If you don’t know about Fiestaware, it is a bright sunny brand of Art Deco style dinnerware and serving pieces that come in a rainbow of colors. Collectors go mad for it, some vintage pieces going for as much as $20,000 per piece! And there is a shop in Eagleville called Heart Full of Memories that offers one of the most extensive collections anywhere.
“We have been buying and selling Fiestaware for a very long time,” said owner Brenda Marks. “Our daughter has also caught the bug, and her collection was featured in Pioneer Woman magazine last summer.”
When you walk into the store, you can’t help but notice the stacks and stacks of dishes, bowls, cups, plates, pitchers, dessert plates, and more. The china comes in 49 different colors, with new colors coming out every year.
“Our daughter collects the polka dotted plates,” said Marks. “There are also patterns, like rainbows. But it is the solid colors that most people are familiar with, and collect.”
Fiestaware has always been different because, from the start, it was sold as open stock instead of sets. Purchasers were encouraged to mix and match the various colors.
While one would think it comes from one of the Sourhwestern states because of all of the bright colors, it went into production in 1936 at the Homer Laughlin China Company in West Virginia. And they still make it there today. Something about the clean lines and simple pattern makes the china timeless.
It is a favorite of set decorators, finding its way onto the set of television shows as diverse as Big Band Theory and The Walking Dead. Plus, many celebrities collect it, like Whoopie Goldberg and Martha Stewart.
Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, discovered Marks’ daughter’s collection through a collector’s club. There are also Fiestaware conventions. Fans can be rabid. There is even a Homer Laughlin China Collector’s Association.
People from every age group and walk of life fall for Fiestaware. As Marks’ daughter, Joella Boyd, said in Pioneer Woman magazine, “My daughter will fight for the plum bowl, while my son likes the Lemongrass.”
It’s never too late to take a trip out to Eagleville and join the fun of starting a collection of Fiestaware.
Heart Full of Memories
115 North Main Street, Eagleville, TN
Thursday through Saturday: 10:00 am until 5:00 pm
615-364-2688
