Fiesta is a line of ceramic glazed dinnerware manufactured and marketed by the Fiesta Tableware Company of Newell, West Virginia since its introduction in 1936, with a hiatus from 1973 to 1985. Fiesta is noted for its Art Deco styling and its range of often bold, solid colors.

The company was known as the Homer Laughlin China Company (HLCC) until 2020, when it sold its food service divisions, along with the Homer Laughlin name, to Steelite, a British tableware manufacturer. HLCC in turn rebranded itself as the Fiesta Tableware Company, retaining its retail division, prominent Fiesta line, factories and headquarters in Newell, West Virginia.

Fiesta's original shapes and glazes were designed by Frederick Hurten Rhead, Homer Laughlin's art director from 1927 until his death in 1942. Fiesta products before 1986 were semi-vitreous pottery, and after 1986 were vitreous china allowing marketing it for food service applications. Several of the original shapes had to be modified due to this change in material and other new shapes were added by Jonathan O. Parry, who became Homer Laughlin's art director in 1984.

Since its inception, Fiesta has been sold in sets or from "open stock," where customers can select, mix and match pieces from the entire color range. Notably, certain early glazes resulted in pieces that were slightly radioactive.

According to the Smithsonian Institution Press, Fiesta's appeal lies in its colors, design, and affordability. In 2002, The New York Times called Fiesta "the most collected brand of china in the United States".

Popularity and marketing

Fiesta was introduced at the annual Pottery and Glass Exhibit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in January 1936 It was not the first solid color dinnerware in the US; smaller companies, especially Bauer Pottery in California, had been producing dinnerware, vases, and garden pottery, in solid color glazes for the better part of a decade by the time Fiesta was introduced to the market. However, Fiesta was the first widely mass-promoted and marketed solid-color dinnerware in the US.

When it was introduced, the decoration of dinnerware and kitchenware ceramics was still inspired by the Victorian era, based on full, predetermined sets of dinnerware, all decorated with the same decal designs. With its solid color glazes and mix-and-match concept, Fiesta represented something radically new to the general public. The forms and surfaces expressed an Art Deco influence. At introduction, the Fiesta line of dinnerware comprised some 37 different pieces, including such occasional pieces as candle holders in two designs, a bud vase, and an ash tray. A set of seven nested mixing bowls ranged in size, from the smallest at five inches in diameter up to a nearly twelve-inch diameter. The company sold basic table service sets for four, six and eight persons, made up of the usual dinner plate, salad plate, soup bowl, and cup and saucer. But, the promotion and presentation of Fiesta from the start was as a line of open-stock items from which the individual purchaser could choose to combine serving and place pieces by personal preference and need.

As an early Homer Laughlin Company brochure said:

"COLOR! that's the trend today ..." and it went on to say, "It gives the hostess the opportunity to create her own table effects ... Plates of one color, Cream Soups of another, contrasting Cups and Saucers ... it's FUN to set a table with Fiesta!"

The Homer Laughlin Company quickly added several additional items to the line. During this period some items were modified, and several items were eliminated, including the covered onion soup bowl, and the mixing bowl covers. In the years up to 1940, the line was expanded by the production of more new items. At its most numerous, the Fiesta line comprised approximately 64 different items, including flower vases in three sizes, divided plates, water tumblers, carafes, teapots in two sizes, five part relish trays, and large chop plates in fifteen-inch and thirteen-inch diameters. In addition, it offered several unique promotional items for one dollar each, available only in a predetermined glaze color.

With World War II and the need for manufacturers to focus on production for that effort, non-war related production and public demand declined. Beginning in 1942, the number and variety of items in the Fiesta line began to be reduced. Over the next four years, the more unusual serving pieces were discontinued, and by 1946, the line's variety of items had been reduced by nearly one third. Overall sales of the more typical place-setting pieces of Fiesta remained strong and reportedly peaked around 1948. The popularity of Fiesta was due to its bright colors, durable construction, stylized art deco shapes and designs, and its promotion through mass marketing. From its first introduction in 1936 and for over a decade, Fiesta products were a widespread fad. The dinnerware became something of a status symbol for late 1930s and pre-war 1940s middle-class households.[citation needed] Today, vintage Fiesta trades briskly on auction websites and at other antique/vintage product sales venues.

