It made a nice looking table - sort of like someone sprinkled round, ceramic confetti all over the place. One night, we were watching a sit-com and saw the TV family serving dinner on Fiestaware. We jumped up like we'd seen a close relative in a starring role. Dish-ignorant as we were, you'd think we'd discovered Fiestaware. Then this Wednesday, I saw an Associated Press story in The Sentinel's business section explaining that Fiestaware has become one of the hottest collector items in the country.
Some older pieces fetch thousands of dollars.
The piece mentioned that collectors had their own club with its own Internet site. Had to see it. Fiestaware was designed in 1936 by Frederick H. Rhead for the Homer Laughlin China Co. in Newell, West Virginia. Turquoise was added in 1937. In 1943, red was dropped because the glaze contained uranium.