Beer Growlers and Mush Mugs

That title got your attention didn't it?  No telling what I will get into during the long winter months between gardens. What the hey is a Beer Growler or a Mush Mug?  Well, one or the other of them might look like this:

Beer Growlers are containers used to transport your daily helping of beer home from the draft at the local tavern.  It makes sense really, that they should have two handles, not only to make the hand-off go smoothly, but you can clutch your beer growler in two hands so you don't spill as you totter home.  Mush Mugs are large mugs sometimes used to warm food (porridge comes to mind), but they don't sound like quite as much fun as a Beer Growler.

I bought this little collection mostly for the three nesting bowls with lids.  It is amazing really, after all these years, that all six pieces were still together.  Especially after 80-ish years.  They are very very well used.  Just think of how many times these have been washed (or as Tim observed after seeing their condition "not washed") in their lifetime.  Just imagine the recipes that were made.  These did not belong to anyone who had the money to replace their bowls every few years.  These look like they stuck it out for a lifetime.  I tried every cleaning method I know on them, Citric Acid, Iron-Out, Bar Keeper's Friend, and while I did get all of the rust and sticky gunk off of them, nothing is going to bring them back to a youthful luster.  This is as good as it gets.

So I bought the collection because of the bowls, but when I unwrapped the package, I instantly fell in love with the Growler.  If that is indeed what it is.  My reference books identify them as "either Biscuit Tin or Beer Growler" and I cannot find an example in any of my original sales pages of either item.  This one came without a lid, but I did have one unmatched lid floating about which had come on something it didn't even remotely fit.  However, it settled perfectly into the rim of the growler as if it were home again.

Now for those of you who have never heard of a beer growler, here is a little history and explanation on them.  This one really looks like just a really big mug, if you are into two fisted beer drinking in that volume, and I have seen very large straight sided mugs with single handles referred to as Mush Mugs, but I have absolutely no use for a Mush Mug.  So instead of thinking it could be a biscuit tin, or a very large mug, this will forever be known as The Growler.