Author: Commandroid

Fiesta, America’s favorite dinnerware, was introduced by the homer Laughlin china company with great fanfare at the Pittsburgh china and glass show in January, 1936. Fiesta was the creation of Frederick Hurten Rhead, a second generation Stoke-on-Trent potter who had become homer Laughlin’s design director in 1927. Fiesta was an immediate hit with the public and, by it’s second year of production, more than one million pieces were produced. The original five colors were red, yellow, cobalt blue, green and ivory. Turquoise was added early in 1937. The shapes of fiesta were created in an art deco style with concentric circles highlighting the bright colors. The first six colors were produced through the 1930’s and 40’s until a change in fashion direction dictated a change to a softer palette of pastel colors at the beginning of the 1950’s. Color trends moved back to brighter colors in the early 1960’s and fiesta moved with the trend. At the end of 1972, fiesta was retired after 37 years of production. The retired dinnerware line soon became popular with collectors, especially those who had childhood memories of this brightly colored dinnerware. As years passed, the value of the original fiesta colors and pieces grew as more people became avid collectors. Over the next twenty years, new colors have been introduced and fiesta has become a trendsetter of color for the housewares industry. In the seventy years since fiesta was first produced, there have been a total of 38 colors in the line. Today, homer Laughlin introduces one new color each year and fiesta has become the leading dinnerware brand in casual tabletop, as well as a consistent leader in bridal registries across America. All the while, collectors have continued to add to the dinnerware to which they were first introduced by their mothers and grandmothers. Today, fiesta dinnerware is the most collected dinnerware in the history of the tabletop industry with well over one half billion pieces produced.