I think most of us have at least one piece of the original Fiesta dishes from Mother and Dad's collection. Please give me the background on how we came to have these dishes.
They were a Christmas gift the year I was four (?) from the Evans, who lived in Sunlight. Mr.Evans had been some kind of editor for a New York newspaper, and they retired to the wild west. We can thank them for Mother's never letting a cat in the house - they kept cats, and in their house, they had beautiful Persian carpets, but everything smelled very bad because of the cats. (At least, that's the story Mother told us.)
Actually, I have the yellow one which my sisters scratched up quite a bit. The blue one looks better, so I'll trade you. Those colorful Fiesta dishes were like magic when we were little, one of the rare luxuries that gave us something different. Apparently the high lead content was healthy for us.
Thank you for the great tidbits. The lead is probably the source of some of our mysterious health problems. Sorry your yellow plate is scratched. It was put to good use for many years. The thought of making a trade hadn't really occurred to me. I'll check with my people and get back to you - in a few years. I loved the purple, the blue, and the pinkish (not a very accurate name for that color, but descriptive) plates. When I would set the table I loved to pick out my favorite color of the day. Now that I use the Fiesta (non-leaded) dishes, I watch as my grandchildren discuss which color they want to use at a meal. Yes, they were and still are like magic.
Actually, the lead was not much of a problem until dishwashers came along, with their extra heating capabilities. Washing the Fiesta ware in the dishpan on the kitchen cabinet would only have released infitesmal (sp?) amounts of lead. We really can't blame our problems on the plates! And everyone should have gotten more than one. Dad asked us to divide them when Mother died, and I'm almost positive that there was more than one for each of the six of us.????
Hmmm, I liked having the lead in the dishes to "blame". I suspect we all knew the amount of lead was very little, but it does make for fun discussions. And Mother would never have continued using them if there was something that was harmful. So moving on, as to the number of plates, I think we each got two - maybe - or not. Some were very well used, others survived the years much better and some were purchased in later years. I remember a couple of the newer colors that were added to the collection as our extended family grew.
I have three of the large plates - a blue (purplish), a green, and a white, and four of the smaller plates of the original Fiesta dishes from Mother. Since Judy and Ann were present when we divvied them up, I don't think I got more than anybody else????? Ann does have the pink pitcher, which came in the 40's. The plates are pretty in my cabinet.
I think you (Elizabeth) have a little more, but as I remember it, you were given some for survival when you went back to Laramie to finish your degree (with five little kids). I'm not worried about numbers because I think we all have a keepsake and that is about all that could be done with the dishes that had survived many years of happy use. I don't remember being there when the dishes were divided up among the six of us. Wasn't that done when Dad and Elna moved back to Cody?
Well I only got one and by then they had pretty well been picked over. But Liz eventually gave me a couple of nice pieces, as I recall. But they are not 80 years old like the yellow one (the scratched one).
Ok, I must admit that I have a cobalt blue dinner plate and a seafoam green dinner plate, also 2 small green salad plates....(Thanks Dad) Going to Grandma's and eating off of her Fiesta dishes was such a fond memory, that I have been collecting it for the past 17 years and have quite a collection. Every time I look at it, I remember Sunday dinners sitting around the table at the house in Tumwater.
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They were a Christmas gift the year I was four (?) from the Evans, who lived in Sunlight. Mr.Evans had been some kind of editor for a New York newspaper, and they retired to the wild west. We can thank them for Mother's never letting a cat in the house - they kept cats, and in their house, they had beautiful Persian carpets, but everything smelled very bad because of the cats. (At least, that's the story Mother told us.)
Actually, I have the yellow one which my sisters scratched up quite a bit. The blue one looks better, so I'll trade you. Those colorful Fiesta dishes were like magic when we were little, one of the rare luxuries that gave us something different. Apparently the high lead content was healthy for us.
Thank you for the great tidbits. The lead is probably the source of some of our mysterious health problems. Sorry your yellow plate is scratched. It was put to good use for many years. The thought of making a trade hadn't really occurred to me. I'll check with my people and get back to you - in a few years. I loved the purple, the blue, and the pinkish (not a very accurate name for that color, but descriptive) plates. When I would set the table I loved to pick out my favorite color of the day. Now that I use the Fiesta (non-leaded) dishes, I watch as my grandchildren discuss which color they want to use at a meal. Yes, they were and still are like magic.
Actually, the lead was not much of a problem until dishwashers came along, with their extra heating capabilities. Washing the Fiesta ware in the dishpan on the kitchen cabinet would only have released infitesmal (sp?) amounts of lead. We really can't blame our problems on the plates! And everyone should have gotten more than one. Dad asked us to divide them when Mother died, and I'm almost positive that there was more than one for each of the six of us.????
Hmmm, I liked having the lead in the dishes to "blame". I suspect we all knew the amount of lead was very little, but it does make for fun discussions. And Mother would never have continued using them if there was something that was harmful. So moving on, as to the number of plates, I think we each got two - maybe - or not. Some were very well used, others survived the years much better and some were purchased in later years. I remember a couple of the newer colors that were added to the collection as our extended family grew.
I have three of the large plates - a blue (purplish), a green, and a white, and four of the smaller plates of the original Fiesta dishes from Mother. Since Judy and Ann were present when we divvied them up, I don't think I got more than anybody else????? Ann does have the pink pitcher, which came in the 40's. The plates are pretty in my cabinet.
I think you (Elizabeth) have a little more, but as I remember it, you were given some for survival when you went back to Laramie to finish your degree (with five little kids). I'm not worried about numbers because I think we all have a keepsake and that is about all that could be done with the dishes that had survived many years of happy use. I don't remember being there when the dishes were divided up among the six of us. Wasn't that done when Dad and Elna moved back to Cody?
Well I only got one and by then they had pretty well been picked over. But Liz eventually gave me a couple of nice pieces, as I recall. But they are not 80 years old like the yellow one (the scratched one).
Perhaps not the oldest, but Mother's supplementing the original dishes happened in the '40's, so all of the ones on her shelf were older.
Ok, I must admit that I have a cobalt blue dinner plate and a seafoam green dinner plate, also 2 small green salad plates....(Thanks Dad) Going to Grandma's and eating off of her Fiesta dishes was such a fond memory, that I have been collecting it for the past 17 years and have quite a collection. Every time I look at it, I remember Sunday dinners sitting around the table at the house in Tumwater.
Hi Hilarie, It is so good to know you are out there. I think everyone needs a little piece of something that keeps happy memories alive.
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