Where can this dish be seen on The Golden Girls?

July 2, 2014 6:14 PM

A while ago, as a present I received a decorative china powder dish from the set of "The Golden Girls." I kept an eye out for it every time I watched the show, but never spotted it. It is possible that it's from backstage or some other not-on-camera area, but I thought I'd see whether any other "Golden Girls" fanatics might recognize it or keep an eye out for it in the background of the show.

Here are two photos.

posted by laze to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

I looked through the screen shots on The Golden Girls Reviewed By (which covers the first two seasons) and didn't see anything that looked like that in any of the sets.
posted by bcwinters at 7:00 PM on July 2, 2014

Is it from the episode with Blanche's blind sister? I seem to remember her in a bedroom talking about her favorite dress being the one that she can remember, and noticing a similar dish on the one of the tables. I could be wrong. I haven't seen the episode in over a decade.
posted by myselfasme at 7:11 PM on July 2, 2014

Best answer: Most items like that are just kept in a huge stack/pile/bin of such things and pulled out whenever an item of that description is called for on set. The dish you have may not have ever been specifically used in any particular scene; it may have just been part of the stock the art department had around for whenever such decorative items (usually called "smalls") were needed. It also may appear in various contexts over the course of the show, especially if it wasn't used in the main living room/kitchen set people associate with the show. (Whose apartment was that, even? Dorothy and Sophia's?)

Additionally, sets are typically dressed far beyond what's visible on camera. So it's possible that it was physically on the set, but placed such that it never actually appeared on camera.

It's probably not from "backstage" -- behind the scenes of a TV show is usually quite utilitarian, and it would be unusual to have decorative breakable items lying around.
posted by Sara C. at 7:13 PM on July 2, 2014 [4 favorites]

Where can this dish be seen on The Golden Girls?

You mean Blanche?

I am in awe of the other answers. My only suggestion is that you share, if you have it, the explanatory info that came with it, or ask whoever gave it to you for the backstory. Neither is likely to say the episode, but it might focus the hive mind.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 7:18 PM on July 2, 2014 [3 favorites]

The episode with the blind sister is Blind Ambitions but I don't see the dish anywhere in the (tchotchke heavy!) episode.
posted by bcwinters at 7:34 PM on July 2, 2014

Response by poster: Clyde - har!

As far as a backstory, I believe it was an ebay purchase. It came with a certificate of authenticity (for whatever those are worth) and a tag that read:

"Great American Prop & Wardrobe Co.
Item: Decorative China Powder Dish
Production: "The Golden Girls"
Actor: N/A
Qty.: 1"

bcwinters - Yeah, that episode had a yard sale, so would have been a prime spot for it.

Sara - Thanks for the super-thorough explanation. All of those points make total sense.
posted by laze at 7:46 PM on July 2, 2014

Whose apartment was that, even? Dorothy and Sophia's?

o_O

it's a house, a house they all four live in together, that is the entire premise of the entire series, that's the whole thing.
posted by elizardbits at 8:23 PM on July 2, 2014 [29 favorites]

It's Blanche's house. The others are lodgers.
posted by Blitz at 8:33 PM on July 2, 2014 [8 favorites]

I think Sara C. was referring to the Brooklyn apartment that is sometimes seen in flashbacks.
posted by Bunny Boneyology at 6:27 AM on July 3, 2014 [2 favorites]