Will plastic dishes ever be collectibles?

I am starting to look at the family china cabinet with a more discerning eye.
Every so often, although probably not nearly often enough, the doors to the cabinet are opened and I whisk around in there, moving dust bunnies off the surface of a tea pot into the wine goblets that have seen little use in nearly 40 years.
Occasionally we look at the shelves that contain several shower gift tea pots, the cups and saucers that have never been corrupted by the caffeine of either tea or coffee, and the individual china pieces that have been passed on by older family members and have sentimental meaning.
But in all these years, seldom have I looked at the contents with any expectation that the age of the dishes might someday take on unexpected value beyond sentimentality.
The auctions are responsible.
Over the years we've attended auction sales and have taken home some odds and ends that we needed for a relatively new household - end tables, bookcases, a double boiler, an ugly black velvet painting that is still hidden in a corner, some old plates and a matching tureen.
The plates and tureen have been on the bottom shelf of the china cabinet for more than 30 years, never used and taking up space.
Those plates and tureen now have companions, other chinaware brought home from recent auctions of antiques and other extraneous merchandise.
An observer of these auctions can't help but sense the excitement of potential buyers as they come to the look-and-see time before the auction begins, mark down the lot numbers, or make notifications of significance in their notebooks. The professionals are evident by their intense nonchalance, and the discreet manner in which they make their bids - no wild hand-waving from those folks.
As a non-buyer sitting there, I couldn't help wonder what the antique auction business might be like in say, 25 or 50 years.
Right now buyers look for chinaware collectibles bearing such famous markings as Spode, Royal Albert, Wedgewood, Stuart, Royal Crown Derby, Ridgway, Adderley, Denby. Some of those varieties are rare, and others are more valuable than items produced in certain years. There are volumes of books and numerous websites explaining what's rare and what's common and what's in demand.
Will there be the same dedication to finding collectibles in 2059 and what will constitute a collectible at an antique auction sale of that year?
I can't imagine many people trying to outbid friends and strangers for a set of Corelle dinnerware even if the set has four of everything.
There might be more interest in the original cornflower pattern of CorningWare, but only if there are no stains and unsightly lines from overuse disfiguring the cooking surface.
What value will auctioneers place on the plastic dishes that are staples in every 2009 household?
Will there be confusion over the stack of tinfoil pie plates and will they eventually have to be added to a box of Pryrex cake pans just to get an opening bid?
Will stainless steel cooking pots be more valuable than those bearing some evidence that they were once Teflon-covered?
What will anthropologists have to say about auctions and collections of the future?
Will my never-been-used teapot, made in China, ever be worth more than the Army and Navy price? Are we harbouring a fortune in non-crystal glasses and bowls? Is my childhood collection of doll dishes valuable enough to add to my last will and testament?
I don't suppose I'll be here in 2059 to have all those questions answered, so meanwhile, perhaps we'd better start taking better care of what's in the cabinet, just in case, and for the benefit of our heirs and beneficiaries.

Joyce Walter can be reached at 691-1259.