re probably guessing this was a wedding gift. Actually, our friend Bobbie was getting rid of hers when she and Clare were having a garage/yard sale. Clare took it off Bobbie’s hands.

It was difficult photographing such a shiny, reflective object. I tried again the following week; the results were worse, so I’m going with this one.
Blur filter in ON1 Photo Raw: Opacity, 50; Gaussian, 15

» “The Platter,” a short story
» West Bend Aluminum Company: [ About Us ] [ Wikipedia ] [ U. of Wisconsin ]
   • Penguin Ice Bucket :: Image from original pamphlet

[ PXL_20241003_155522439_LE15tm :: cell phone ]

October 3 posts
       “Extras”:
  1 year ago: No post
 2 years ago: No post
 3 years ago: “Not mine this time” (small hand tool)
 4 years ago: “My masked ladies”
 5 years ago: “Long shadows on the beach”
 6 years ago: “I’m a bit excited by this… [Filler]”
 7 years ago: “Abstract? [Filler]”
 8 years ago: “?” (Question Mark butterfly: compare to yesterday’s Eastern Comma)
 9 years ago: “ETSOOI for sure!”
10 years ago: “Happy 17th, Greg & Suzanne!”
11 years ago: “A ‘painting’ for the living room?”
12 years ago: “Orange Sulphur”
13 years ago: “Agitated”