I have a various assortment of colors. I love them. Fiesta has been my everyday dish for years. I never bought them in sets. I bought 4 dinner plates at a time on ebay. I also bought single bowls on clearance at Macy's( Juniper). I always pick up a single piece here and there when they go on sale. I have numerous serving pieces too( Platters, pitchers, etc)

Randi (that name was on my short list for my dd :-)

What FiestaWare color are the Orange bowls? I really like that color. And the yellow smaller bowl - is that Sunflower???

Maybe I should let each member of my family pick a colorÂ

I think the orange is tangerine. I'm not sure about the yellow though, it could be sunflower. I know the light blue is periwinkle. I bought some of the pieces over 10 yrs ago and my memory isnt what it used to be. Believe it or not, the 4 small white plates are fiestware too. I got them for 99cents each at Macy's years and years ago. I have about 4 more cereal bowls too( in the dishwasher). They're really great, fun, indestructable dinner ware.

I LOVE my fiesta ware for everyday eating. The orange is tangerine and the yellow is sunflower.

I love my scarlet and plum, but my dishwasher seems to leave a film on those two colors.

I'll share mine...and FWIW, everyone in my family has their personal color...

That's just a portion of mine, mixed in with basic white Pfaltzgraff. I'm thinking of getting a bunch of plates in one solid color (one of the reds, I think) so I can have a cohesive dinner table if I want it, on occassion. But mixing the colors up is really fun.

Maybe I should just ask all of you to tell me your personal favorite color??? :-)

I got 12 settings for us - family of four (6 colors) sunflower, tangerine, turquoise, shamrock, rose, and sapphire. They go great with everything and add a nice punch of color in the kitchen.

What??? No Scarlet??? :-)

Thanks Coleen - so you got two place settings for each color? I'm looking for that punch of color that will bring a smile to my face... :-)

I have one of each: sunflower, tangerine, peacok, shamrock, turquoise, plum, scarlet and white. My personal favorite color is either the shamrock (LOVE that green!) or the tangerine.

My current favorite is cinnabar (deep red) but as of yet, I don't have any of the scarlett. Red is definitely my color and I haven't bought any of the newer colors except one tangerine plate for DH. I need to get the shamrock plate for my green loving son, he is currently using a retired juniper. There's a new dark green coming out, too. The plum (dark dark dark purple) is gorgeous, too. One thing I never understood is why Fiesta ever bothered to make black and white. The whole fun about Fiesta is the colors! They had a gray out for a while, too. Don't know if it's been retired yet. Although I admit I love their little juice tumblers and I bought the white one specificially for my bathroom.

Here is a link that might be useful: Homer Laughlin Fiesta site

Lovely pics! I really like fiestaware, too. And I like that it's still made in the U.S.

I'm wondering, do any of you find some of the colors unappealing with food on them? Maybe it's just me but some colors of plates, and not just this dinnerware, seem to be a turn off with food on them. I love the shamrock green color, but green is one of those colors for me that doesn't usually work with food. Red turns me off, too, unless it's got chocolate cake on it. Is it just me?!

I am thinking of getting the sunflower color. I have some plates in a similar color so I know they'll be ok.

Cooking.com has good prices and selections, just in case someone is looking for a source other than amazon.

Fiestaware does come in black, or used to... we bought our black ones about 19 years ago

realized I misread post...but black is actually a nice color :)

I have old (a.k.a. "1936") and new (a.k.a. "Post 86") Fiesta. At first the new stuff was neutral (black, white, gray) or pastel (peach, rose, light yellow, light blue). Since then, the colors have become much more saturated and the focus is on bright or deep. Most of the colors are translucent (you can easily see the concentric circles of lighter color), but some are opaque (the lines are obscured). Some of my lighter plates/bowls have abundant unsightly utensil marks on them - not sure if this is a problem inherent in the light color or maybe a problem with the dye they used twenty years ago that they've since corrected.

Some colors have been permanently "retired," while others have been "discontinued," which means they could be reissued as color trends in design change. All colors are available on eBay, but some sellers are (inadvertently? unscrupulously?) identifying discontinued colors as retired, so do some research on Fiesta collector sites before buying.

What you buy just depends on what calls out to you. Some colors look spectacular together; some look ghastly. As I obsessively page through kitchen idea books/mags, I see TONS of Fiesta in glass-fronted cabinets. I notice that the professionally designed photos (magazines, retailers) show cabinets filled with only one or two colors of Fiesta, which looks very attractive...and makes me a tad regretful. The photos of REAL kitchens reflect the riot of often visually discordant colors that we long-time-collectors-with-little-self-control own. But it's a fun look.

