To not understand this obsession with seasonal china?

[2010aQuintessentialOdyssey]

I am sick of this obsession with season china which seems to infect people like a bug come every Christmas, Easter, etc. Next thing you know, we will have MayDay China, August Breaks China. and the like. What does it tell you?
That the owner of said china has a really large kitchen with enough cupboard space to store china for every kind of festivity?

That you have so much money that when you have bought your "daily" dinner and breakfast set, your "NICE" dinner and breakfast, and coffee and tea set, you progress to Christmas dinner sets and cake platters with cheerful mice with funny hats on, and little mini santas eating porridge from a wooden tray perched on a fence. Then you opt for garish yellow and light green china, with little ducklings and eggs. WHY?

Why does the world NEED yellow and lime china with ducks and eggs? You use it for ONE WEEKEND of the year?

Get a grip, and stick to plain china. No ducks. No mice. No little pygmes with long white beard and pots with porridge.

and whats the deal with the toby jug?

ok, I feel better now.

As you were.

[ImSoNotTelling]

Ah well.

You have one set for everyday and one for posh. Apparently. Wedding presents. Or inherited (I will one day be the proud owner of about 9 different sets, great) and you can't get rid of that stuff.

Weird christmas plates and things with rabbits on are normally presents from MIL. That is who that market is there for IMO.

TBH have never heard of all these different things before you just mentioned them though

[swanriver]

Why? Because it encourages dcs to observe Festivals, and enjoy sitting round table eating meals on said seasonal china.
Not that I have any, apart from odd Easter eggcup..and a plastic Santa platter or two.

You seem curiously upset,OP?

[swanriver]

Is it something to do with John Lewis?...don't believe everything you read.

[fernie3]

I have special christmas egg cups, I love them I feel festive when I eat my boiled egg. My mum had some really nice and old sets which she had inherited but my ex step mother took them with her when she left so now I just have an everyday set and christmas egg cups, your post makes me feel I should buy an easter egg cup since I have no room to store a whole easter set.

[CatIsSleepy]

we don't have seasonal china...
who does?
we have a crappy mish-mash of crockery that I would dearly love to chuck away one day when we have more money and replace with something stylish
or at least matching

oh god you have awoken my crockery angst damn you QS!

[ImSoNotTelling]

I have never met anyone with seasonal crockery either.

Sounds more pound shop than JL to me TBH

[2010aQuintessentialOdyssey]

oh believe me it looks like poundshop, but you find it in really posh shops. It seems to me that you get it just to show that you have fulfilled all your crockery needs and now you overindulge on garish, expensive, tasteless china that you only bring out once a year. If you have this, you have arrived.

[umami]

My everyday china is my wedding present stuff. Does that mean I can get a porridge-eating Santa Father Christmas plate please

[umami]

I blame Nigella and her Crown Devon Stockholm collection.

[moondog]

I'm with ya Quint.

i so enjoy getting the lakeland catalogue around Christmas and New Year and chortling at bizarre offerings.

[ImSoNotTelling]

Truly posh people would have lots of inherited sets. They would have no need to buy anything, seasonal or otherwise.

So yes maybe seasonal china is aspitational in that sense, while spectacularly missing the point. Which is that no-one in their right mind wants loads. It is a pain in the arse to store, heavy, takes up loads of room, it breaks and then it's not a set any more.....

[AMumInScotland]

I guess it's the "what to buy when you have everything" kind of stuff.... can't see why anyone would want a whole extra set of things you can only use a few days a year.

I do now have a set of "Christmas" crockery... but it's not actually Christmassy, it's just we didn't have enough plates this year so I bought new ones, and then put them safely back in the box for special occasions so I don't do my usual trick of having 5 matching items instead of the original 6.... The less I use 'em, the less I smash 'em...

[Pikelit]

Since when (and I speak as someone wot had a sort of posh upbringing) did one have "seasonal" china anyway? That I need to buy my own crockery at all (IKEA) is evidence enough of our healthy downward mobility.

[2010aQuintessentialOdyssey]

I think you can find seasonal china in ikea.

maybe it is a scandinavian thing?

[DecorHate]

I have one bowl that I put the extra advent calendar sweets in (3 dcs, one calendar) and a plate that dd painted when she was younger that we mostly just use to put the Christmas cake on.

The shame I will have to de-register now!

In mitigation we only have one set of china (though we do have zillions of non-matching mugs). Oh no, just realised one of the dcs may have a mug with a penguin on it lurking at the back of the cupboard, Will definitely have to leave now...

[Morloth]

I have never met anyone with seasonal china! I do know a couple of people who have "everyday" sets and "posh" sets.

I like Maxwell & Williams white basics (and because it is all white it is easy to replace when it gets broken), is tough enough for everyday use and nice enough for posh use. Though I do have some really special porcelain I was given when we lived in Asia that I crack out if we are doing posh asian food.

[2010aQuintessentialOdyssey]

I have a posh set, I must admit. It is plain white and scrumptious. I got it as a 30th birthday present from my parents. (we had a small wedding on a shoestring so no big gifts there). Then I have a circus of unmatching plates and mugs.

I love mugs from Whittards. They are so happy and cheerful.

[tethersend]

This is the first time I have ever heard of 'seasonal china'.

I am 32.

In fact, the concept is too alarming and I refuse to believe it exists. YABU.

[diddl]

I have a set of Christmas crockery.

But I´m not obsessed.
It gets used at Christmas-what´s the problem?

[Jacaqueen]

I have a lot of china.

Everyday white china
Royal Doulton wedding china
Inherited old mismatched china
Portmeirion Holly and Ivy Christmas china
Garish orange purple and black Halloween china

But I don't have any Easter china. Must remedy that soon.

I also have seasonal tea towels, oven gloves and the like.

There really is no hope for me is there?

[Bodeniiiites]

i have Christmas mugs Whittards mostly and plates Spode from Tk Maxx i use them all through the month of December and i am still using the ones with holly and reindeer on them as it has been snowy here since 18 th December i have Easter mugs as well used to have Halloween ones when the kids were small whats the problem? i am very seasonal and change my home decor etc in Winter etc i love it !

[tethersend]

Lalalalalaala, I can't hear you!

[ImSoNotTelling]

ROFL @ quint suddenly revealing cupboard full of special occasion china.

[2010aQuintessentialOdyssey]

well, I feel the lure of the garish yellow and greens, and it is very unsettling.

[EldritchCleaver]

Have special mince pie plates. And canape plates. And dinner service. And tea service. And everyday crockery. And pie plates. And cake plates. And despairing husband.