Fiestaware

[J.Dish]

Colours colours colours.

I just bought a Heather 10" pie plate from amazon. Can't wait to use it... be a good reason to whip up a lemon meringue or something.

Also, just got hooked up with a set of dinner plates from the bartender at work. They were a bit scratched up, but a little copper polish took care of that. Chartreuse was the grab of the bunch, for me anyways. The girlfriend is thrilled with the two turquoise, cobalt, and evergreen.

Any other fiesta fiends on here? I have an abundance of dinner plates, down to trade if anyone wants to! Need lunch plates and coffee mugs (10oz)

[KansasKate]

Guilty.

My husband's maternal grandmother got a set of Fiesta Ware when it first came out. We have it now. It's rarely used, but I do love it.

In the modern Fiesta colors, my shelves are bulging with:
Pretty large set of cobalt*;
Set of sapphire for 8;
Small set of white (which I think I might want to sell);
Set of mixed pastels & brights for 9 (which I want to sell);
Soup & sandwich sets (ie, jumbo cup & bread tray) in ivory & scarlet;
Set of turquoise (mix of square & round).

On the to-buy list: scarlet, sunflower, [more] periwinkle.

My Fiesta gets mixed-and-matched with hand-painted pieces from Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Mexico. My glasses are all "vidrio soplado" from Mexico. It all looks great together... if I do say so myself.

This lady has the most amazing collection and, combined w/ her vintage table linens, she has about a thousand combinations for tablescapes. http://tinyurl.com/Muchos-Platos

* The modern cobalt is an almost perfect match to Staub's Marin-Bleu (SLT) & Sapphire (W-S).

[J.Dish]

Do you have any red in that original set? You probably already know, but it's radioactive! Scary.

Mixed Pastels. No thanks. Apricot might be the ugliest Fiesta colour I've ever seen.

I think my dream team would be Chartreuse, Plum, Heather, and Grey. I do like them all though (except apricot/pastel), but I'm not after a particular colour scheme.

[c oliver]

Are you doing all vintage? We have a friend who collected that in every vibrant color imagineable. They're fantastic. I only have one large, round platter left of my mother's (I'm 64) and I treasure it.

[J.Dish]

Nah. When Kohls sends out their $10 off coupons I get them from my friends and go buy fiesta. Also bought a couple 4 piece sets at Macy's last holiday season when they were half off.

[KansasKate]

The old stuff was made with uranium dioxide but the radioactivity is supposed to be pretty low. Probably all of it has lead glaze too.

Your chartreuse, plum, heather & gray combo would be beautiful.

[wvgardener]

The feds came to visit in the early forties and later confiscated the company's uranium stock to start experiments for the Manhattan Project.

[c oliver]

Really? Wow.

[J.Dish]

No lead.

Every piece says "lead-free" on the bottom.

[KansasKate]

That's the modern (post-1986) Fiesta Ware. The antique pieces from the late 1930's certainly don't say that. (The FDA didn't start setting limits until the 1970's.)

[J.Dish]

Scary bear!

[grant.cook]

Just as a heads up, if you ever find yourself at that nexus of West Virginia and Ohio, the Homer Laughlin factory outlet is a good stop. Used to be able to find Fiesta seconds for dirt cheap.. but I suspect its not as good as it used to be..

[olympia]

It's excellent. Selection varies but prices are amazing. Was just there in December.

[ProfessorBear]

I was just in on Thursday last week. I didn't leave with anything, but they had the big, gorgeous mixing bowls, 9x13 and 8x8 casseroles, vases, and all sorts of pieces one doesn't usually see in the "seconds" room.

The deals are still fabulous - and you still need to bring a rag with you to clean/dust off the pieces!

[olympia]

In dec I got several beautiful vases and pitchers. A couple of serving platters too. Wish they'd get some canisters in!

[ProfessorBear]

They had bunches of canisters - with lids! - on Thursday.

[olympia]

Notice if there were any white? I'll send my mom over for me!

[ProfessorBear]

I'm sorry, but I honestly couldn't say. You can call them up at 1-800-452-4462 and they might just be able to help you out!

[c oliver]

When you say "casseroles," are you talking about ovenproof?

[ProfessorBear]

I mean these:

http://www.fiestafactorydirect.com/p-332-rectangular-baker.aspx

http://www.fiestafactorydirect.com/p-...

[c oliver]

Those are great looking! I have some white and orange plates and bowls. I'll be checking these out. Thanks.

[ProfessorBear]

I have the 9x13 in scarlet and sunflower and the 8x8 in those two and shamrock and I love them!

I own a bunch of Creuset stoneware and I'd gladly replace it all with Fiesta. I know where it's made. I know the people who make it. I've been to the factory, taken the tour (twice), and buy it there at the factory store. True American quality.