If you buy it retail, never pay full price; it frequently goes on sale. Also, I now buy separates instead of the 5-piece place settings. (For example, we prefer a bowl that is smaller than the one that comes in the place setting..and we have QUITE ENOUGH cups and saucers, although they've recently started offering a place setting with the way-cute mug instead of the cup/saucer.)

Since the issue of black came up (albeit mistakenly), I'll add this: Homer Laughlin has been trying to retire black forever; however, they continue to get huge orders from restaurant chains for it.

Sorry for the ramble. As a recently joined (but obsessive) lurker, I've learned so much here, so I'm happy to finally contribute!

oakparker, do you have any links to some good Fiestaware collector's sites?? I'd love to check them out. thanks.

Haven't gone to the sites in years, but just Googled 'fiesta, fiestaware, post 86, collectors, Homer Laughlin'. Here're a couple things I found (but you might want to do the same search)

www.mediumgreen.com
You have to register to access the discussion board, but you can see the rest of the site without registering. Click on Fiesta/HLC Resources to find links to other collector sites/info

www.hlcca.com (Homer Laughlin China Collectors Association)
This is the hard core collectors club. You have to join/pay to access much of the site, but you can reach other sections without joining.

You can also go to the manufacturer's site (hlchina.com)

One thing I forgot to say in my post: some retailers, notably Bloomingdales, get exclusive Fiesta pieces.

Have fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: Medium Green Fiesta site

I didn't pay much attention but I did see place settings of fiesta ware at costco last week!
Might be worth a look see

I really really hate to post but if it was me I would want to know. I have read that the Fiesta red is made with a radioactive material and shouldn't be used with food. You may want to do some research before using it, maybe I'm not remembering accurately.

I'm only posting this because if it was me I would want to know for sure before using it on my family for 20 years and then feeling guilty when I found out. But maybe it's an urban legend...

It's not an urban legend, exactly. It used to be true, not just of Fiestaware but lots of other similar products. Stopped being true for Fiesta products in 1971. No worries today.

Hi Jeri and everyone else. I just started lurking on this site...... we are building and I have my final run through with my kitchen designer tomorrow so thought I would read through some posts here today. Came across the Fiestaware post! YEAH!

I live in Fiestaware country about 30 miles from the Homer Laughlin factory. It is indeed still made in the US in Newell, WV ( I live in Ohio). I inherited my first Fiesta from my grandmother. I didn't want it but it "came" with the china cabinet! It was made in the 30's and 40's and was used as the everyday dinnerware on my grandparent's farm. I associated it with "old people" growing up. Eventually I grew to love it ...... BUT it's no longer recommended for everyday use ( the old stuff- lead) so it's now packed away. I recently replaced my Ptalzgraff (white) with Fiesta for everyday use. The outlet is close by- so I have bought the place settings and also lots of seconds. You see license plates from all over the country in their parking lot.

My personal favorite is Cobalt. I think it's fun to use all the colors and also to do themes..... Christmas use the red and green etc. I have a purple egg tray I love using at Easter.

I also inherited Royal China's blue Currier and Ives from my other grandmother- service for 34 with every acessory piece known to exist. Gives me warm fuzzies as I ate so many holiday meals on it growing up. I am actually going to paint my new dining room to compliment the color.

Enjoy your colorful tables!
PD

Hey there ponydoc, welcome to the forum. I so envy you living close to the factory. Whenever I get a chance (DH's family is from Ohio) I try to get out that way to go to the outlet, you can certainly find some great deals there.

I've collected some of the old pieces but they are only for display purposes and most of them are damaged (I turn them so the damage can't be seen) so not really worth anything. I think the medium green is the most valuable of the older colors.

I didn't mean to insinuate that there was anything wrong with black dishes, I like black dishes in and of themself. I just wondered why Fiestaware kept them around because most people flock towards the colors. But I can sort of see why they keep the white. If you want to mix your colors with white for say, a Christmas dinner (red and white) or something and want to keep the styles the same. But I just keep my white Pfaltzgraff for that. It would be fun to get some of the black and some of the tangerine and mix them for Halloween. I know they do make Halloween themed plates, too, from time to time. anyway, just wanted to apologize if I offended anyone who has black or white Fiestaware!

Robin