1936–1969

The line name and design is still owned by the Fiesta Tableware Company formerly called the Homer Laughlin China Company of Newell, West Virginia, which was the original company that produced and marketed it. Except for minor adjustments due to manufacturing requirements, the design of the original shapes remained virtually unchanged from 1936 to 1969. As home decorating color styles changed, the company did change the solid color glaze assortment offered. The texture of the original glazes, and throughout the life of vintage Fiesta, was semi-opaque. This is smooth and glossy, but without any shining glare, rather more like an eggshell. The ware sometimes shows "glaze curtains", areas of uneven glazing where a heavier application meets a lighter one.

By 1969 home decorating tastes had again changed. The company restyled the shapes of Fiesta to try to modernize it. Finials on covers, handles on cups, bowl contours and shapes, were all modified to give Fiesta a more contemporary appearance. The glaze colors were also changed, with the choices being limited to three colors for the place-setting pieces, and one color for the five major serving pieces. These were the remainder of the 64-piece assortment of shapes.  The shape redesigns and color changes did not restore Fiesta's popularity, and in January 1973 the company discontinued the Fiesta line.

Collectors and the secondary market

During the 1970s, a new appreciation for Art Deco designs from the 1920s and 1930s flourished. Along with this, the baby boomers were establishing their own households. They made Fiesta popular once again. Almost immediately after Fiesta was discontinued in January 1973, collectors began buying heavily in second-hand shops and the newly popular garage sales. Another avenue for acquiring pieces, and sometimes entire collections, was through local auctions. Due to the enormous popularity of Fiesta in the secondary market, its prices skyrocketed. By the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s, some Fiesta items once costing pennies were commanding hundreds of U.S. dollars for scarcer items. By the mid-1980s, prices had climbed higher. Certain very rare pieces and colors were being traded for thousands of dollars.

Contemporary Fiesta from 1986

The Homer Laughlin China Company noticed the activity on the secondary market. After a production lapse of 13 years, in 1986 the company marked the 50th anniversary of Fiesta by its reintroduction. Prior to mass production and promotion, Laughlin used the original semi-vitreous clay body on shapes taken mostly from the last incarnation of vintage Fiesta (1969–1973). The company then changed the body to a fully vitrified clay, to enable marketing to the restaurant and service industry, as this clay was more durable. Many original shapes required a redesign because of shrinkage associated with the new clay. Although old and new runs appear similar, direct comparison demonstrates the newer pieces (made with the fully vitrified clay body) are noticeably smaller. In addition to redesigns, new shapes were added to the line.

The glaze texture on this new Fiesta is very smooth, hard and much more glossy than the original Fiesta. Since its introduction, new Fiesta has remained popular. In addition, it has increased collector interest in all the lines. Many people are collecting vintage pieces, as well as purchasing new items from department stores and catalog retailers. Fiesta collectors often add this new ware to existing collections of vintage Fiesta, while others concentrate on buying only from the new assortment. Early in Fiesta's second incarnation, the Homer Laughlin Company marketed it as a new collectible. The manufacturer has maintained interest in Fiesta and manipulated the collectors' market over the past 34 years by discontinuing glaze colors, and by limiting production quantities on some items, or controlling production time frames. Similar techniques have been used by numerous other housewares, china, silver, toy, ornament, etc. companies.

Square Fiesta dinnerware

In 2009, a new line of square Fiesta dinnerware was introduced. Square is available as dinner, luncheon and salad plates, 19 oz. bowls and mugs, four-piece place settings, as well as a full line of accessories. Despite square silhouettes, pieces maintain a strong relationship to the company's established 'round' deco offering; coupe shape and height remain the same, along with the brand's signature concentric rings.

(Wikipedia)