Galvanized Memories
Anything galvanized has captured my heart as well. I am drawn to its durability and patina. It’s something I can’t manage to break!
Galvanized goods are cropping up everywhere. In this instance, I am showing gardens. But there are lights and trays and just about anything you can think of.Â
Made from the stuff we dragged around as children. Buckets of dirt. Buckets of water.Â
Buckets were a staple of my childhood.Â
And now they are the “Plain Janes” that we decorate with. Elevating galvanized decor to great heights.Â
Funny how during my childhood, things of this nature were just considered “old.” And now they are “vintage” and highly collectible.
How were we to know that galvanized containers would become expensive and later be sold in Pottery Barn and other popular outlets?
Of course, we’d never heard of Pottery Barn. It was far, far in the future.Â
We shopped at “the dime store.”
I think perhaps I am drawn to them because I remember the everyday uses of galvanized containers. I recall the old beat up buckets being thrown about.Â
They were simply something we used to carry water and gather fruit from the garden.Â
They are good memories.Â
When the sunlight warmed my head as I stood in the garden picking strawberries and blackberries and peaches.Â
In the background cicadas droned on in the distance, sounding like radio static when a station faded out.Â
The ripe fruit would be made into a cobbler for supper. The rest would be “canned” in glass jars and set up on dusty shelves in the cellar for winter use.Â
Those canning jars are now “vintage” as well.
As am I and my memories of a simple childhood in a much, much simpler time.
i love your patio. Do you put drainage holes in your galvanized pots??
Love your pics. Do you drill drain holes in the bottom when you put plants in the large galvanized tub containers?
Thanks for any advice.
Yes.
What beautiful pictures..every one of them..Brenda..your beautiful words just touch my heart sometimes..this is one of them…
I love galvanized in the garden…beautiful inspiration photos, Brenda!
Such lovely containers. and such lovley memories, that I have of them too.. thank you for sharing. Your gardens are so lovely,
Thanks for bringing back some warm memories today with your words and these lovely images, Brenda. Simpler times, for sure…
Oh how I love all the galvanized items you show here. We had quite a few in TN and left them all there. It's the outside things we forgot to pack, not even a bucket for the ashes for our grill.
Do you have to put anything in your water gardens to prevent mosquitoes?
I love galvanized containers of any sort. For some reason, I can remember waaay back to my childhood and loving looking at my mom's galvanized wash bucket. She would fill it up with some soapy water before giving the floors a good washing. I remember the metal and how that the look of it changed from the wet state to the dry state.
I guess I must have been an 'odd bird' as a kid. But 60 years ago, times were different and galvanized pails, pans, and buckets were everywhere.
I've been attracted to them as planters for years because they look so 'homey' to me and home is the place I love the best. Thank-you for your beautiful words today. ☺
The nice thing about them is if you have a small patio you can get a lot of flowers in them! I have two horse troughs, guess I best drill some holes in them and get them planted. Great for herbs! Love yours on the patio. Wish I could just come sit on your patio and have a cup of coffee and catch up with you, love, Annette
You really got to the heart of why we love galvanized items. The washtub planter is a beauty, as is the birdhouse.
Beautiful post! I suppose galvanized tubs do bring back memories of simple, sweet times for me, too! I love them! Your tub gardens are gorgeous! ~Rhonda
How fortunate you were to grow up in the countryside! I envy you the simple upbringing of a life far away from the city. My childhood consisted of life in a NYC apartment for most of the year….not much freedom allowed us, as it was dangerous to be out without an adult.
Every photo is wonderful. I'm going back to pin them onto my Aged to Perfection board.
Thanks for all this galvanized beauty.
You just reminded me that we found a few in the trash this winter!! Now where are they? 😉
What a nice collection of photos to go along with the memories 🙂
I love galvanized containers too. I like that they can be used indoors and out. I think they can go with modern and country decor as well.
Brenda, my childhood was also sweet and simple. In the summer we would pull out the rusty galvanized tub and fill with water and soap suds to wash the car, notice I said car…not 2 or 3 cars, just one. Those days of simplicity now seem to be ever on my mind! My husband wants to buy one of those vintage ones to plant flowers in, I said surely some family members have one rusting away that would give it to us!
Good Morning Brenda!
Oh for the love of galvanized tubs and mason jars! We grew up in a time when they were a necessity and not so cool.
Now we decorate with them:) the best part is that we have the real memories to go with them:)
xo
Jemma
I love the galvanized tubs and buckets, as well. And yes, I think that love comes from my childhood, where we drew water from Granny's well and "swam" in an old number 3 wash tub! I am a purist though. I don't want just any galvanized bucket or tub. I want the ones that have a history. Loved this post and the pictures!
Grace & Peace
Pam
I was thinking as I read your beautifully written words, Brenda, that it does draw us to a simpler time when technology didn't rule and people really lived and communicated with one another, in a more authentic way. It goes along with the popularity of farmhouse decor right now. Remembering the good old days.
I agree Carol….oh to be able to return to those days….the housework was much harder but at that time it didn't really seem so!!
As a 10 year old child I helped my Mom with the laundry…we had 2 of those huge round tubs to rinse our clothes in after we took it our of the wringer washer….