Fiesta ware

DEFINITION

Ceramic glazed solid color pottery, it was introduced in 1936 by the Homer Laughlin China Company of Newell, West Virginia. Company Art Director Frederick Hurten Rhead is credited as conceiving and designing Fiesta Ware, which was unique as the first widely mass-produced solid color, plain line and relatively heavy dinnerware in the USA. It was a radical departure from Victorian era influenced china. The company declined during World War II, especially when the uranium oxide used in its most popular orange-red color was usurped by the government for atomic energy. After a production lag, the company re-started production in 1986. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_%28dinnerware%29