Dinnerware & Serving Pieces

Fiesta is a line of dinnerware glazed in differing solid colors manufactured and marketed by the Homer Laughlin China Company of Newell, West Virginia, since 1936 -- with a hiatus from 1973 to 1985.

Original shapes were designed by the company's art director, Frederick Hurten Rhead. Some of the redesigned original shapes, and other new shapes were designed by the late Jonathan O. Parry, who became the company art director in 1984.

As a line of open-stock dinnerware, Fiestaware allows buyers to select by the piece, rather than requiring the purchase of entire sets. Notably, buyers can mix and match from the color range. According to David Conley, the company's director of retail sales and marketing, Fiestaware's current colors derive from home decor and fashion trends, and according to the Smithsonian Institute Press, Fiestaware's appeal lies in its bright colors, modern design, and affordability.

See: Color Chronology of Fiestaware glazes

The Fiesta Name

The name of this line of dinnerware has always been simply Fiesta; however, after the Homer Laughlin China Company began marketing other lines of dinnerware in similar solid color glazing, and especially after other manufacturers began imitating the very successful Fiesta line of dinnerware, the public began to refer to all solid color dinnerware as "Fiestaware".

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